This is a question that is asurprisingly easy thing to overlook until you’re actually getting your PNGsready and thinking, “wait…how many products should I have in my shop?”
Truth is, there is no one magic number of how many items = the perfect amount of items for your shop. From the audience to the product to the parent site, there are a ton of variables that come into play when deciding the right amount for your shop.
So, to cut through the conflicting info out there, here are a few guidelines to help you figure out the magic number of items that would be best for you.
BALANCE HOW MANY PRODUCTS
Columbia University did an experiment to see whether or not “too much of a good thing” was indeed a real thing. Customers were offered a choice of six different jams in one location, and 24 flavors of jam in the other. Those at the six choices location were 40% more likely to actually throw down cash and buy some jam vs 3% faced with 24 choices.
Having too many choices makes it exhausting (and overwhelming) to narrow down your options, but also might tip-off customers that you’re not confident enough to offer the best of your best. It’s all about striking a balance between having enough to give people a choice, but not having so many that people get overwhelmed and click to the next shop.
For more on this experiment, check out this breakdown, and this shopify post.
Roughly Magic Initial Numbers
Like I said, there’s no one magic number for how many designs to have in your shop. But the golden range seems to be around 6-12 items to start with. Discussions on sites like Etsy talk about listing 100s of items at a time, because that’s how your shop gets noticed quicker on Etsy. But remember the jam experiment – you don’t want to overwhelm people, and you don’t want it to look like you’re not confident in your product. Not to mention, you want to keep interest up by adding new products here and there to keep people coming back to your shop for more. So rather than adding all of your products at once…hold some back (see next section).
If you want to see what others have said, check out Liz Marie’s Blog, and/or these Etsy forums (1, 2, 3),
Keep Adding New Items
Adding new items keeps interest up for existing customers. New items increase urgency and the desire to be the “first” to have it. New items alsoattractnew customers — you never know when a product might appeal to fresh eyes in a new way, even though those eyes might not have given previous inventory a second glance. It also plays into the frequency theory. Sometimes all you have to do is ask more than once to achieve a sale. By holding inventory back and adding a little at a time, you’re also achieving frequency and statistically increasing your odds of making a sale. Finally,you want to keep your brandfresh, new, and updated, and adding product at regular intervals shows you’re active and involved with your shop and creates news.
To avoid spreading yourself too thin, check out this shopify post.
Curate Products for Your Customers
One thing that kept popping up everywhere was “don’t be Amazon.” When you offer too many products, sure, more people might visit. But in the jam experiment, while the place offering more jams did attract more actual customers, it elicited fewer sales…which is the whole idea, right? For people to actually buy your stuff? The designs you add should 1: be your best selections and 2: should be things that cater to your audience. Curating builds your brand (you know who you are versus the whole throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall method) and in turn builds customer loyalty(your fans know who you are and what they’re getting when they shop at your store — you have an artistic point of view that your fans know and love). This shows that you know what they like and are confident that these items you’ve selected are things that they’ll like. Then the shopping experience transforms from deciding if there’s one your customer likes to choosing which one(s) they like best.
For more info on how to curate for your audience – and how many products to include in general –Demac Media has a great guide.
We’re an artist community built on the power of helping each other succeed — if you’re reading this and have tips of your own to share, please do so in the comments! Thank you!
FAQs
Like I said, there's no one magic number for how many designs to have in your shop. But the golden range seems to be around 6-12 items to start with.
How many products should I have on Shopify? ›
You don't want to overwhelm your customers with too many choices, but you also want to ensure you offer them enough variety. So, how much inventory should an online retail store carry? In the best-case scenario, 10 to 20 products are a good choice.
How many SKUs should I start with? ›
However, if you're just establishing your new brand, my strong advice is to start with up to 6 SKUs, making plans for additional items in the pipeline. This can help you build your strategy for at lest the first year. During this year, you learn what your clientele is looking for, and offer them appropriate products.
How many items should I have on my dropshipping store? ›
Is there an ideal number of products to start with when dropshipping? I'd recommend kicking things off with a manageable range, maybe around 20-50 products. It helps you keep things focused and easier to handle in the beginning.
How many products should an ecommerce site have? ›
A good starting point is to aim for 10-20 products per collection, depending on the size of your inventory and the category of products you're featuring. This number allows you to showcase your range of offerings while still keeping your collection organized and easy to browse.
What is the ratio for Shopify products? ›
When it comes to Shopify, the ideal aspect ratio for product images is 1:1. This ensures that your images are perfectly square, which is optimal for display on all devices. With a 1:1 aspect ratio, you'll never have to worry about your product images being stretched or distorted.
How many products can I have with basic Shopify? ›
The number of products that you can sell in your Shopify store isn't restricted. You aren't charged based on how many online visitors go through your store or how many files or photos you upload.
What is the 80 20 rule for SKUs? ›
The 80/20 principle says that 20% of your SKUs will account for 80% of your sales. My guess is that this is true for your business.It is also possible that 10% or less of your SKUs account for 80% or more of your sales.
How many products should I start with on Etsy? ›
Discover how Craftybase is the Etsy inventory software you've been missing out on: track raw materials and product stock, COGS, pricing and much more. It's your new production central. Very generally speaking, as a starting point you should consider starting with somewhere between 5-20 different products.
What is the ideal number of SKUs? ›
(Most respondents in my interviews indicated that their ideal number is between 50-200). Consumers are also more likely to purchase from smaller assortments when these assortments are curated to include the most attractive options from a larger assortment (Chernev).
It is possible to start a dropshipping company for as little as $100, making it a good option for those keen on bootstrapping a new venture. Best of all, dropshippers can sell a full range of products without ever having to purchase or hold any inventory.
Can you make 7 figures in dropshipping? ›
A 7-figure Shopify dropshipping store is an e-commerce business that operates using the Shopify platform and has generated sales totaling at least seven figures, which means millions of dollars in revenue. In dropshipping, this revenue typically comes from selling products online without physically stocking inventory.
Can you make 10000 by dropshipping? ›
Focusing on high-ticket dropshipping can accelerate your journey to earning $10,000 a month. This involves selling fewer but more expensive items, which can simplify inventory management and reduce the number of transactions needed to reach your income goal.
What is the rule of 7 in ecommerce? ›
The Rule of 7 asserts that a potential customer should encounter a brand's marketing messages at least seven times before making a purchase decision. When it comes to engagement for your marketing campaign, this principle emphasizes the importance of repeated exposure for enhancing recognition and improving retention.
What is the most profitable ecommerce products? ›
Table of Contents
- Online Specialty Food Ordering.
- Dessert Boxes Store.
- Brand-Name Fashion Reselling.
- Sell Plants Online.
- Sell Collectibles Online.
- Make Natural Cosmetic Products for Selling.
- Home Decor.
- Ideology-Based Products.
To begin with, there is no hard and fast rule for selecting the inventory size for your online store. This is because it varies with every business, product, and business level.
What size business is Shopify good for? ›
Shopify for small business is irreplaceable; while those businesses may be small in size, their needs aren't and Shopify can meet them all. Easy to use yet with plenty of features to support business growth, affordable and scalable, Shopify eCommerce platform is a great solution for small business owners.
How many active products do I have on Shopify? ›
Check Your Total Shopify Store Product Count
This is the fastest way to check how many products are on your Shopify store. In your admin dashboard, simply head over to your “all products” page by clicking Products in the sidebar. Add /count. json onto the end of the URL, and hit Enter.
Is it good to have multiple Shopify stores? ›
The answer is that you can have as many Shopify stores as you want — it all depends on what your business needs. There are various reasons as to why a business would have Shopify multiple stores. It could be that they sell vastly different products, or one store is B2B and the other a B2C.
Is there a limit to how many products you can have on Shopify? ›
No, Shopify has no limits on no limits on how many products you can. You'll quickly find, however, that there are limits on how many customers you can cost-effectively bring to your site and convert to buyers.
