• 22 Tue 2022 3 years ago.

How do some dropship stores earn five or more figures? The answer is simple: they have winning viral products!

No matter how professionally designed your store is, you wouldn’t make significant sales if your product catalog isn’t aligned with people’s needs and wants. This is why you need to know how to find—not just once but consistently—viral products that will sell like hotcakes.  

Fortunately, there is a way for you to source viral products without the need for overcomplicated product research. Neither will you have to buy hundreds of products just to see which few are likely to sell well. You don’t even have to handle order fulfillment. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through five game-changing tips that will help you level up your product research skills, identify high-potential products, and fast-track the growth of your dropship store.

Learn to recognize viral potential

What exactly does “viral” mean? And how do viral products differ from fads that sell for a while and then immediately lose their appeal?

Viral products, also called trending products, offer new and often intriguing ways to solve a problem. They respond to a certain need or pain point, which is why they can stay marketable for many years.

Some examples of products that went viral in the past are posture correctors, hair dryer brushes, and jade rollers. Many sellers continue to sell these products these days, so it’s safe to say that they are still in-demand.

Fads, on the other hand, aren’t necessarily useful to people. They may have one or a few features that make them interesting to a specific audience segment. However, because they don’t satisfy a serious need, the demand for them eventually dies out. A few examples are Beyblade toys, fidget spinners, pet rocks, and wristbands.

So how do you find viral products? There’s no surefire way to tell if a product will be viral, but there are certain characteristics that could signify strong viral potential. Here are a few:

  • The product solves an underlying need or problem
  • It has that wow factor
  • It’s innovative or creative
  • It’s already a hot-selling product in some marketplaces

If you see a product that has all these characteristics, then you’ve found an item that could potentially go viral! Ideally, you should keep a list of products with these traits and then filter them later on.

Create a set of criteria for vetting products

With the ease of finding products and suppliers through technology, you can never run out of things to sell online.

However, if you want to start a dropshipping business, it’s crucial that you validate your product ideas before deciding whether or not to sell them. Moreover, you shouldn’t only look for potentially viral products—you must also make sure that the products are ideal for dropshipping.

You should create your own checklist for finding and vetting dropshipping products. Here are some important points to get you started when making your list:

  • The product has medium to major market demand
  • It can be promoted through share-worthy videos or the supplier already has product videos you can use
  • It is lightweight (which makes the packaging and shipping cheaper)
  • It is not health-related (advertising platforms like Facebook are very strict when it comes to promoting health-related goods)
  • It isn’t readily available in supermarkets or department stores
  • It isn’t already oversaturated or sold by many sellers
  • It has a significant search volume on Google Trends or Google Keyword Planner

The truth is that there are many trending products out there, but not all of them will be profitable.

It’s one thing to find trending dropshipping products, and it’s another to determine which ones are worth your time and effort. So prepare your product validation criteria and put them to good use later after your initial product research.

Now, let’s proceed to how you can find the top dropshipping products using tools you can easily access online.

Find trending products using free tools

When it comes to free tools, general marketplaces and social media sites are your best search options. Not only are they easily accessible, but their algorithms are always at work to show you updated bestseller lists, viral product ads, and even product recommendations.

Looking at trusted consumer trend publications is also a good idea. These resources are usually free. And because they exist mainly to provide shopping trends and insights, they’re definitely a must-follow for entrepreneurs looking for product ideas.

Marketplace Best Sellers

Popular marketplaces—such as AliExpress, Amazon, and eBay—have dedicated pages for showcasing their best-selling products per category or across different categories.

Check out these pages so you can start hunting down trending products to sell:

You don’t necessarily need to contact suppliers from the marketplaces where you see a potentially profitable product. Rather, what you can do is search for the same products in sites generally known for offering cheaper wholesale prices to dropshippers, such as AliExpress, DHgate, and the like.

Social Media 

Social media platforms also act as search engines. With that, they make great channels for finding as well as validating eCommerce products.

Go ahead and type a product-related keyword on Facebook’s search bar. When you hit enter, you’ll find various content types related to your keyword, including text posts, videos, and even business pages.

Product videos, in particular, are good sources of info that will help you assess whether the featured product is in-demand or not.

Pinterest is another great channel for finding popular products. When you click on any product pin, Pinterest’s algorithm will keep showing you pin recommendations, so you won’t ever run out of products to check out, assess, and add to your own store.

Additionally, social media channels use cookies to show you ads related to your search history. So as you visit different websites and search for different queries, you can expect to see relevant ads that could give leads to viral products or ideas about current dropshipping trends.

Online Consumer Trend Publications 

Yes, there are actually online publications out there that give updates on local and global trends. You may subscribe to their free newsletters and thereafter receive product ideas straight to your inbox on a regular basis.

Here are some online publications for you to check out:

Optimize and fast-track your research through paid tools

If you have the resources, you may also subscribe to paid product research tools.

One of their core advantages is that they don’t publish trending or potentially viral products for the public to see. Instead, only subscribers can see their list, so you can trust that their recommended products aren’t oversaturated.

Additionally, most paid research tools have features that allow you to import products to your store right away. So if you’re quick enough, you can have the first-mover advantage with just a few clicks.

Following are some paid tools that you can consider. If you aren’t sure which one to subscribe to, feel free to take advantage of their free trial (if available) before purchasing a subscription.

Partner with your dropship suppliers

If you’ve already established rapport with one or a few reliable wholesalers, you might want to consider elevating that relationship into a solid partnership.

This doesn’t happen instantly, of course. Rather, you’ll have to put in the effort to build trust and show your suppliers that you’re worth working with long-term.

Part of the perks of having strong supplier relationships is that you can tap their knowledge about hot dropshipping products. They can give you leads to the best products to sell. They might even offer to do the sourcing for you if they don’t currently have the products you want.

Key Takeaways

Viral products can win you huge profits if you find and sell them before other stores do. Having the first-mover advantage is always a big factor here, which you can get if you know the five secrets to finding trending products fast.

Additionally, don’t just settle for being the first—also strive to be the best mover by staying updated on dropshipping best practices and continuing to improve your eCommerce skills.

Product research is an ongoing part of running a dropshipping business, so make sure that it’s always on your to-do list, along with the best strategies mentioned in this article.

Looking for a reliable partner who can help you source trending products from Chinese suppliers? Wiio Dropshipping takes care of the entire dropship process: from sourcing and buying products to warehousing and fulfillment. Find out more about how we can scale your business to the moon.

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