5 Things To Consider When Selling Digital Products

Today, being a business owner doesn’t mean that you have to sell physical goods. You, too, can be a business owner by selling digital products.

It can be as simple as a doodle or a cute to-do list template or as complex as an eBook. The possibilities are endless.

Here are 5 things you need to take into account when selling digital products.

Also, check out the things you need to consider when selling physical products.

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1. Digital Store

Since you’re selling digital goods, it makes more sense that you set up a digital store.

This way, everything will be done online from ordering to shipping.

It also makes things simple. You’ll only need a computer to do everything: creating your digital good and sending the digital files to your customers.

There are many ways to set up an online store. Therefore, you need to research thoroughly, learn the pros and cons of each digital store and see which suits your goals and needs. Carefully examine the features or at least, have a list of features that you require and see which digital store meets these requirements.

For example, you could start small by selling via social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. These are probably less expensive. Or you could use platforms like Etsy which already has a market. These are probably more expensive but still affordable (you have access to millions of ready buyers across the globe, rather than finding audiences from scratch). There are also high-end ones like Shopify and WooCommerce. I would recommend these when you earn a stable income from your business.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

2. Digital Products

Precisely because you’re selling digital goods, there are some things that you need to take note of.

Fixed Range or Custom-Made

Similar to physical products, you can choose to sell custom-made or a fixed range of digital products. For instance, you could create a beautiful template and sell it to numerous people. Or create one-of-a-kind art like a portrait or pet drawing that’s only sold to one customer.

Bundles

Rather than selling products one by one, you may consider bundling them and selling them as a package. You can bundle similar digital products or bundle by theme, target audience or purpose. Do take a look at your data and see which items are usually bought together. You can then consider bundling these items and selling them together.

License

Do state clearly in your product description whether the digital good is for personal or commercial use. Provide more details such that your customers know exactly what they can and cannot do with your digital product.

Copyright

As the creator and designer, I think it’s best that you copyright your products. Again, state clearly in the product description that you own the copyright.

Watermark

A watermark is like a digital signature. You may consider adding a watermark to your digital products.

Download Settings

Do think about setting a limit on the number of times customers can download the digital file or the number of days before download links expire.

Photo by Mike on Pexels

3. Delivery

When selling digital products, you won’t have to bubble wrap them as required for physical goods. However, you still need to state clearly how customers will receive their digital products. You can highlight this in the product description.

Here are some examples:

• Digital product will be attached in an email sent to their inbox
• In the order confirmation email, a link to the client portal on your website where they can download the digital product will be included

Do tell customers to check their spam and junk folder or whitelist your email address.

There are other ways to deliver digital products. Just ensure that you communicate this clearly to your customers so they know what to expect after placing an order and making the payment.

Photo by Mediamodifier on Pixabay

4. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

When you’re just starting out, you may only have a few customers and thus, you’ll be able to remember all of them and what they bought. But as your business grows and you gain more customers, you can’t possibly remember everyone.

This is where customer relationship management (CRM) software comes in. With this tool, you can see details about each customer including their data and past activity like what they bought recently.

By collecting data on all customer interactions, you can send personalized offers, access up-to-date customer information and track each customer’s journey through the sales funnel. For instance, you can send targeted emails such as notifying them of your new product (especially since they’ve bought similar products previously) or offer them exclusive discounts and coupon codes for being loyal customers.

5. Security

Although your business will probably be smaller in scale and size, the fact remains that you’re dipping your toes into eCommerce (buying and selling goods and services online).

This means that your key priority should be building credibility and trust. To achieve this, you need to ensure that your customers’ financial and personal data are safe with you. Since you’re selling digital goods online, your payment method will obviously not be cash. Credit cards will probably be the common payment method. Hence, you need to ensure that credit card details are safe with you.

eCommerce solutions like Shopify, Gumroad and Payhip have security features like SSL certificates (enable websites to use https), encryption (ensure that your customers’ data remain secure), piracy prevention, secure payment portals (sensitive details aren’t stored on the servers) and more. If you don’t have expertise in these areas, I strongly recommend that you use these eCommerce solutions when you’re just starting out.

After your business grows, you can then consider hiring your own IT team to create an online store. For example, integrating WooCommerce into your WordPress website. Your IT experts will then be the ones to ensure security.

Photo by pixelcreatures on Pixabay

Now It’s Your Turn

How is your experience selling digital goods? What other things are important when selling digital products online?