In 2017, e-commerce sales account for one-tenth of all retail sales worldwide. Let’s take a look at the hottest products sold last year.
2017 has been a successful year for the growth of e-commerce. According to the eMarketer, worldwide e-commerce sales has reached $2,290 trillion in 2017, which constitutes 10,1% of all retail sales all over the world and the number will keep growing every year. Every period of time has the most hyped and favored products, which mirrors the demands of society. E-marketers continuously need to monitor the movement of the market and the demand of the customers in order to stay in the saddle or not to get the worst of the competition. Let’s take a look at what were the most trending products to sell in 2017:
1. Drones
There are many kinds of drones that you can sell with the maximum of 6 rotors. They are now widely used for photography, recreation, and aerial footage creation. If you are doing your marketing and e-commerce strategy great, 2017 had most probably been a flourishing year for your drone business. And we have great news: the demand for these gadgets does not seem to stop and make their way to 2018 as well. The total drone industry sales reached as much as 2.2 million all over the world in 2016 and it grew by 36% in 2017, according to the finding of Gartner, a research firm. Moreover, the consumer drone shipment is estimated to climb up as high as 13 million globally by 2018.
2. Gluten-free Products
In the past couple of years more and more people find out that they are gluten intolerant, even though they haven’t experienced any symptoms in their early life. It seems that food intolerance has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. However, it is not only gluten intolerant people who purchase these goods, but those who are on a low-carb diet as well. Now producers seem to put the label on every good, even on those that do not originally have gluten in it and then sell it for a higher price. Nowadays, more and more people follow a healthy diet, it kind of became a popular thing to do, so all those webshop owners who sell these goods are at an advantage.
3. Wooden frame glasses
People seem to turn to natural resources when it comes to the production of certain goods. These wooden frames are made from 100% natural components and they come in all shapes and sizes. The customers responded to this new material with an instant craze and their sales increased immediately. There are shops that specialize in the sale of this kind of glasses, where you can even choose the tree type which is used to create the frame. Most common types are bamboo, cherry tree, oak, maple or walnut tree.
4. Wooden watches
These watches have been on the market for quite a while, however, it was just recently when they really caught on. They are following the theme of natural material like the sunglasses. You can find all colors, shapes, and sizes on the market. If you are running a webshop specialized in watches, this item was a must-have in your store in 2017.
5. Charcoal face mask
People literally went crazy about this face mask in 2017. They were posting videos, photos all over the Internet. Currently, this is one of the most popular beauty and skin care items in the industry. It is made from activated charcoal and is said to remove all the dirt and toxins from your skin. The users love to post pictures and videos about it due to its out of ordinary color, which makes the product even more easy to sell and market. You can find some customers of yours who are eager to share their experience, which you can use as a reference, testimonial or product picture on your Products page. If you sold this item last year, you could also experience that this item was among the most popular ones.
6. Vaporizer liquid
E-cigarettes are still a thing in 2017 and 2018 and they require an e-liquid to function. They have entered the market in 2003 from China. But a couple of years ago they have invented the vaporizer, which spreads among smokers more rapidly then e-cigs ever did. According to a Wall Street Journal article, vaporizers spread twice as fast as e-cigarettes and now they have 50% of all e-cigarette sales all around the globe. What are the advantages of the vaporizer over the e-cig? They are highly customizable, more flavors are available and it is said to deliver the nicotine more smoothly than the previous solution. They have enhanced battery-life and users can choose from a vast amount of designs.
7. 3D Printers
Thanks to 3D printing, now you can print mugs, shoes or even other machines. This recent invention exploded to the market and now it has infected not only e-commerce but brick and mortar stores too. Nowadays, we can see more and more 3D printing shops opening in every city while the number of 3D printer sales in on the rise as well. There is no question, this cool solution revolutionized the whole manufacturing industry. If you are interested in the newest high-tech solutions and had the financial standing for a high initial investment, 2017 was definitely your year.
8. Fitness trackers and Smartwatches
We mentioned before that an increasing number of people are trying to pursue a healthy lifestyle, which encompasses fitness and regular exercise. There is no better tool to measure your performance than a fitness tracker. It measures your pulse, heart rate, and burnt calories. They all come together with smartphone applications, where you can even follow and record your daily food and water intake, choose the type of exercise you are doing, set your weight-loss goals or set an alarm clock. Some of these features are also available in smart watches. Being fit and healthy became a nationwide trend, so you could be on the safe side of e-commerce when selling these gadgets. Do not worry, they are expected to stay in the top trending products in 2018 too.
9. Liquid phone case
Phone cases are items that 90% of phone owners use. Although, the liquid phone case with glitters and different floating items were a must for youngsters in 2017. They protect your phone and give it a sparkling trendy look. Moreover, you can even play with it when you are bored. Last year was not only the year of the liquid phone case but of the waterproof phone case too. Web searches quickly rose for these phrases which had an effect on the number of sales too. We doubt that these products will remain among the top sold products in 2018, as there is always a new eye-catching and practical design around the corner. But if you have a store for phone accessories, these ones should have been in stock by all means.