Choosing products is where most beginners spend too long, and often choose by what looks exciting. A better way is to choose by what Sri Lankans actually buy, and what you can sell honestly. Here are seven tests, based on our data from about 5,000 orders.
Test 1: Is it in a category people buy?
In real Sri Lankan online shops, the best-selling categories were:
- home and living
- kitchen
- car accessories
- gadgets and electronics
- beauty
- baby products
You don't have to stay inside this list, but starting here means you are working with what people already look for.
Test 2: Is the price in the comfortable range?
The middle order was about Rs 1,950, and 9 in 10 items sold cost between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000.
Remember the customer also pays delivery, usually around Rs 450. A Rs 500 item with Rs 450 delivery feels expensive. A Rs 8,000 item from someone they met online feels risky. The middle range feels right to most buyers. More in the Rs 1,000–3,000 sweet spot.
Test 3: Does it make sense on its own?
9 in 10 orders were a single item. Choose products that are useful alone, not ones that only work with three other things. Bundles sound good, but most people buy one thing.
Test 4: Does it solve an everyday problem?
The easiest products to sell answer a small daily annoyance: a messy kitchen drawer, a phone that slides around in the car, a baby bottle that's hard to clean. If you can say the problem in one sentence, you can sell it in one sentence.
Try finishing this line:
"If you've ever been annoyed by ___, this ___."
If you can't fill the gaps, the product will be hard to explain.
Test 5: Can you show it in a few seconds?
People decide fast on WhatsApp Status and TikTok. A product you can show working in a short video, or understand from one photo, sells more easily than one that needs a long explanation. Check the photos and videos MyKade gives you for each product.
Test 6: Will they need it again?
Buyers of everyday items they use up, such as packaging, cleaning and beauty products, reordered about 4 times as often as gadget buyers (about 11% vs 3% within two months). A product people come back for gives you repeat customers, and repeat customers return far fewer parcels. See products people buy again and again.
Test 7: Is it right for your people, and worth it for you?
Think about who you actually know. Many young parents? Baby products. Friends who drive? Car accessories. People who love cooking? Kitchen items.
Then look at the product page: your price, the suggested selling price and your profit. Ask yourself whether the profit is worth a confirmation call and a few messages. If it's very small, choose something else. How to read a MyKade product page explains each number.
A quick scoring sheet
Give each product one point for every yes:
- It's in a popular category.
- It sells for Rs 1,000–3,000.
- It's useful on its own.
- It solves a problem I can describe in one sentence.
- I can show it in a short video or one photo.
- People will need it again.
- It suits people I know, and the profit is worth my time.
Products with 5 or more points are good candidates to start with.
Test, then focus
Pick three products that score well. Share each one for a week. Notice which one gets questions, not just likes. Keep that one, and swap out the others. Over time you will find one or two products you can explain really well, and that is usually where most of your orders come from.
Choose your first three
You don't need to get it perfect. You need to get started and learn from real questions. Download the MyKade app, browse the products, and run your first three through these tests tonight.