Top 5 Benefits of Selling Digital Products

Digital products have found a place in the e-commerce industry. Despite the economic fluctuations plaguing the economy, the market of digital products is growing exponentially and making a lot of success so much that entrepreneurs are making the switch to the digital commerce industry and creating profitable business for themselves.  

If you’re ready to take a plunge into the entrepreneurship world, creating and selling digital products is a great place to start. You’ll be putting your skills to good use and building wealth by the side too. And no matter the industry you’re in, you will always find opportunities to create and sell products. Here’s a compiled list of 5 key benefits to motivate you to start creating and selling your digital products:

1. Low overhead costs

This bears repeating because we love businesses that require fewer resources to start. Unlike physical products that involve many costs to keep it running, digital products barely require the costs associated with a brick-and-mortar-based business. You don’t have to deal with rent (you can sell from the comfort of your couch in your one-room apartment), electricity bills, warehousing your products, and shipping and handling costs.

With digital products, you barely require paid staff, as many things like communications and customer accounts can be automated, even to the delivery of your products. Generally, running a digital products-based business requires lower overhead than a physical-based business.

2. Low barrier to entry

One major and common challenge of a physical-based business is a higher barrier to entry. A physical product-based business will leave you at the mercy of suppliers, the government, warehouses, marketers, shipping carriers, customs, and the likes. It’s stressful having to deal with finding the right suppliers for your product who might tell you to buy a certain amount of supplies before they sell to you, or with regulatory hurdles that prevent startups from operating the market.

Selling digital products means evading all these hurdles, which means the only investments you need to get started are your skills, a website, and an online payment system that allows you to receive payment with ease like PayPal or Stripe. With digital products, you have the luxury of flexibility and control over your time, as you can create and sell at your own pace without consulting anyone. You’re literally your own boss.

3. You’ll never run out of stock

Due to the nature of a physical product-based business, running out of stock is totally inevitable. Stock-outs can damage a business in three ways: first, you won’t make sales, which means no money. Second, it affects your brand reputation/brand loyalty, and third, you lose your customer who opts for your competitor. Running out of stock will hurt your reputation, even your search engine rankings – it’s as bad as that.

Digital product-based businesses have nothing to do with stocks, as the original file never runs out, no matter how many times it is duplicated and downloaded. You and your customers do not need to worry about items running out of stock, except if you decide to impose a limitation on the number of copies you want to be sold. Digital products have an unlimited shelf life, and for many years to come will continually bring in a consistent passive income to you.

4. A high-profit margin

One huge advantage digital products have over physical products is profit. Every single physical product produced has a cost associated with it. From creation to shipping, the costs of materials and other factors involved in physical products are high and might not make up for the selling price. On the other hand, in selling digital products, there are fewer costs associated with it. Most business activities are integrated into the digital realm, which means skipping out of most expenses, which leads to a higher profit margin.

5. They last forever

Unlike physical products that have a limited shelf life and will be ultimately trashed after their expiration dates, or can be destroyed during a disaster – as they are susceptible to fire, smoke, and water – bringing losses to the business owner, digital products have an infinite shelf life. You can rest assured knowing that your products are not subject to wear, tear, or deterioration. Digital products remain the exact way as the day they were purchased. You also get to update them from time to time as you gain new knowledge or skills.

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Featured image: istockphotos