Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Finding New Products

No matter what strategy you use to replace products, you first have to find new ones that shine. Fortunately, you can look in certain places to narrow your choices:

• Vendors: If you already work with regular suppliers, ask them what's selling. Your vendors know which items they can't keep in stock because of demand and which ones are lagging. Suppliers usually have a good idea of which type of new products are coming in, and can suggest ones that fit well with your site.
• Customers: Your customers know best. Or, at least they know what they're willing to spend money on. Do a little online polling or send a short e-mail survey to find out which products your customers want to see on your site. They're usually quite willing to share an opinion or two.
• Competitors: Check the clearance section of a competitor's site to see which items didn't sell, and take a look at deeply discounted items to see which items might be on their way out. Don't forget to see which items are being heavily promoted.
• Trade shows: These events are filled with product distributors showcasing their latest product offerings. Often, you can even detect a theme for upcoming releases. For example, you can see which colors are hot or which product categories distributors are pushing. Not surprisingly, manufacturers are all usually pushing the same items, so you can easily spot the next trend.

• Trade shows and markets are also an opportunity to chat with suppliers and gather detailed information. ...