Find new products for your business online
No matter what product replacement strategy you use, you first have to find new products to add to your online business inventory that shines. Fortunately, you can search in certain places to narrow down your choices:
>> Sellers: If you already work with regular suppliers, ask them what they sell. Your sellers know which items they can’t keep in stock due to demand and which are overdue. Suppliers usually have a good idea of what kind of new products are coming, and they can suggest products that fit your site well.
>> Customers: Your customers know best. Or, at least they know what they’re willing to spend money on. Take a small poll online or send in a short email survey to see what products your customers would like to see on your site. They are usually quite willing to share an opinion or two.
>> Competitors: Check the filter section of a competitor’s website for items that haven’t sold, and take a look at highly discounted items to see which items may be on their way out. Don’t forget to find out which items are highly promoted.
>> Blogs and Online Product Sites: Variety of blogs and sites dedicated to each type of product. These sites often include advertisements for new products as well as rumors. Monitor conversations created on these sites as well as their presence on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
>> Trade Shows: These events are filled with distributors showing off their latest product offerings. Oftentimes, you can even discover a theme for upcoming releases. For example, you can see what hot colors or product categories distributors pay for. It’s no surprise that manufacturers usually all push the same items, so you can easily spot the next trend.
Trade fairs and markets are also an opportunity to chat with suppliers and gather detailed information. The atmosphere is more casual, and their distributors and sales team members are eager to talk.
Of course, after you’ve made up your mind about which products to add, the real clue lies in the candy (as they say). With this proverb in mind, it certainly doesn’t hurt to literally test your judgment. You can run online tests for a product using one of the following methods:
>> Compulsory placement: Try to highlight only one product on your homepage. This strategy forces visitors to view the new product so that you can easily monitor click rates and conversions when a product is introduced. If you are not comfortable promoting a single item, you can also place the promotion in a distinct place on your homepage.
>> Rotate Promotions: Alternatively, you can run internal promotions on your site and rotate new products with your popular core items. Use banner ads, pop-up ads, product reviews or testimonials, and then rotate promotions all over your site (not just on the homepage).
>> Email Clients: Introduce new products in your email campaign to your target customers. This way, you can quickly gauge customer reaction to your latest selection of products.
> Keywords: You can also place external ads to attract visitors to test the product. The most effective method is paid keyword searches. Since these target visitors are already looking for a specific type of your product, or something similar, this method is an effective way to test the waters for buying behaviors.
>> OFFLINE SAMPLE: Give some samples to friends or family members, and ask if they would buy the product or already bought a similar one. If so, find out where and to what extent. You can even have an informal focus group to check out your product online. You can see its members visiting your site and searching for the new product.
Find out from them what they think of your product, whether the promotion you used was effective, and whether the product image on your site accurately depicted the product. Honest feedback offline can help put you on the right track online.
Even a well-researched and rigorously tested product is not a sure bet. However, implementing these strategies as part of expanding your product really helps you beat the odds.