What should I sell online? – 15 ideas for your online shop

You have probably landed here because you are considering starting to sell online. Or maybe you already have an online shop where you want to expand or change the range of products you sell. Either way, you’ve come to the right place.  

In this article, we delve into 15 ideas for products and services that you can make money selling online. We also go over four things you should consider before you get started. And finally, we show you how you can quickly start an online shop the easy way. 

What can I sell in an online shop?

This is probably a question you’ve asked both yourself and Google, and maybe even your neighbour, or partner. The short answer is that you can sell practically anything online. The possibilities are almost endless as long as you stay within the law and make sure your business idea is realistic for you and your budget.  

Whether you dream of earning a little extra with the help of a passive income or want to have ecommerce as your main occupation, there are plenty of opportunities to dive into. You can sell both physical products and digital services such as subscription solutions. 

What do people buy online?

People shop online like never before – they just can get enough. But what do they actually buy most of when they click items home from the internet? According to a study carried out by ECDB in 2023, the most popular product groups within physical goods were clothing. In second place were shoes and books. The third place is shared by music, games, food and drink. Other popular products are cosmetics, body care and household appliances. Within digital products, subscription solutions, streaming, e-books, tickets for experiences and online games are hits. 

4 aspects you should consider before starting your online shop 

As you move from business idea to online shop, there are a few things you should keep in mind to help you choose the best concept. 

1. Are your products easy to ship?

Well-functioning logistics are a decisive factor for a successful online shop, so you’ll need to seriously consider whether the products you want to sell online are easy to ship and transport. Can the goods tolerate the transport company treating them a little harshly? Can you protect fragile products with special packaging?  

If you sell very large and heavy products, you should also consider whether the customer will be willing to pay a higher price for shipping. A thought-out shipping and delivery process will be appreciated by your customers and increase your chances of having them become returning customers. 

2. Do you need a warehouse for your shop?

You should also decide whether you want to run a shop using dropshipping or whether you need a warehouse for your products. If you start small, which we recommend, you may be able to content yourself with storing the products yourself, in a basement, garage, spare room or the like. However, as your business grows in line with the demand for your products, it may become necessary to rent or buy a warehouse. 

3. Competitor analysis

There is a lot of competition in ecommerce, so you should examine the competitor landscape before you decide what you want to sell online. By conducting both competitor analysis and market research, you will gain valuable insight that will create a more solid foundation for your online business. You can use the data you collect to tailor both your business strategy and your digital customer journey. 

4. Marketing and SEO

If you want to achieve success with your newly started online shop, it is not enough to just open the digital doors and wait for customers to come to you. Customer acquisition requires a solid marketing strategy. To ensure that customers find their way to your shop, it is also important that you think about search engine optimisation when you create content for your website. 

If you want to know more about search engine optimisation, we can recommend our article “Ecommerce SEO – a beginner’s guide with 7 tips”. 

Find a niche to your online shop

Finding a niche is vital, given the heavy competition. By offering products or services that appeal to the needs of a specific target group, you can set yourself apart from the competition and build a loyal customer base. 

If you have decided to sell popular products such as clothing or skin care, you can create a unique concept by offering something that none, or only a few, of your competitors offer. Go ahead and read lots of reviews of other shops online to get a sense of where customers find your competitors lacking. Do they want a larger selection of clothes in organic materials, vegan skin care products, or stock photos from everyday situations? If you find your target audience and hit the right niche, your products will be in demand, even if there is already a lot of competition on the market. 

Use your interests as a starting point

The chance of achieving success is usually greater if you start with something you are already passionate about. The same applies when you have to decide what you want to sell in your shop.  

Consider whether one of your hobbies, interests or your expertise can be woven into your business model. If you love fashion, cooking, pets or knitting, you can use your passion as a starting point when finding your niche. In this way, you are already one step ahead of many of your competitors, because your understanding of the target group is much greater when you are part of it yourself.  

Moreover, it is easier to build brand trust when you’re an expert in what you’re selling. 

What to sell online: 15 ideas for your online shop

Now is the time to dive into ideas for what you can sell in your online shop. Read along below to find inspiration.  

1. Photos

Are you a good photographer? Then you can consider selling your images as stock photos online. Many large and small companies, such as publishing houses, brick-and-mortar stores, advertising agencies and more, continuously need everything from landscape photos and food photos to photographs of people in various situations. When you sell stock photos on your own website, you don’t have to share the profit with a platform such as Getty Images or Shutterstuck. This means more money and more freedom for you.

2. T-shirts

Stylish and cool t-shirts are always a hit online. And although there is a lot of competition in the market, you can easily find a niche by offering t-shirts with unique designs or in quality materials that cannot be bought from your competitors. It can also be good business to partner with a company that offers print on demand services. If you do, you can give your customers the opportunity to design their own t-shirts with personal motifs or pictures of their beloved pets.

3. Art

If you are an artist, you can open a digital gallery on your website and sell your works. Whether you paint, make sculptures, ceramics, or glass art, with a webshop you will be able to reach a wider audience than you can with a physical gallery or temporary exhibition. Take good photos of your works and write attractive product descriptions where you share your thoughts on the expression, colours, and materials. You can also give visitors an insight into your work processes, e.g. using video content, to strengthen the personal narrative around your art and stand out from other artists online. 

4. Courses

Online courses are popular. They give everyone the opportunity to learn something new at home. If you are a good photographer, a great cook, really good at drawing or have some other talent, you can offer online courses on your website. Learning Management System (LMS) plugins for WordPress give you plenty of options to put the courses together exactly as you want. If you’re not sure which plugin to choose, read our article where we have tested and ranked the best WordPress LMS plugins.

5. Jewellery

A quick search on the SEO tool Ahrefs shows that, on average, people in the UK use the search term “handmade jewellery” 1500 times per month. This indicates that there is great interest in buying handmade jewellery online. If you are really good at making jewellery, there is therefore a high probability that you will be successful in selling your handmade jewellery in your own online shop.  
 
Even if you don’t make the jewellery yourself, jewellery is generally popular online. The search term “women’s jewellery” has as many as 2500 searches per month while “men’s jewellery” has 2400 searches.

6. Cosmetics and body care

According to the ECDB market research that we mentioned at the beginning of the article, beauty products and personal care are on the list of the products people buy the most online. This means that there is a lot of competition in this market, but if you find your niche, there is a good chance that you will be able to attract customers to a webshop with beauty products such as face cream, nail care and cosmetics.

7. Interior design

Nice accessories for interior design, such as decorative items, scented candles, decorative cushions, vases, bowls, and home textiles are also on the list of things that a many people click home online. Here, for example, you can find your niche by offering home furnishings from a brand that is not available from many of your competitors, or handmade textiles or vases that you have designed yourself. Everyone loves a nice and cosy home, which means that there are almost endless opportunities to attract customers to an interior design shop online.

8. Kitchenware

Kitchenware is also one of the more popular product categories online. Everyone cooks, and at the same time it has become more common for kitchen equipment in attractive designs to be part of the interior design. Choose a niche, such as equipment for baking or pickling, or create an inviting webshop with a wide selection of kitchen equipment. If you offer cooking courses online or physically, you can kill two birds with one stone and set up an online shop where you sell the equipment your students will need when they start experimenting at home in the kitchen.

9. Accessories for cats and dogs

Accessories for fur-clad family members are becoming more and more in demand. Even in airports where luxury fashion stores previously dominated, you can now buy a warm vest or a water bowl in an exclusive design for your cat or dog. Right now is therefore the right time to open an online shop with accessories, food and clothing for pets.

10. Subscriptions to high-quality coffee and tea

There is great demand for subscriptions to good coffee, tea, and chocolate. If you are good at tracking down the best coffee beans, the most exclusive green tea, or unique bean-to-bar chocolate from small plantations, now is the time to start a webshop with subscriptions to luxurious taste experiences. Put together a selection of packages in different sizes and price ranges to reach a wider target audience.

11. Yarn and other hobby items

In the UK there are approximately 16.000 online searches for yarn each month. People have truly embraced knitting and crocheting. You are guaranteed to have come across various knitting and crochet videos on both Instagram and YouTube. If you start a webshop with yarn and other hobby items, you therefore have a good chance of success, especially if you make sure to do market research. If you yourself are a keen knitter or crocheter, you can create inspiring video content as part of the marketing of your online shop.

12. Merch

Merch is a popular way to express that you are a fan of a band, a TV series, a cartoon, an organization, a philosopher, or something else entirely. Maybe you yourself are a big fan of a computer game or an artist? If so, you probably know all about what type of merchandise other fans will appreciate. Examples can be everything from t-shirts and coffee cups with pictures and quotes to figurines, magic wands, bags, and watches. If you want to know more about selling merchandise, we can recommend our article What is merch? – get started in 5 steps.

13. Posters

Posters in all guises are incredibly popular online. As many as 23,000 people in the UK search for posters online every month. Searches for special poster types include, among other things, “vintage posters”, “metal posters”, “football posters “art posters” and “posters for bedroom”. This means that you have good chances of succeeding if you start selling posters online. Do thorough keyword analysis to find a niche where you have a chance to compete. If you do not have the opportunity to print the posters yourself, you can enter into a partnership with a company that offers print on demand services.

14. Second-hand teddy bears with a life story

Contribute to reduced consumption of resources by rescuing used teddy bears from thrift stores and flea markets and sell them in your webshop. Make sure the teddy bears are free of holes, clean and neat. Put them in a nice box, give them a name and come up with a short life story for each of them. In this way, with the help of storytelling, you can increase the value of the teddy bears, because you make them more than just used toys. You can also use the teddy bears’ life stories as product descriptions on your website, so that visitors can read the life stories before choosing a teddy bear from your selection.

15. Gift cards

Most of us have experienced waiting until the last minute to buy a Christmas or birthday present. Or the problem of finding a gift for an acquaintance we don’t know well enough. The gift card is the perfect solution in these situations. By selling gift cards in your online shop, you reach a broad target group of people who are in need of a gift. If you create your shop at one.com, you always have the option of adding gift cards to your product range. The gift card can subsequently be used as payment online in your webshop or in your physical store. Learn how to sell gift cards online.

Start your online shop in the easy way

Perhaps you are already playing with the idea of starting your own online shop? Why not start today? At one.com, you can get started selling online in 3 simple steps. All our hosting plans include the option to start a small online shop with up to 3 products. If you want to sell more products, you can choose our package Business + Ecommerce, where you can sell an unlimited number of products. 

How to get started:

1. Buy a domain 

2. Create your website with our AI-driven Website Builder 

3.  Add your products to your shop and start selling!