Is your product the ideal one for online store? Use our checklist to verify

To sell or not to sell? Is this product a profitable one or has a high risk of loss? Too many questions in your mind and unable to choose the right product? Use a check list!

Checklists are quite beneficial while weighing your options. Knowing the pros and cons of a product will always prevent losses in your online store. We have here a checklist for quick assessment of the products you are planning to sell online. This is based on the last few lessons about evaluating a product to be sold online. Assess each product (or a group; for eg., mobile phones) using this checklist to know whether it is an ‘ideal’ one or the one which needs to be avoided.

Mark the options for each of the aspect and evaluate the result according to the key mentioned at the end.

Checklist to evaluate if your product can sell online

Product demand (Google trends analysis)

1. Increasing trend for product
2. Moderate increase noted
3. Fluctuating trend
4. Decreasing trend for product

Competitors

1. Niche market (no competitors)
2. Moderate number of online stores
3. Many stores already have it
4. Widely sold online as well as offline

Local Availability

1. Not available locally
2. Available in select areas only
3. Available in supermarkets only
4. Available at all stores

Durability

1. Sturdy product, can be shipped with minimal protection
2. Durable product, but will require careful packing
3. Will require a sturdy packaging
4. Highly brittle (such as glass)

Shelf life

1. Can be stored for months
2. Can be stored for a few weeks
3. Can be stored for a few days
4. Needs to be used within 2 days

Size & Weight

1. Small size and weighs a few grams
2. Moderate size and weighs within a kilo
3. Medium size and weighs within 5 kilos
4. Big size and weighs more than 5 kilos

Consumable or disposable?

1. Needs to be bought again within a week
2. Can last for a month
3. Lasts for 6 months – 1 year
4. Can be used for more than 2 years

Market life

1. Product will be in demand for more than 5 years
2. Demand can decrease after 3-4 years
3. Product will be in market for at least 2 years
4. Can be replaced with newer variety within 6 months-1 year

Restrictions

1. No restrictions for local sales and sales across the state
2. Restricted in a few states
3. Restricted in many states
4. Restricted for local sales only

Scalability

1. Can increase the number of products being sold immediately
2. Can increase within a short time
3. Needs about a month to increase the number of products being available
4. Is a niche product which is made to order; requires more than a month for each product

Product experience

1. Have been selling on other online avenues such as eBay
2. Have a retail store selling the same products
3. Have experience of selling similar products
4. Have not sold any product till now

Answers

Majorly ‘1’: You have the ideal product in mind and you can right away start planning for the online store.

Majorly ‘2’: Not the ‘ideal’ product, but still has the potential to become one with proper marketing and after sales service.

Majorly ‘3’:  Tricky product. With adequate marketing and wise selection of the product varieties, you can still make enough profit with it.

Majorly ‘4’: Risky product. Has a high risk of loss. Reconsider a different product as the success may be short lived.

Although this checklist may not be a perfect one to identify the ideal product, it still gives an insight of the product performance. Do leave your views regarding the checklist so that we can improvise it further if required.