Did you know that people buy two times as much stuff on the Internet during the last two months of the year?
This is probably the best time of year for our dropshipping business. Apart from the growth trend in November and December, we also had trouble with lockdowns due to the second wave of the pandemic. When consumers are confined to their homes, they tend to buy online instead of going to a store. So if you want to get started in dropshipping, this is probably a good time. I’m going to share with you the best product categories for dropshipping in December 2020, that you can start using in your online store. I’ll also share the criteria I use in selecting products to my dropshipping business.
As I mentioned before, it is really an incredible period of time with lots of opportunities. So if you want to get started, I advise you to really take action during this season, especially during the last two months in 2020. You would normally achieve very good results and even if you start out during this season, I’m pretty confident that you can make at least a few sales just by following the basics. And if you have never started an online business before, you can go through my How to Start Guide. It’s a completely free guide where I explain all the basics so that you can launch your eCommerce store within 30 minutes. So don’t procrastinate on this if you’re interested to start.
Tools to Spy on your Competitors
One of the most common strategies that I use to choose products involves a quick analysis of my competitors who are doing really well in certain product categories. Perhaps we can define this method as ‘spying’, and there are tools we can use to do it very successfully.
AdSpy
AdSpy is one tool that I use and it actually allows you to see all advertisements that are run by your competitors. You can sign up on AdSpy and start searching for Ads run by your competitors. The platform allows the user to filter and choose Ads from a combination of parameters.
It also shares several statistics in relation to their advertised products. So what we can do is analyze this AdSpy data and identify which products or product categories have higher impressions and engagement (CTR). Then we too can source and list the same or similar products with enhanced images and improved descriptions on our dropshipping store. However, this tool is quite expensive and gaining access would incur you a cost of $149 per month. So if you’re just starting out I recommend you to stick to the free tools which I will be covering later on this article.
Dropispy
Dropispy is another similar tool I use frequently and it has a free version as well. They have a dedicated Facebook group for sharing insights from winning dropshipping products and you too can join it here.
The full access to the Dropispy tool would cost you €14.90 per month – which is much less than AdSpy but with lesser functionality.
Facebook Ads Library
Facebook Ads Library is the recommended free tool that you can use to spy on your competition. However, the functionality is very limited and you might need to spend some time researching and sourcing the product.
Now that you know about the spying tools, let’s look at the first product category recommendation.
Men’s Grooming Equipment
You might have already observed that demand for men’s grooming equipment spiked during the previous lockdown and we can expect a similar spike with the second lockdown. I have already seen some advertisements using influencers to market nail, hair and beard trimmers. So you too can launch a campaign on social media for awesome all-in-one products that solve personal grooming needs.
Conversion Tip: Use video content which showcases that you can use this product on your own and would only require a mirror (opportunity to cross-sell).
Winter Clothing
The second product recommendation is to source and sell winter clothing, especially clothes that are essentials during winter – even if you stay indoors. I would like to share a strategy that worked for me in dropshipping clothing products. It is to explore and get inspiration from the bestsellers on the online stores of popular clothing brands (like Trendyol, Zara, H&M) and then source similar clothing in PLUS sizes to sell through your store. The plus-size clothing industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Sales for plus size clothing are growing. It accounts for about 20% of clothing sales, making it a great sub-niche market within the fashion category.
When you sell clothing on the internet it’s very important to have the sizes communicated to your customers and you might need to customize the size chart based on the country or region. Clothing and footwear categories have the highest return rate, at 56% in 2019. So we need to avoid returns that occur due to the wrong size as much as possible. I use Sizeguide.net for creating the size charts and update the same on the store backend. Another profitable niche you can focus on would be winter clothing for pets, especially for dogs.
Home Improvement & Insulation
Similar to the rise in demand for winter tires and rims during the season, home improvement and insulation product categories show an upward movement. One common complaint during this time is that normal outdoor adhesives and sealants used in insulation boards, cover panels and roofing are less effective in sub-zero temperatures. I have observed this through Google search trends in Canada, where Flex Seal is the preferred solution. However, there’s a less costly alternative that’s getting popular recently because it’s a water-based sealant that is paintable.
Mighty Paste sealer is currently available on Amazon for $26.20 with shipping from China. You can source it from AliExpress for $16.36 with shipping and comfortably cross-sell a paintbrush on your store. It’s recommended to check the import taxes and notify your store visitors before they make a purchase for this product category since it has certain additional taxes. You can view and calculate the taxes for Canada and the USA using the resources below:
Getting Ready for Dropshipping in 2021
I hope you understand that the best product categories are rational and qualified based on search trends and their ability to solve a problem. All of these categories had worked for me and that’s the reason why I’m recommending you to try it out. There’s a lot of free resources out there on the internet regarding dropshipping and you don’t need to purchase expensive dropshipping courses to succeed. If you are keen to learn more about dropshipping and the best suppliers to use in 2021, then I suggest reading the below article:
Best Dropshipping Suppliers to Use for Q4 and 2021
It’s safe to conclude that if you choose to dropship product categories based on data and insights, you won’t go wrong. The market for the above-listed product categories are on the rise and you too should try to capitalize on the opportunity before demand fades.
Check out my resource on Amazon FBA if you’re interested in exploring opportunities to sell on Amazon.com.
Got any questions? Leave a comment below.