WooCommerce Business Ideas: What to Sell and How to Make It Work

By Phineas Arlet

Starting an online business always sounded like such a cool idea to me. The thought of running my own store, working from anywhere, and making money on my own terms? Yeah, I was totally in.

But when I actually sat down to plan everything out — what to sell, how to set up the store, and how to get customers — I realized it’s not as easy as it seems.

It’s one of those things that looks simple from the outside until you’re deep into it, Googling how to customize product pages at 2 AM.

If you are also thinking about starting up your own store in WooCommerce, I have been exactly where you are.

So yeah, I think you will learn a thing or ten from me, so keep reading and find out what worked for me, what didn’t work for me, and what I really wish I knew before getting started!

How I Figured Out What Kind of Business to Start

Choosing what to sell was probably the hardest part for me. I kept thinking, What if I pick the wrong product? What if nobody buys it?

At first, I was leaning towards selling physical products like candles or stationery — basically things I personally liked.

But then I started thinking about how I’d handle inventory, shipping, and returns… and that honestly sounded like a headache.

What helped me finally make a decision was asking myself:

What am I genuinely interested in?
Could I see myself selling this product for the next few years?
Is there a demand for it?

Eventually, I landed on digital downloads , things like social media templates and printable planners.

I found them to be the perfect fit because, well, I love designing stuff first of all, and secondly, I really don’t want to deal with shipping and storage.

So again, if you wanna know what product you will be selling, go for something you are truly passionate about! It makes the whole process feel way more natural.

Is Selling Online as Easy as It Seems?

To be honest, selling online isn’t necessarily hard, but it definitely ain’t easy let me tell you that! You have been lied to by those Youtube gurus if you believe otherwise.

For me, setting up a store took much longer than I had hoped for. I thought I’d just install the plugin, upload some products, and boom — sales would start rolling in.

But there were so many little things to figure out, like payment gateways, shipping settings, and product descriptions.

One teeny tiny thing that made my life somewhat easier was also adding a side cart for WooCommerce. If you don’t know what that is, let me fill ya in.

It is like this popup cart that lets customers see what products they have gotten so far, making their checkout process pretty convenient to say the least.

What Are People Actually Buying Online?

It took me a while to figure this one out. I wanted to know what I would be best at selling and scrolled through Amazon non-stop, for hours.

That is until I found out, you gotta know what people like to buy in the first place! So that’s exactly what I did.

Upon researching, some of the products that kept showing up were:

Personalized gifts
Digital planners
Skincare products
Eco-friendly items
Subscription boxes
Pet accessories

What surprised me the most was how popular digital products were — especially things like templates, eBooks, and online courses.

I assumed people preferred physical products, like solid products they could touch and feel. But eventually my dumb self realized that digital products not only sell a lot, they are much easier to manage too!

Still, if you are confused about what you wanna sell, I recommend you to go check out what is trending on places like TikTok or Instagram.

Still, don’t force yourself into selling something just to be some popular brand. Go for something you are actually excited about and want to get into!

How to Sell Your Products Online

When I first started, I assumed the only way to sell online was to have my own website. But the more I researched, the more I realized there are so many different ways to sell products online.

Here’s what I tried:

My own WooCommerce store (which I definitely recommend if you’re serious about building a brand)
Instagram and Facebook shops
Digital marketplaces like Etsy for extra exposure
Selling directly through TikTok DMs (yes, people really do buy that way!)

What ended up working best for me was combining my WooCommerce store with Instagram. I’d post product mockups and behind-the-scenes stuff on Instagram, then direct people to my website to check out.

Although I felt like a big ol Mister store owner, to be humble, Instagram truly helped me get those first few customers when I really didn’t have much of an online identity.

I’d say focus on one or two platforms at first instead of trying to be everywhere at once. It’s way easier to stay consistent that way.

Figuring Out Who My Customers Were

One thing I totally overlooked at the beginning was figuring out who I was actually selling to. I thought if I just put my products out there, the right people would find them. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

It wasn’t until I started paying attention to who was following me on Instagram and what kind of questions they were asking that I realized most of my customers were small business owners trying to grow their own brands.

Once I had that lightbulb moment, everything got way easier. I drafted descriptions for my product that were speaking directly to small business owners.

I would share tips on how to use templates and also posted content that (hopefully) solved their problems.

But if you are still trying to figure out who your audience is, my advice would be to spend time in Facebook groups, Reddit threads, or even TikTok comments.

Just make sure to be specific to your niche. Listen to what people are asking for and it will be easier to create products that they’ll actually buy.

Products That Have the Best Profit Margins

Profit margins were something I honestly didn’t even think about at first. I was so focused on just making any sales that I priced my products way too low — and ended up barely making anything.

What I learned is that some products naturally have higher profit margins than others. From what I’ve seen, the best products for profit are:

Digital products (because once you create them, there’s no extra cost to sell more)
Subscription boxes
Skincare products
Jewelry
Print-on-demand products

I ended up sticking with digital products because they gave me the most freedom — no inventory, no shipping, and almost 100% profit on every sale.

But whatever you’re selling, I’d definitely recommend researching your competitors’ pricing before setting your own. The last thing you want is to underprice yourself just to get more sales.

What Else Is Selling Big Right Now? What’s in Demand?

Remember one thing, choosing the right product is all about what people want, not what you want okay? I didn’t wanna create something just to have it sit on the shelves with no one buying it.

So, I had to do a little digging to figure out what’s trending right now.

I’ll be honest — I had no idea where to start at first. But after trying out a few different methods, I found some really helpful ways to spot what’s in demand before everyone else jumps on it.

If you’re still unsure about what to sell, here’s how I did it.

1. Use Google Trends

Google Trends became my secret weapon when I was trying to figure out what products had long-term potential.

If you’ve never used it before, it’s basically this free tool that shows you how popular certain search terms are over time.

What I would do is type in broad product categories like “digital planners” or “eco-friendly products” and see if their popularity was going up or down.

If something was trending upward consistently over the past year, I’d dig deeper. If the search interest was all over the place or declining, I’d move on.

One thing I noticed was that products like reusable water bottles and home organization tools were constantly climbing in popularity.

It helped me narrow down what kinds of products could actually sell, instead of just going with whatever seemed cool at the moment.

2. Use Amazon

Amazon was another goldmine for me — especially the Best Sellers and Movers & Shakers sections. These lists basically show what’s selling the most in each category and what products are starting to gain momentum.

What really helped was reading the reviews. If I saw a product with tons of positive reviews but also a few consistent complaints, I’d make a note of it.

That way, if I wanted to create a similar product, I could offer something better that actually solved those pain points.

It’s kind of wild how much you can learn just by snooping around on Amazon. You get a direct look at what people are buying, what they love, and what’s missing in the market.

3. Tap into TikTok

I honestly didn’t expect TikTok to be such a game-changer for finding product ideas. But if you’ve ever fallen down the TikTok Made Me Buy It rabbit hole, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I started following small business hashtags likeSmallBusinessOwner and EtsyFinds, and suddenly my whole feed was full of products I never even knew even existed!

A mini waffle maker, custom jewelry, aesthetic planners, like what? They had everything! You name it.

What I loved about TikTok was that it gave me real-time insight into what people were talking about. If I saw the same product popping up on my feed over and over again, I knew it was something worth looking into.

4. Let the Results Guide You

Once I gathered all this info, I made a little list of product ideas that kept showing up across all three platforms. Then I asked myself:

Which ones align with what I actually enjoy creating?
Which ones have a high enough demand to sell consistently?
Which ones could I realistically produce without needing a whole warehouse?

That’s how I finally landed on digital products like templates and planners. They were trending, I enjoyed making them, and the profit margins were way higher than physical products.

Conclusion

Starting a WooCommerce business isn’t something that happens overnight — trust me, I learned that the hard way.

However, once you know what you wanna sell, who you wanna sell it to, and of course, optimizing your store to run smoothly, everything will fall into place like a puzzle!

Although I’ve said enough up until now, I would still stick to one piece of advice for anyone starting out.

Don’t overthink it. It never helps. You might not get the answers you are looking for right away. Give it time and be patient. The best way to learn is actually by getting your hands dirty.

So it doesn’t really matter whether you are selling some digital downloadable products, handmade jewelries, or subscription boxes, there is always room for everyone in today’s online business world.

Just start small, stay consistent, and don’t be afraid to tweak things along the way. Before you know it, you’ll be making sales and wondering why you didn’t start sooner.

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About the Author!

Phineas Arlet, a professional content writer, digital marketer, and storyboard artist with a decade of experience in the industry is working for the WooCommerce Extendons team. He has a niche in content related to eCommerce solutions as well. A highly recommended product by Phineas is the side cart for woocommerce, guaranteeing success for all in their online store journey.