It’s no secret that the digital age has revolutionized how we live and do business. Just a few decades ago there was no such thing as a digital product. But today, we can find many digital items for sale, including books, courses, invitations, greeting cards, games, and more.
This is a win for both sellers and customers alike because digital products are easy to create and require no manufacturing, shipping, or handling. Plus, customers can access digital products with just a few clicks.
Now, I still do love physical products and they’re my main business model – they’re easy to sell and especially delightful when they’re high margin, like jewelry.
And it’s always fun to diversify. As an ecommerce seller, selling printables and other easy digital downloads is a fantastic strategy to create super-easy-to-manage revenue streams. Below, I want to share ten reasons why digital products can enhance your business in 2022.
Let’s get started…
1. Low barrier to entry
One of the biggest advantages of selling digital products, like printables, is the low barrier to entry. A business selling digital products requires very few startup costs. Unlike brick-and-mortar businesses, you don’t have to worry about renting a space, purchasing inventory, or hiring staff. You can launch a business selling digital products with minimal overhead costs, giving you a greater chance of success.
Plus, a business selling digital products can be run from anywhere in the world, including your living room couch. Whether you’re based in a small town or a big city, you can reach your customers as long as you have an internet connection. This gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility and allows you to tap into markets that may be otherwise inaccessible.
2. Increased customer satisfaction
With digital products, customers don’t have to deal with shipping or delivery delays, and there is no risk of items being damaged in transit. This convenience and peace of mind often lead to increased customer satisfaction. This is also the case because digital products are typically more affordable than physical products, so customers feel like they’re getting a lot of value for their money.
3. Unlimited inventory
When you’re selling printables and other digital products, you don’t have to worry about inventory or storage space. You can sell an unlimited number of items, and you never have to think about stock levels. Selling digital products is a great way to be creative and make extra money without having the hassle of storing and keeping track of items the way you do with physical products.
4. Variety of products
Another awesome thing about selling digital products is they can take on a lot of different forms. For example, you can sell ebooks, online courses, audio products, and, my personal favorite, printables.
I’ve had a lot of success selling various printable items, especially on Etsy. I’ve had success selling printable products like…
- invitations (e.g. birthday parties, showers, weddings, anniversaries, etc.)
- greeting cards (e.g. birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.)
- BINGO games (featuring different themes, including ‘Quarantine BINGO’)
- and SVG files for designers and crafters
(Again, if you want to learn more about how to sell printable products, check out my Low Hanging Mastermind.)
5. Ability to set your own profit margin
When you sell digital products, you can set your profit margins. You don’t have to factor in shipping or base product costs the way you do with physical products, like coffee mugs and shot glasses. With digital products, all you have to consider is the time it took to create the item and how much you think customers would be willing to pay.
(Of course, if you hire an outsourcer to create your digital products, you will need to factor in those expenses when setting your prices.)
However, digital products don’t tend to be big-ticket items. Most customers won’t want to pay a ton for digital downloads. But given how you can sell the same digital product over and over, the revenue you can earn from any single listing can add up over time, even if you only charge $2 or $3 per download.
6. No storage or warehouse fees
There are many benefits to selling digital products, chief among them is the lack of storage and warehouse fees. Unlike physical goods, digital products are stored electronically, meaning there is no need to rent out space to store your inventory. This can save businesses a significant amount of money.
7. Limitless marketability
If you’ve got a great idea for a digital product, you can easily sell it to the entire world. With physical products, you are sometimes limited by things like manufacturing and distribution costs. But when you’re selling printables and other digital products, you have no geographic restrictions. You can reach a global market with ease, and, as previously mentioned, you can do it all from the comfort of your own home.
8. Download time is instantaneous
When customers buy physical products, they have to wait for them to be shipped and delivered. This can take days or even weeks. And sometimes, things can go wrong along the way, and customers’ products arrive damaged. With digital products, on the other hand, these worries don’t exist. Customers receive their purchases immediately after completing their transactions, and they can start using their purchases right away.
9. Lots of opportunities for personalization
Selling digital products offers sellers lots of potential for personalization, which customers love, especially Etsy customers, as personalized products feel more unique and special.
For example, if you sell digital invitations, you can let customers add personal information like names, dates, addresses, and RSVPs. Similarly, if you sell greeting cards, you can let customers add to and from the information or even a special message or image. And if you sell digital games, you can allow customers to add personal touches to the playing pieces.
Offering personalization options is always an awesome way to appeal to customers and help your business stand out from the competition.
10. Easily scalable
Lastly, when it comes to digital products, scaling is easy. With physical products, scaling can be limited by manufacturing capacity and logistics systems. In contrast, digital products can be scaled quickly and easily without these challenges because digital products are always readily available at the click of a button. As a result, they offer a great opportunity for businesses to grow their sales rapidly.
Personally, I love selling printables and other digital products. But I want to know what you think! Leave a comment below and tell me about your experiences with selling digital goods. Also, if you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and followers!
And — I still do love my physical products, especially those with big margins like jewelry.
