eCommerce Trends: Getting Started With

eCommerce Marketing
There once was a young man who sold cookies for a living.

His days went like this:

He started every morning by smashing an alarm clock, rolling out of bed, and dragging his feet to a car doubling
as a delivery truck.

With coffee in one hand and cookie in the other, he made his way around the city selling sugary delights. He did
this every day.

Alarm clock. Coffee. Delivery route.

Every... Day...

He didn’t mind the routine. It was good money, and he worked for no one but himself.

But one day, something changed. He read a book by Tim Ferris called The 4-Hour Workweek. Perusing the
pages, he came across the term eCommerce.
p g ,

That’s when it clicked.

He started selling his cookies online a few days later, and with the money that came in, he knew that he would
never have to deliver cookies in person again. Everything was about to change…

One drop shipping store, a few years, and a few countries later, Drop Ship Lifestyle was born.

So, yeah. That cookie salesman was me. I learned a lot over the past decade. I learned how to scale an
eCommerce business. I learned how to get suppliers that value me as a retailer. I learned how to make money
anywhere with an internet connection.

And I learned how to be wary of eCommerce trends - VERY WARY of eCommerce trends

eCommerce trends, internet marketing, eCommerce marketing… If you’re interested in starting your own
eCommerce drop shipping store, you’ve probably run across these terms.

eCommerce marketing is a hefty topic, so I’m going to keep this post simple. This blog covers 2 basic types of
eCommerce trends you need to look out for.

Types of eCommerce Trends:

1. eCommerce marketing trends
2. eCommerce product trends

eCommerce trends come and go… it’s the nature of trends.

Sometimes trends do well and can benefit your eCommerce store. Other times… well, other times, they will
leave you in the dark wondering what in the world is happening.

Today, I wanted to take time to walk through some of these eCommerce trends and give you my thoughts on
them.

Good eCommerce trends, bad eCommerce trends, and just trends in general GREATLY AFFECT the way we do
business. However, the trick to winning with your eCommerce store isn’t to jump on the latest fad. Sure,
that sometimes works, and I’ll talk about that later...

But that’s not how you gain consistency.

The trick to having a sustainable business is to learn how to adapt. You must adapt to the situation at hand and
know what trends to interact with and what trends to leave alone.
Many folks fail because they jump on eCommerce trends willy-nilly. They don’t think. They don’t strategize an
eCommerce marketing plan.

I’m assuming that you’re using Shopify for your eCommerce drop shipping store. If you’re not, there’s no need
to worry. Regardless of what platform you use to run your store, these trends affect all of us internet retailers.
Whether you use a Shopify store, Wix store, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Square store, or whatever
else, eCommerce trends apply to you.

If you’re getting into eCommerce, it’s important that you always stay on the lookout for eCommerce marketing
trends. Keep reading, and I’ll give you my thoughts on how you can keep your store ahead of the competition.

Let’s get started.

Types of eCommerce Trends

The internet is kind of like the wild west.

Trends blow up.

Memes explode and then die a few weeks later.

Products get hot and then fall off the charts.

You know what I mean? (does the image below look familiar?)
This is the reality of the eCommerce world. When you sell things on the internet, you are held subject to
spontaneous trends and unpredictable internet culture.

This brings us to our first eCommerce trend topic of the day…

eCommerce Trend #1: Product Trends

Spoiler alert: eCommerce product trends ARE NOT reliable.
Let’s start of with an example. Take a look at this screenshot of a Facebook post I found:

ecommerce trends
The Facebook post above is asking why product sales died overnight (that’s me on the left analyzing it in one of
my Youtube vids).

This store racked in over £100,000 in 1 and a half months, and now, barely anything is coming in. Even after
launching ads, there wasn’t any luck with sales.

I think you know what’s happening here.

That’s right. This person caught an eCommerce product trend.

They caught a hot trend, they got a bunch of sales, and then 1 of two things happened:

1. Competition picked up

OR

2. The product trend died

That's why trending products have always existed. If that wasn’t the case, I’d still be rocking my frosted tips and
my snazzy starter jacket… Yeah, I’m glad that’s over too.

Selling a trendy product is a way for stores to generate a large amount of revenue in a short amount of time.

But there are positives and negatives.

The Positives and Negatives of eCommerce Product

Trends
Thus far, it may seem that my thoughts on eCommerce product trends are more negative… which is true.

My advice is to not RELY on get-rich-quick trends. Remember, we are creating a realbusiness with real assets.
Your drop shipping store is a legitimate business, and you should treat it like one. We
want longevity and sustainability.

Product Trends - The Positives

1. If you’re one of the first Shopify stores to sell a trending product, you’ll get a ton of traffic and sales
conversions.

2. If you get your ads set up when the market isn’t saturated, those ads will convert well. Your ads will be money
well spent.
3. If you target the right people at the beginning of a trend (better than your competitors), your sales will go
through the roof.

Maybe this sounds alright to you. Maybe you want to be the first person selling fidget spinners. You’re maybe
thinking “$30,000 of revenue in 1 month sounds pretty good.”

I disagree. I think your Shopify store should be more than just a one hit wonder.

Let’s take a look at the drawbacks of eCommerce trends for products.

Product Trends - The Negatives

1. It’s almost impossible to keep up with inventory demand. If you’re selling a product that explodes out of
nowhere, the demand will be crazy. You’ll be able to fulfill the first round of orders, but the factories producing
these hot items aren’t going to be able to keep up with the needs of consumers.

Once these products take off, the best marketers in the world will find these products… The market share of
these trending products will be taken by the best marketers, with the biggest budgets, with the most experience.
You’ll be left out in the cold after a month or two.

2. eCommerce trends die off (See Google Trends chart below). People stop searching for these products, and
even if better marketers don’t beat you to the sale, the low market demand for this trending product will kill your
Shopify store.

3. My points above assume that you got in on an eCommerce trend early. If you didn’t… there’s no way you’ll
be able to “jump in” profitably on a trend. Potential customers have moved on. They are done, and so are your
store’s profits.

4. You won’t be able to sell your store. Like I’ve said a million times on my other blog posts, your store is a real
asset. If your Shopify drop shipping store makes $1,000 a month on a consistent basis, that store can sell for
$20,000.

If your store makes $3,000 a month on a consistent basis, that store is worth over $100,000. Your eCommerce
trend driven store won’t be able to sell. No one wants to buy a Shopify drop shipping store that doesn’t make any
money.

My Advice on Product eCommerce Trends

Don’t waste your time on them.

Don’t use Watchcount dot com or look at eBay or look at trending products on AliExpress - especially if these
products are already trending.

Why spend hours building a Shopify store that sells a trending product for a couple of months? Why not put time
into a drop shipping store that works? A store that is a sellable asset is worth MUCH MORE than a one nice
paycheck.
eCommerce Trend #2: Marketing Trends
Spoiler alert: eCommerce marketing trends ARE definitely something to look
into!
When I say eCommerce marketing trends, I’m talking about different ad types and different types of of apps and
software that you use for your Shopify store.

Whether you’re running a Shopify store or using a different eCommerce platform, you’ll be researching
marketing trends.

At Drop Ship Lifestyle, I teach my method of drop shipping. My courses focus on selling high-
ticket, evergreen products on your own Shopify store.

eComerce-trends-evergreen-products

If your Shopify store is selling a product that is evergreen you’ll want to always investigate new and unique
If your Shopify store is selling a product that is evergreen, you ll want to always investigate new and unique
ways of advertising.

Our competitors are selling these products as well, so we want to advertise in different ways that are unique.

We want our advertising to pop out at potential customers. If we advertise how everyone else in the world is
advertising, we will be at a disadvantage. This is why we want to be innovative.

The standard eCommerce marketing methods (includes links from experts!):

Facebook
Neil Patel writes an intuitive article on Facebook advertising here!

You could also check out Drop Ship Lifestyle’s FB Warrior Course - a place to learn how to kill the game at
profitable Facebook marketing campaigns.

Google
Brian Horn wrote up these quick tips on Mixergy. You can also find a different set of tips here that Jennifer
Shaheen wrote on The Self Employed.

Or get started using Google PLAs with our free checklist.

Influencer Marketing
ConvertKit covers influencer marketing and monetization in this article. It’s a great resource if you’re unfamiliar
with the term influencer marketing.

Writing on Blogs
If you don’t know where to start, look at what Manta has to say about coming up with killer blog topics.
But there are always new opportunities and new ways to advertise. If you can plug these unique forms of
advertising into your drop shipping business, you’ll be cutting edge. You will be ahead of other stores in your
niche.

Two Reasons to Catch Marketing eCommerce Trends Early on:

1. There are loopholes to these forms of advertising. By loopholes, I mean that they're going to get shut
down eventually. For instance, let’s say there’s a new app on the market that lets you post ads to
Facebook in a certain way. This app pulls in a ton of customers, and you’re one of the first companies to
use it. But sadly, Facebook changes their policies for this app, and it gets shut down. This is what I mean
by loophole. It’s allowed for a bit, and then it isn’t.

2. It’s also good to catch marketing trends early because eventually, everyone's going to be using them!

Messenger Bots
Using awesome ads and apps makes your Shopify store stand out from the rest… but not if everyone and
their mom is using the same marketing tools. For instance, everyone has a Facebook account now.
many-chat-eCommerce-marketing
However, when Facebook first started, having a business profile on Facebook was a HUGE advantage.
Now, everyone and everything has a Facebook profile. Simply having a Facebook page won’t get you
noticed. You need to catch those early marketing trends.

Here are some more examples of eCommerce marketing trends:

I’m sure some of you are familiar with the application, Many Chat. It’s a fantastic way for your company to
interact with your customers.

Many Chat lets you build a Facebook messenger list that you can market to. We started using Many Chat as soon
as it came out. It works great, but over the years, tons of other companies picked it up.

Wheelio App
Something that was working really well a while back was an app called Wheelio. Now, it’s kind of gimmicky,
but when it first came out, it was totally unique!

If Wheelio was on your Shopify store, it was extremely enticing for the customer. Now, it’s outdated. It has been
used by every Shopify store out there.

If you got into eCommerce trends [like Many Chat and Wheelio] early, your Shopify store would stand out.

If you get on marketing eCommerce trends late, you’re just following everyone else. At best, your customers will
be unimpressed. At worst, your potential customers will see your store as behind the curve and gimmicky.

When you're trying to capitalize on eCommerce trends. DON’T focus on products.

They aren’t long term! Sure, you’ll have some short-term wins, but you want to build a long-term business - not
a short-term one.
Using eCommerce marketing trends along with your normal marketing activities (Facebook, Twitter, normal ad
sources etc.) will help you make money in the long-term.

The trick to eCommerce marketing trends is to only spend 20% of your time on the trendy new stuff.

Spend 80% of your energy on the normal ads and marketing sources that YOU KNOW work. That way, if
you catch onto a marketing trend and it stops working, you can still rely on your foundation.

Key eCommerce Trend Takeaways.

1. eCommerce product trends are risky.
2. eCommerce marketing trends are worth investing in.
3. The 80/20 Rule: 80% of your efforts should go toward normal ad and marketing protocol. 20% of your
efforts should go to eCommerce marketing innovation.
4. eCommerce trends are a part of life. Learn what to get excited for, and learn what to ignore.

That’s all for today folks. If you are curious about how to find reliable products to sell, read one of my other
articles here.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out! Drop Ship Lifestyle is here to help!

Feel free to leave some comments below. I’d love to hear from you. Tell me what your favorite marketing tools
are and how they help your business!

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ClickFunnels vs. Shopify: How Both Can Boost Your Drop Shipping Business

Anton Kraly
Anton is a the Founder & CEO of Drop Ship Lifestyle - an online coaching program for
eCommerce entrepreneurs. He began selling online in 2007 and has built and sold multiple
seven-figure businesses while leveraging the power of drop shipping.

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Anton Kraly

Hey Everyone,

As many of you already know I created Drop Ship Lifestyle after selling a network of
eCommerce stores and then trying to find a community of other store owners to network with…
What I found was a bunch of scammers who promised newbies they would get rich quick by
following their push button systems!

This lead me create a new community along with online training that shares how to build a REAL
online business.

I’d love to hear what you think… it’s 10 video training modules designed to help you drop ship
profitably… all for free.

Be sure to click here to check it out and send me your feedback ?

If you go through the “What Is Drop Shipping?” mini-course and still have questions just contact
me and I will help you out.
 Gayle

Love your stuff so far however I am from the UK. Any tips on sourcing dropshipping suppliers. I am
JUST starting out.

Anton Kraly

Hi Gayle,

Part of our Drop Ship Blueprint training program is our “Doing Business Abroad Course”.

That will help you to get set up in UK, or do business in the states

If you’re a member of Drop Ship Lifestyle, you can access the course in your members area.

If you’re not a member yet, you can get enrolled here:

https://www.dropshiplifestyle.com/ecommerce-courses/

Thank you!
Anton

JB

Great article Anton…

Do you give in Drop Ship Lifestyle’s course, all the keys to mastering drop shipping marketing… or
it’s a personal path your customers have to overcome… ?

See you soon

J.B

Anton Kraly

Thanks J.B.!

Inside of the Drop Ship Blueprint (which is the core training program included inside of Drop Ship
Lifestyle), you get premium training videos, worksheets, and tools that take you step-by-step through
the process that I use every time I launch a new high ticket drop ship store.

Our members also get priority support and we’re here to help you throughout your journey should you
ever get stuck.

My goal with the course is to give you all of the keys / secrets / systems that you need for success, but
again, if you get stuck, we are here to help

Thanks!
Anton

Jen

Thanks Anton. This is really smart.

I tried to sell fidget spinners on ebay when they were trendy LOL.

Anton Kraly