The eCommerce boom at the start of the 2020s will continue to grow yearly. And the one spearheading the boom is Shopify. Shopify is an eCommerce platform where people set up their online stores. Since its inception in the mid-2000s, they are now the market leader.
According to DemandSage, there will likely be 700 million customers in 2024 across all Shopify-powered stores.
To reach even a fraction of that customer base, merchants and sellers worldwide have to be able to select the right product to sell. In today’s article, I will highlight the best products to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify. I will also highlight the factors you need to consider when choosing such a product to sell.
6 Factors When Choosing Products To Buy In Bulk And Sell On Shopify
The success of Shopify depends heavily on the type of product you will ultimately choose to sell. It would be best to consider various factors when buying a product in bulk to sell on Shopify.
Here are some factors to consider:
Factor#1 Easy To Buy In Bulk And Sell Products
When choosing the best product to sell, you need to consider if the product can be bought in bulk. For example, T-shirts are easy to make and can be purchased in bulk to lower the cost per unit. In contrast, food products can be difficult to sell after a bulk purchase because you are in a limited time frame to sell the product.
So when choosing a product to buy in bulk, ensure it will last long enough to be sold rather than becoming dead stock in your inventory. If the product is easy to buy in bulk and lasts long, it will make managing inventory and cash flow much easier for your store.
Factor#2 Diverse Product Range
While not crucial for your Shopify’s initial setup, a diverse product range will significantly help when you want to expand your business. As your Shopify store grows, your store needs a diverse product line to keep customers returning.
A diverse product range can include complementary products or products that improve your current products. Regardless, a diverse product range will introduce a new revenue stream and reach out to new customers. That is why choosing a suitable product range and categorization is vital for future growth potential.
Factor#3 Selecting The Right Niche
While diversifying is a plan, selecting a specific niche to sell in is the key to initial growth for your Shopify store. Selecting a niche in the market that big-name brands do not cater to is an excellent way to capitalize on the market.
For example, the pet industry is huge, with many brands selling pet products. Cats and dogs are popular pets; many shops sell them toys and food. Take the less popular household pets like snakes, and you create products for this niche in the industry.
With little competition from more prominent brands in targeted niches, you can grow your brand with a loyal customer base. Targeting a specific niche like this will help establish your store amongst the competition and set your store up for success.
Factor#4 Location For Your Store
Selecting a specific niche is good, but if you sell at a location for your store, it is just as important.
For example, if you plan on selling locally, you must ensure that the niche you target can be sold in the local market. If the product is not suitable for local markets, then your Shopify will not be able to succeed.
Also, your location will influence decisions like choosing a manufacturer and how the product will be distributed. You would want your manufacturer to be as close as possible to oversee operations and reduce the cost of shipping. Or, you would wish for vendors to sell the products on your behalf, as in the dropshipping model. Either way, your inventory and order tracking heavily depend on your location.
Factor#5 Ease Of Marketing Chosen Product
Another factor determining how to choose the best products to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify is the ease of marketing the product. With so many stores on Shopify, there is bound to be competition for whatever product you want to sell. Therefore, marketing the product is how you can differentiate your product from the competition.
Branding and perception of your brand are vital to your store’s success with the proper marketing. Some products advertise themselves, which is more likely in a small niche market. However, standard products like clothing need to be differentiated to gain success. In the minds of the customer, you are selling the same clothes as another store. To drive home your store’s unique selling point, you must highlight it through marketing.
Other products are easy to market because many complimentary goods are attached. If you sell stationery, it is elementary to combine paper notebooks with pens and sell them as a bundle. Bundling products like this is a great marketing strategy to increase the average order value for your store.
So make sure that the product you choose is easy to market for so you can drive more customers to your store over your competitors.
Factor#6 Scope For Customization
The last thing you want to factor in when choosing your product is thinking about the scope for customizing the product for your customers. According to a Deloitte report, 1 in 5 customers will likely pay 20% more for customized products.
That means customization for your products is vital for the future scope of your Shopify store. If you choose a product where different parts can be customized, it can open up your store to newer customers. That is why you should consider if you can offer customization for your products.
10 Best Products to Buy in Bulk and Sell on Shopify
With the factors for choosing the right product, here are the best products to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify:
- Clothing
- Artwork Posters
- Kitchenware
- Candles
- Mobile Phone Accessories
- Pet Products
- Home Decor
- School Supplies And Stationaries
- Watch Accessories
- Customizable Products
Product#1 Clothing
There are over 75,000 clothing stores on Shopify, according to Statista. That is stiff competition to face. However, with the many online clothing stores, more and more people are entering the business. Why is that the case?
That is primarily because clothing is always in demand. And there are so many varieties of clothing that picking a niche in the market is easy. Instead of going into the T-shirt business, you can specialize in high-quality socks or comfortable underwear.
If generic clothing is something that you don’t want to sell, you can go for personalized clothing. It can be either letting customers come up with the design, or you have a design team that can create unique designs. This makes marketing more straightforward, and you can differentiate your business from the competition.
There is also an enormous scope because of how trendy clothes are. If a specific clothing becomes popular on social media, you can also start selling it online. Since apparel is also cheap to purchase in bulk, there are chances of big profit margins for your business if you can play your cards right.
Product#2 Artwork Posters
If you have an artistic hand, selling artwork posters can be a great way to succeed on Shopify. You can go for two routes in this: producing your designs as posters or getting popular designs on posters to sell.
You might be confused about how you can sell your posters in bulk. But that is where you can get a third party, like a print-on-demand business to help produce your designs in bulk. This allows you to focus solely on the poster designs while they print them in bulk to sell.
Large bulk orders can significantly reduce the cost of producing artwork posters. You can even do custom designs from customers or let customers design the product themselves. All you will be doing is selling the printed designs for them. It is a great business model with a lot of variety you can select from and specialize in.
Product#3 Kitchenware
A kitchen is just another room in the house without kitchenware utensils. With a constant demand for kitchen essentials like utensils, gadgets, and storage containers, it is a reliable market to tap into. You can also reduce the costs of obtaining kitchenware products by buying them in bulk.
The other significant part about kitchenware is that there are many complimentary products. You can combine products in a bundle to sell at a set price for effective marketing. It allows customers to explore options they would otherwise not have known. For your business, you get to sell less popular kitchenware items by bundling them together. Or offering sets that can encourage larger purchases and increase your average order value, driving your revenue.
Not only that, but kitchenware also covers a wide range of products. Pots, pans, utensils, and electronic gadgets are all things you can sell on your Shopify store. There are more options to either diversify or specialize in kitchenware. Therefore, there is room for future expansion into different product types.
Product#4 Candles
Candles are an underrated product to sell on Shopify. There are many variations and options to make the candles you sell unique to your store. Different scents for aromatherapy, sizes, shapes, and other unique selling points can make your candles shine brighter than your competitors.
There are also different customers to whom you can sell your candles. For example, you can sell candles to corporations or restaurants that require candles. Or you can sell custom scents for individual customers. There is a wide variety of customers in the candle market that your Shopify store can sell to, making the candle business an excellent choice to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify.
Product#5 Mobile Phone Accessories
Selling smartphones is a demanding industry. There is little scope for buying and selling products in bulk regarding mobile phones because top-selling smartphones are both manufacturer and seller. However, mobile phone manufacturer often neglects the accessories they can provide for their phones. That is why accessories for smartphones are an untapped market.
According to Grand View Research, the market size of mobile phone accessories is expected to grow at a 6.8% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2030. That makes it a promising market to get into.
Many mobile phone accessories can be bought in bulk and sold on Shopify. Many such products can be purchased in bulk, from screen protectors mobile phone cases, chargers, etc. Buying in bulk guarantees competitive prices, ensuring healthy profit margins.
Furthermore, staying updated with the latest smartphone trends allows you to offer relevant accessories, keeping your product offerings attractive to customers. With a diverse market with abundant customers, the mobile phone accessories market has great potential.
Product#6 Watch Accessories
Like the phone market, the watch market is also quickly evolving with the different available accessories. The watch manufacturers sell the watches themselves but that leaves a market for watch accessories to take over. Products like watch straps and repair kits are easy to produce. There are also smartwatch accessories like wireless charger stands that your Shopify store can use.
It is an incredibly personalized market where you can offer products to enhance an already existing watch. The investment required is far less than producing the watches themselves. That is why bulk buying of watch accessories is low, with the potential to sell at high prices with the correct branding and marketing campaign for your Shopify store.
Product#7 Home Decor
Home decor items offer an excellent opportunity for bulk buying and selling on Shopify due to their visual and aesthetic appeal. Whether you can specialize in specific home decor products like vases or bedding or diversify into all home decor, there is an enormous scope for slowly introducing new products.
With customers increasingly focused on personalizing their living spaces, there’s a growing demand for unique and stylish home decor products. Buying in bulk allows you to offer competitive prices while still maintaining healthy profit margins. Furthermore, staying updated with interior design trends ensures your product offerings remain relevant and attractive to customers.
Product#8 School And Office Stationaries
Stationery items are essential purchases for students, teachers, and office workers. They are also straightforward to reproduce, further cutting the cost of buying bulk stationery. You can set up a wholesale store on Shopify to provide stationeries to different schools or offices.
Marketing is critical to increasing sales for stationery stores on Shopify. The products can be bundled up for marketing purposes like a back-to-school promotion campaign. That makes it one of the best products to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify.
Product#9 Pet Products
Forbes has a statistic that reports 66% of households in the U.S. own a pet. Those households also need pet supplies, making pet products and services a lucrative niche for bulk buying and selling on Shopify.
Buying pet products in bulk allows you to access wholesale pricing, maximizing your profit potential. Along with a wide range of available pet products like foods and toys, there are opportunities to specialize for specific pets. From common household pets to more exotic ones, there are many niches that you can settle comfortably in to sell on Shopify.
Product#10 Car Accessories
PR Newswire valued the global car accessories market at over $1.5 trillion in 2022 and is only expected to grow yearly. With such a big market, car accessories can be an excellent product to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify.
There are a variety of products that can be sold as well. Small products to enhance the car experience, like phone mounts, dash cams, and air diffusers, are easy to buy in bulk. Many different car brands need specific product requirements for accessories. If you can produce car accessories that can be placed in most cars, it increases your business’s profit margins.
Selling Your Products On Shopify With A Mix & Match App
We learned the factors and best products to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify. Now, it is time to sell the product you have chosen. However, if you have selected a product with a diverse range, selling to different customer segments for your store could be problematic.
A solution for this is to leverage the Shopify app store to get the right app to satisfy the different types of customers. Let’s take an example of a Shopify store using a mix & match app to help solve such an issue:
As you can see, there are different types of cookies available. Not everyone would want to buy the macadamia nut option due to allergy. This store lets customers choose which variants they want to buy and how much they want. While shopping, the customer can also see the prices of the cookies and how much they have selected.
An app like this allows the store to cater to its different customers. It presents all the options on one store page so customers don’t have to switch between product pages to add the ones they want to their cart. The store also allows customers to choose a personalized set instead of a set box. This customized experience increases product sales as customers are more likely to buy multiple variants all at once.
Apps like these help Shopify merchants enhance the customer experience of their stores. It leads to increased sales and makes it easier to navigate the online shop.
Bottom Line
The best products to buy in bulk and sell on Shopify are the ones that are easy to purchase and market for, have a wide range of product options, and target a specific niche in the market. Products like mobile phone accessories are great for this because there are diverse product ranges that you can choose from. With the Shopify app store, it is easier to satisfy your customers by giving them a good shopping experience on your Shopify store.
