With more and more people shopping online, dropshipping is likely to become the best way to do business in ecommerce, if it isn’t already.
More people will try this, but only a small number will be successful. But don’t worry, there’s a trick to that success.
Ask any experienced dropshipper, and they’ll tell you it’s research on the products you want to sell.
This guide has everything you need to know, from how to do practical research to how to choose the best research tools for you.
Let’s get right to it.
What Is Dropshipping Product Research?
It’s the process of looking for products to sell on your dropshipping store and figuring out whether or not they will make you money.
There are millions of product ideas for dropshipping, but you need to find ones that will make you money.
Product research may take a lot of time and effort, but it’s important to make sure your business doesn’t fail.
How to Do Dropshipping Product Research Effectively?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to product research. But dropshipping has been around for a long time, and many business owners have found their perfect way to do it.
And there is no doubt that there are good ways to do things that are worth noting.
Even if you have a well-designed ecommerce store and good marketing plans, they won’t help you if you don’t do thorough research on dropshipping products.
Just keep in mind that these may work for some people, but you may have to try different things to find what works best for you.
Here are a few tips to help you get started with product research:
See What’s Trending
Checking out what’s popular on different ecommerce sites is the fastest way to find out about new products.
People already want a lot of trendy things, which you can meet. The only thing left to do is figure out how to set yourself apart from your competitors.
You can find out what products are popular in different categories by going to Wish, Etsy, or Amazon.
Estimate the Market Size
Even though it’s almost impossible to know the exact size of a niche or product’s market, you can still get an idea by looking at how often keywords are searched.
With this information, you can see how many people are interested in the keyword and figure out if the product has a big enough market.
Google Trends tells you what people have been searching for on Google over a certain time period. This tool tells you how much interest there is in the keywords you’ve chosen.
In the images below, a sample keyword search for “women’s leggings” is done to show what kind of information you’ll get.
This useful tool lets you narrow down your search by location, time, category, and type of search. Similar questions and topics can also give you an idea of what niche the product usually fits into.
Know Your Competitors
When selling certain goods, it’s important to know who you’re up against. If you chose to sell popular products, this part is even more important.
The easiest way to do this is to look up your well-known competitors and see what they are selling right now. Most of these sites tell you how many reviews and items they’ve sold, which you can use to figure out how big the market is.
By going to the stores of your competitors, you can get ideas for products you can sell on your own or find products that are better than theirs.
Join Online Communities
Online communities like Facebook groups and subreddits on Reddit are great places to find out what products specific groups of people or niches need.
Here, you can find out from real people what kinds of problems they have and what kinds of products could help them solve those problems.
Just keep in mind that when you join online communities, you should pay attention to where the members are from so you know who your target market is.
Find a Reliable Supplier
If you choose unreliable suppliers, your dropshipping business will never do well.
It’s impossible to get away with low-quality goods or late shipments. People talk, and before you know it, all of your website’s reviews are bad.
So, if you want to do good research on products, you need to find reliable suppliers for the products you are interested in. With this tip, you should also think about how long it takes to ship and how much it costs for customers in different areas.
Platforms like AliExpress Dropshipping Center can help you find a reliable supplier.
Use a Dropshipping Product Research Tool
Using tools is one of the best ways to find out about a product.
You may be wondering why dropshipping product research tools are helpful. The answer is on the next page.
Why Should You Use Dropshipping Product Research Tools?
You can do product research on your own without any tools at all. But if you want to save time and make shopping easier, these tools can do most, if not all, of what the tips above say to do.
The main purpose of dropshipping product research tools is to find winning products for any store or niche.
Different tools have different parts. But in general, they look at different products and give information about the following:
Keywords used to find things
The number of items sold
Prices on different platforms as of right now
Products on the market that are new and popular
Stores where the item you want to sell is sold
In addition to the obvious benefits, using tools can save you money by shortening a long process. When you use these tools, it takes you less time to look for products that will help you make money faster.
If there’s one thing you need to know about dropshipping, it’s what’s in style. With the right tools, it’s easy to see what products are popular in different niches, so you can jump on the wave.
Now, let’s look at the best dropshipping product research tools you can use right now.
What Are the Top Dropshipping Product Research Tools?
Since dropshipping is a popular way to do business, there are a lot of tools that can help both experts and newcomers find products to sell.
In this section, you’ll learn about each tool’s features and, if there are any, pricing plans. This will help you decide which tools are best for your business.
Here are the top five tools for researching dropshipping products that you might want to use.
Sell The Trend
Even though Sell The Trend is a fairly new tool, it is getting a lot of attention. This is because “The Nexus” is one of the many features that dropshippers will find useful.
This feature is one of the most useful tools for researching products because it uses AI to show what products are popular on different platforms.
The following information is also given by the algorithm:
The costs, prices, and margins of a product
Number of orders in progress
Links to and the number of stores that sell the item on Shopify and AliExpress
But this tool does a lot more than just research on products. You can improve your advertising by making Facebook video ads and finding brand-appropriate influencers.
If you sign up for the tool, you can use all of these features. Prices start at $39.97 a month or $32.97 a month if you sign up for a year.
Sell The Trend also lets you try the tool for free for 7 days to see if it’s worth buying.
Niche Scraper
One of the most popular Software as a Service (SaaS) tools for dropshippers is Niche Scraper.
Four parts of the tool are great for researching products.
Hand-Picked Products
Every day, you’ll see no more than two products that the team behind the tool chose for you. With this feature, it takes less time to find good products on the site.
Competitor Analysis
On Shopify, you can look at what your competitors are doing, whether they are generalists or specialize in a certain niche.
You can see traffic data, sales estimates, and popular products by using keywords, the popularity of a store, or the relevance of a product. This will help you figure out what you’re up against.
Product Scraping
You can also find out which products are the most popular in online stores like Shopify, Amazon, and eBay.
You can also narrow down your search results by date and change the rate of sales for each product.
Video Ad Maker
With Niche Scraper’s video ad maker, you can make unique videos with pictures, music, and text in a matter of seconds.
All you need is the URL of the product you want to sell, and the tool will get the image and make a video.
At the moment, there are three ways to sign up for this tool:
Free membership, but only a few features and a three-day wait to see winning products.
All features can be accessed with a Pro membership, which starts at $39 per month.
Annual pro membership: 60% off yearly payments to use all features
Dropship Spy
Dropship Spy is a great piece of software if you want a tool that gives you a lot of information and analytics about different parts of dropshipping.
It has the usual features of research tools, like the ability to find the best products across social media and online stores. Still, the amount of information you can get from its analytics makes it a clear winner.
It’s a great all-in-one tool for people who are just starting out. It has information on suppliers and a database of Instagram influencers.
Here’s a detailed look at what it has to offer:
Advertising Information
You don’t have to worry about making a copy. Dropship Spy lets you add free copy and marketing videos to your online store.
Engagement Rating
All of the products on Dropship Spy have a “engagement rating” that shows how well they do on different social media sites. This feature should be used for products that go viral.
Supplier Information
Given how hard it is to find a trustworthy supplier, this tool has made it easier to find the best one. You’ll know right away which supplier is right for your store based on the feedback scores, the number of items sold, the prices and ratings of the products, and the shipping costs.
The features of Dropship Spy can be used for as little as $20 per month.
AliExpress Dropshipping Center
Getting information about a product doesn’t have to cost you anything.
Two of the features at AliExpress Dropshipping Center are free. You have three ways to use this tool:
Signing up manually
Being asked to do something
Using a program like DSers, Topdser, or Antdiy to help.
You can still use the product search and product analysis tools no matter how you get to it.
Look for a product
Like the other tools we’ve talked about, this one lets you find products in three different ways:
Products that sell well
Look for images
Advertised Products
All of the products you see in this feature will have their prices, number of orders, and current ratings, among other things, shown next to them.
Product Analysis Feature
On the AliExpress Dropshipping Center, each product you look at will have a “Analyze” button. This button takes you to a page with a full analysis.
On this page, there is a line graph that shows the supplier, how well the logistics work, and an overview of how many sales have been made.
You can also just copy and paste the URL of the product you want to analyze to make the page.
Thieve
Thieve is a great choice for dropshippers on AliExpress.
This tool gives you a list of the best-selling items on AliExpress. You can also sort the list by category and niche. You can also filter out products based on how well they sold.
All of the items you see were carefully chosen by different experts, so you can trust the prices.
It has a great version for dropshippers called Thieve Supply.
Thieve has two versions right now: dropshipping and pro. The dropshipping version costs $29 per month and gives you curated products every day.
The pro membership, on the other hand, costs $99 per month and gives you access to all basic features as well as premium product content and access to products before they come out.
How to Choose the Right Dropshipping Product Research Tool?
You can’t use all of the above tools for your product research, that’s for sure. But some may help you more than others, so it’s important to find the one that works best for you.
Here are some questions you should answer to help you choose the right tool for your business.
What Features Are Most Useful for You?
Each tool has its own features, good points, and bad points. Even if someone tells you to use a certain tool, that doesn’t mean it’s the best one for you.
You’re in charge of running your business, and you know what would make things easier.
Here are some more questions you can ask yourself:
What kinds of information do I need for my business?
Do I have access to this information right now?
Do I need help with any other parts of researching a product?
By asking and answering these questions, you’ll be able to narrow down the tools that would work best for your business goal.
Are You Willing to Invest In the Tool?
Some of the best tools listed above are free and others cost money. At this point, you have to decide if you have enough money to buy the tool you’ve chosen.
Budget for Product Research
Some features are included in the price you pay, but that doesn’t mean you have to use them.
Think about what you really need from a tool and how much money you have. Then, once you know what you want and how much money you have, choose a device that fits your needs.
Conclusion
You can be sure that your dropshipping business will do well if you do things like follow the best tips and choose the right dropshipping tool.
Who knows, you might even find a way to do research that is different from these two. You can also hire a dropshipping agent to help you with all aspects of your business, from the beginning to the end.