E-commerce Goldrush: 7 Hacks and Tools to Identify the Next Viral Product

If there’s one thing successful e-commerce entrepreneurs know, it’s that predicting viral products ahead of competitors is a game-changer. Finding hot products early enables you to build buzz, drive targeted traffic, and significantly boost your sales. However, identifying these trends before they explode requires effective tools and strategic tactics.

In this guide, we’ll explore seven powerful hacks and tools that savvy entrepreneurs rely on to predict viral products before everyone else catches on. First, let’s briefly outline the essential traits of hot, viral products!

Basic Characteristics of Hot and Viral Products

It may not always be a guarantee that a product with certain characteristics will go viral. But you can rely on a few indications to strongly predict that some products will get hot and viral. As such, if you see a product that has the characteristics below, you may want to note them and do some further research:

Innovative solutions that address specific customer pain points
Products with a noticeable “wow factor” or visual appeal
Items already gaining traction on prominent online marketplaces
Novel or highly creative features that set them apart from competitors

Now that you recognise what makes a product hot, let’s dive into proven hacks and tools to spot them early!

7 Secret Hacks and Tools to Predict Hot and Potentially Viral Products

Here are the insider strategies you can leverage today:

1. Identify Trending Topics Using Trend Discovery Tools

There are many tools and platforms for quickly identifying new and trending products. Ideally, you should look for the one that best suits your needs and then use the tool’s filters to narrow down your searches.

For example, you can filter according to category or sales data to discover popular and hot products. Thereafter, you can validate findings by confirming with other sources such as competitor listings and social media buzz. These search demand tools can provide useful insights into hot search terms and products before they go viral.

To discover what’s gaining consumer interest, explore tools like;

At the same time, use advanced paid platforms to fast-track product research. Here are a few of these paid research tools:

2. Monitor Social Media, Influencers, and Thought Leaders

You may keep an eye on trending topics, hashtags, and brand mentions to enable you to quickly spot trending products and rising trends. For example, you can monitor Instagram, Pinterest, and X for buzzworthy items that are gaining traction.

For Pinterest, you can track most pinned products and trend patterns.
Similarly, for Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), you can perform hashtag searches and popular mentions to reveal what products influencers are actively promoting.
Overall, try to be active by interacting with posts, participating in polls, and asking questions. These can help improve your understanding of what excites your customers.
Thereafter, you can analyse the data and insights from social media analytics with a view to spotting trends and products that are garnering interest.

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Knowing what niche influencers are successfully promoting can also help you keep your fingers on the pulse of consumer interests. BuzzSumo is a great tool for tracking influencers in relevant markets. Remember to prioritise high engagement rates over large follower counts.

Leverage Video Search Engines

Another tip on your hunt for trending products is to fish for product insights on video search engines of platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and TikTok.

Content Creators: Search for popular content creators who typically review and promote products within your niche. Check what products are currently trending or about to trend with them.
Trending Videos: Search and analyse trending videos on relevant products within your niche. Check videos that especially garner high engagement, comments, and likes.
Hashtags: Keep hashtags in mind. Searching through trending hashtags can help you spot products that have high views, especially on TikTok.
Hot, Viral, and Fading Products: Pay attention to hot products, viral products, and products that are fading out. This helps to hone your trend forecasting skills.

3. Stay Informed with Niche Publications, Newsletters, Forums, and Blogs

Staying ahead means keeping an ear to the ground in niche communities and publications. You’ll also be more likely to learn what’s buzzing with consumers.

Check social media platforms and online forums such as Reddit to identify communities that are adopting new products. These can provide early signals on what products may get hot. You may search for industry-related keywords.
Be sure to check popular posts and discussions, and identify products that get people excited. The frequency of product mentions in Reddit threads can provide clues.
Feel free to interact actively with the community by posting questions on certain products and participating in discussions.
Leverage RSS feed aggregators to curate recent articles from favourite blogs. Then, scan the articles for trends, patterns, and insight on rising products. Here, you may explore e-commerce blogs and resources such as Exploding Topics, Campaign Monitor, Master Blogging, Search Engine Journal, and Ecwid Blog.

4. Pay Attention to Customer Inquiries and Feedback

It’s almost always all about the customers, so they’re your direct source for pointers on their interests and challenges. Be sure to listen to their inquiries and feedback and spot relevant trends.

Conduct surveys with targeted questions to uncover unmet customer needs. Tools like Hotjar can help analyse feedback.
Pay close attention to product-related inquiries and common issues that customers raise.
Use gathered insights to refine your product selection, aligning directly with revealed consumer desires.

5. Monitor Hot Products on Competitor Websites

Keeping an eye on competitors is crucial for staying ahead:

Regularly review the “Best Sellers” and featured products sections on competitor websites.
Analyse product features, pricing, and unique selling propositions attracting consumer attention.
Examine product bundles and frequently bought items to spot complementary product opportunities.

These can reveal what related products customers are looking at or buying.

6. Analyse Popular E-commerce Platforms and Online Marketplaces

eCommerce platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, eBay, and Etsy are great sources of valuable insights on trending products. Here are some tips on how to go about your hunt for information on hot and viral products:

Subscribe to Relevant Newsletters: These platforms can use this medium to send you information on trending products.
Monitor Best Sellers and New Releases: An example is Amazon’s Best Sellers page, which provides fresh catalogues of trending products. Meanwhile, the ‘New Release’ section can give you insight into what’s gaining traction.
Check Out Seasonal Trends: This can also give you insights on what products are likely to trend or go viral soon.
Check Reviews and Feedback: Identify and check out products with a high volume of customer reviews, feedback, and ratings.
Check Engagement Levels: Products that sell well and also garner great engagement are great indications of products that will go viral in the near future.

Monitor Popular Online Marketplaces

It is also effective to register on popular marketplaces in your hunt for hot and potentially viral products. Next, you can check out their dedicated pages that showcase their best-selling products. Remember to use filters such as industry and location to narrow searches to your target market. Here are some popular marketplaces to try out:

7. Test and Implement Findings Strategically

To somewhat borrow from and amend a popular saying, “what is good for the goose may not be good for the gander,” at least in this case. You may have successfully identified a potential viral product. But there are a few things to do to test and implement findings.

Conduct small-scale tests to validate consumer interest and demand, using Google Trends for verification.
Launch small initial batches before committing large-scale inventory.
Continuously refine product selections based on direct customer feedback and real-time market insights.
Work closely with multiple reliable suppliers to maintain flexibility and minimise stock shortages.

Unlocking Opportunities in E-commerce Goldrush with Trend Prediction

The world of e-commerce is a fast-paced one, and you need to have the ability to predict and capitalise on hot products before they go viral. You can leverage the insights and tools outlined in this guide to stay ahead of market trends and align your product offerings with consumer demands. Remember to regularly monitor social media, analyse competitor activities, and engage with audiences. Also, use the insight gained to keep refining your strategies. Ultimately, you’ll be better able to tap into emerging trends, drive traffic, and boost sales.

Ready to dive deeper into the world of e-commerce and elevate your online presence? Head over to Exclusive Blueprint! Our blog is brimming with actionable insights, the latest trends, and essential tools tailored to help you master e-commerce strategies, boost your engagement, and enhance your brand visibility.

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