Best products to sell in the new year [Updated for 2021/2022]

Now the busy Christmas rush has passed and we’re into January, it isn’t time to sit back and relax – there are still a huge number of opportunities to make sales. We’ve spoken about diversifying your inventory using DropShipping before on the blog – and for good reason, since when it is done well, it can offer a convenient way to extend your offering, and lowers the risk of doing so, since it doesn’t require upfront investment in stock. That allows you to provide more options for your customers without worrying about having cash available or having space to store those products.

For many of us, as well as our customers, moving into the new year is a great opportunity to start afresh and to commit to new goals for the year ahead. With the last couple of years being more than a little bit challenging, we know that most people are looking for ways to make 2022 a much better year, whether that is for their physical fitness, mental health, or simply to take up a new hobby. New Year’s resolutions might not always last beyond January, but we always have those good intentions!

This inclination towards making things better goes both ways – customers want products to help them have a better 2022, and you want better sales. At this time of year, using DropShipping, existing businesses, as well as new sellers, plenty of opportunity to capitalise on our desire for a fresh start. With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at some of the categories that are best sellers at this time of the year to give you some inspiration.

Diet supplements

It goes without saying that it wouldn’t be new year unless half the country went on a diet that they abandoned before the end of January, doesn’t it?! There are so many variations of diets for weight loss, and a large number of people who decide to go on a certain diet for the first time will look for ways to help shed the pounds. Supplements for weight loss diets such as keto, or for those of us that are heading towards a plant-based diet are incredibly popular right now, and DropShipping them means that you don’t need to keep on top of expiry dates or risk dead stock.

But it isn’t just weight loss supplements that we expect to be popular at this time of year. There is a demand for products like protein shakes, pre- and post-workout shakes as well as body-building supplements as people get back to working out, whether back in the gym, or at home in the new year.

In a similar vein, we know a lot of people who set a new year’s resolution to simply take their vitamins – now, whether they end up actually sticking to that resolution or not doesn’t matter! The point is, that you are able to capitalise on making those sales by selling them, either alongside diet supplements or other health and self-care items.

The great thing about these types of items is that they are really easy to market, whether you’re creating posts for your social media or your blog, and if you’re selling related items already (such as our next category) then you’ll be almost guaranteed to make more sales.

Fitness equipment

Sticking with the new year and resolutions thoughts, as with diet supplements, the new year always sparks action in people who are catching up, or have intentions for the new year. Although many fitness fanatics will have bought fitness equipment during the first lot of lockdowns in 2020, fitness equipment is always in demand at this time of year – and perhaps even more so this year, where people haven’t been able to go to the gym!

Items such as workout clothing, yoga mats, weights and resistance bands are in high demand throughout January at least, as are more technical items such as smart watches, with the advantage that these types of products can provide a higher profit margin. Over the past year, we’ve brought in some excellent new fitness products that you can preview without needing to log in here.

Selling fitness gear is pretty straightforward, and if you’re already selling workout clothing (or you have a clothing store) then adding equipment to your inventory just makes sense. Linking items such as yoga mats or weights to YouTube workouts from content providers and influencers – or of course, making your own! – is one way you can encourage customers to make their purchasing decisions, and at no additional cost to you.

Adult toys

With people spending a lot of time at home with partners over the past few months and through the holiday period, (or if they have been stuck at home by themselves!) some people will have realised they need a bit of help spicing up their private lives. While we’re not encouraging anybody to do anything that they don’t approve of or agree with, sex toys is one of the biggest selling niches in eCommerce right now, and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. Whether you decide to add sensual items such as furry handcuffs and feather ticklers to your sales channels alongside lingerie, or you add more risqué items featuring leather or latex, you’re guaranteed to increase your sales by adding adult toys to your inventory.

Our suppliers of adult toys have a huge range of high quality sex toys, as well as lingerie – so if you’re considering adding these types of items to your inventory, log in and browse our range.

Marketing adult toys needs to be done a little more discreetly – you probably wouldn’t be linking to a video of how to use some types of product, for example! But if you have the right products to market adult toys and sex aids alongside, and the right strategy, you’ll find that you can increase your profits dramatically.

Products for working from home

Although many of us have been working from home for a while, working this way has a different set of challenges to working in an office or traditional workplace. Customers are still searching for products that will help them to work at home more comfortably, from items such as lumbar support cushions and posture correctors, as well as office items such as laptop stands and wireless keyboard and mouse combo sets.

Cross-promotions are a great way to sell more of these type of products. If you’re selling a laptop stand, then you might promote a second monitor, or a wireless mouse alongside it. Posture support products can sell well alongside yoga mats and neck massage devices or heat pads. Think about the issues that working from home can cause, and then sell the solutions for those problems.

Baby products

Since we’ve all been spending more time at home together, it is pretty safe to assume that as we’re (hopefully) emerging from the pandemic, that more babies than ever will be planned. And without trying to be rude, a lot more time spent with partners typically results in a lot more babies! With that in mind, we expect there to be a boom in demand for baby products – and since babies are an everyday occurrence, baby products are always going to be a good addition to eCommerce stores.

If you fancy adding baby products to your range, you can see the collection from our suppliers here, without logging in.

Promotion on social media is a great way to get this type of product in front of new parents and their friends and family (don’t forget, baby showers might be on hold if COVID rates increase, but people will always want to buy gifts for the new arrival!). With that in mind, visual platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest are going to be ideal, but you can also use Facebook groups or Reddit threads to encourage people to make purchasing decisions. If you’re going to take this approach though, be careful not to be too ‘salesy’ – if it is too obvious that is what you’re doing, you’re likely to end up kicked out of the group.

As with babies becoming more prevalent, the number of people who take on pets usually increases over Christmas. Whether the pets in question are small, animals that stay at home such as fish, rodents, or cats, or they’re bigger animals like dogs and horses, for every type of pet there are thousands of products that their owners want or need to take care of them. Pet supplies is a niche that is always growing, and so it is a great category to work in year round.

We did a deep dive into equestrian products on the blog previously, so head to that post if you’re interested in selling products for horses, and you can browse our collection of pet products here, without needing to log in.

Since many items for pets can be pretty big (we’re thinking about fish tanks and hamster cages!) they can take up a lot of space in warehouses. Rather than investing in those items, selling them from suppliers that can keep them in their warehouse and then dispatch on your behalf means that you benefit from the sales with none of the hassle.

To encourage customers to buy the products for their pets, you’ll need to share valuable information about how to keep the type of pet that it is for. You might simply link to that information, or turn that information into a different format (so you might create a short video from information on a blog post, for example). With this approach, you’re looking to build trust in your brand, which will help encourage customers to return to buy other items from you.