Spending tens of millions on advertising but no one buys the product, familiar? I used to be like that. During 10 years of fighting in the e-commerce industry, I realized that finding winning products and best-selling products is not a matter of luck, but a formula that can be learned. This article is not just theory, but all of my experience to help you find the winning product, which determines 70% of the success of an online shop and turns it into a real money-making machine.
First of all, what is "divine" about Winning Product?
Winning Product là gì? Đây là những sản phẩm có nhu cầu thị trường cực cao, biên lợi nhuận tốt và khả năng bán được số lượng lớn trong thời gian ngắn, mang lại doanh thu đột phá cho người kinh doanh.
Many people who are new to online business often wonder what the hot trending product is and whether it is the same as the winning product. In fact, a winning product is far more than a trend that blooms and fades. It is the perfect combination between real customer needs and natural viral capabilities on social networking platforms.
In the online business model, owning such a product helps you easily overcome fierce market competition. It contributes to optimizing advertising costs because the product itself is attractive, causing customers to automatically share it with each other. This is the core of every successful business strategy today. If you're looking for What is dropshipping 2026 starter guide, understanding this core concept is the first and most important step to not going in the wrong direction.
5 GOLDEN criteria of a product that will definitely win big
To have the most accurate way to identify a winning product, you need to evaluate based on 5 core criteria: solving pain, having WOW factor, high profit margin, easy to make viral videos and capable of cross-selling.
More than just a "best seller", it is a product that solves a specific customer "pain".
The true winner must act as a “pain reliever” for a problem that customers are desperately trying to solve every day.
Consumers rarely buy features, they buy solutions to their problems. When conducting market research, I always prioritize items that make life more convenient. For example, an anti-hunchback belt, an ergonomic sleeping pillow or a multi-purpose vegetable chopper are always effective online business ideas. They appeal to the psychology of wanting to save time and protect health. Instead of sitting around scratching your head wondering what profitable products you should sell online, go out and observe what people around you are complaining about the most.
There must be a "WOW" factor - unique, strange, hard to find at your local store so that customers can say "this is so cool!".
The WOW factor creates extreme surprise, stimulates impulsive buying behavior, and makes it impossible for customers to find similar products in local supermarkets.
If customers can run to the grocery store at the corner to buy, they will never patiently wait 3-5 days to receive goods from you. The secret to finding hot trending products is to choose things with extremely unique designs or never-before-seen smart features. Sunset lamps, flame-shaped humidifiers or phone cases that change color according to temperature are typical examples. They have a strong impact on young people's emotional shopping behavior.
The profit margin is thick enough (at least 50-70%) to bear advertising costs and make a profit.
The ideal profit margin for a winning product must be from 50% to 70% (equivalent to x3 markup level) to ensure you still have a net profit after deducting all marketing and operating costs.
Numbers never lie. At Pham Hai, I always emphasize to the students that profit optimization must start from the selling price stage. The latest updated data in March 2026 shows that advertising costs on platforms are increasingly expensive.
If you choose high-margin dropshipping items with an import price of 100,000 VND, you must be able to sell them for at least 300,000 VND. This difference is a solid shield to help you bear shipping costs, return rates and most importantly, money to run ads.
| Cost category | Expected amount (VND) | Percentage (%) on selling price |
|---|---|---|
| Product import price | 100,000 VND | 33% |
| Marketing costs (Ads) | 100,000 VND | 33% |
| Operate, Ship & Complete | 40,000 VND | 13% |
Bảng mô phỏng cấu trúc chi phí cơ bản để đảm bảo biên lợi nhuận an toàn.
Easily create viral, eye-catching video content on TikTok and Facebook.
The product must be intuitive and easily demonstrate its "divine" uses through short videos under 15 seconds to attract viewers' attention immediately.
We are living in an era where Livestream sales and short-videos dominate. No matter how good a product is, if it is difficult to record a demo video, it will be very difficult to push the numbers. How to find hot trending products on TikTok Shop often starts by asking yourself: "Does this item look good on video?". Smart home appliances that change status quickly always possess a natural viral ability, attracting millions of views without you having to "burn" too much of your budget.
Ability to expand, upsell, cross-sell to increase average order value.
The winning product should be in a niche ecosystem, allowing you to cross-sell accessories or higher-end versions to maximize revenue per customer.
You cannot build a sustainable property if customers only buy once and then disappear. When finding potential products for beginners, think about the bigger picture. For example, if you sell mini hand blenders, you can absolutely cross-sell additional thermos water bottles, stainless steel straws or specialized cleaning brushes. This smart approach helps increase average value per order (AOV) significantly.
Where to "hunt" for diamonds? Top 4 sources to find potential products that people in the industry hide very carefully
The 4 most reputable ways to find best-selling products online sources today include: major e-commerce platforms, social network advertising libraries, trend analysis tools and customer reviews.
Searching e-commerce platforms: Amazon Best Sellers, Shopee, TikTok Shop - Open-cast gold mine
Best-selling charts on Amazon, Shopee and TikTok Shop provide real, transparent data on what consumers are willing to pay for right now.
This is where the market's money is actually flowing. The simplest way to find best-selling products on Shopee is to go directly to the "Top Selling" section of each niche category. As of now in 2026, compact smart home devices and vegan skin care cosmetics are leading sales in Vietnam. Similarly, browsing the trends section of TikTok Shop or Amazon will give you an overview of how global consumer trends are shifting.
Use advertising "scout" tools: Surf Facebook Ads Library, TikTok Creative Center to see where your competitors are "burning money", there is a "gold mine".
Using Facebook Ads Library and TikTok Creative Center helps you discover products that your competitors are spending heavily on advertising, proving that they are bringing in very good profits.
No one is crazy enough to spend money running ads for months on end for a product that is losing money. Taking advantage of Facebook Ads Library is an extremely sharp and completely free bestselling product finder tool. Actively search for keywords like "50% off", "free shipping", "buy now".
If you see a promotional video running continuously for more than 7 days with a huge number of comments asking for a "huge" price, you have touched on an extremely potential niche product. Combining with paid platforms like Minea or Kalodata will help the competitor analysis process become much more in-depth and accurate.
Trend analysis tools: Google Trends, Pinterest Trends are compasses indicating the direction of upcoming trends.
Tools like Google Trends help you measure public interest in real time, helping you predict trends that are about to explode before the market is saturated.
Do you want to be at the top of the game? Be friends with Google Trends. This method of analyzing market trends helps you know exactly when demand for a product begins to grow. For example, warmers or mini heaters will start to see a spike in search charts from the end of September. These product analysis tools, although simple, are the secret weapon to hunt for potential dropshipping products before your competitors even notice.
Listen to where customers criticize, there are opportunities: Go to groups, read 1-2 star reviews of competitors to find out what they don't do well.
Reading negative reviews of your competitors' products helps you recognize gaps in quality or service, thereby finding improved sources to replace and dominate the market.
This is a reverse way of thinking but it is surprisingly effective. Go straight to the e-commerce platforms and filter out 1-2 star reviews to read. Customers complain that T-shirts are too thin and easily fluff? Please work with the factory to find a higher quality cotton fabric. Customers complain that electronic devices easily damage batteries? You are looking for an upgraded version with more battery capacity. Sometimes, how to find a winning product is not about inventing something new, but simply doing better than what the market already has.
4-step product testing process for newbies - Reduce risks, increase win rate
The standard 4-step testing process includes: researching competitors, calculating profits, running ads with a small budget and analyzing data to make a decision to expand or stop.
Step 1: Research and Analyze your competitors - Don't copy, find a way to do better.
Before importing goods, create a detailed comparison table of prices, images, media messages and service quality of at least 3 of the strongest direct competitors.
Never rush into the market by copying 100% of your competitors' methods. You need to find your own "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP). Do they use boring static images? Invest in recording lively instructional videos. Do they hire expensive but unnatural KOLs/Influencers? You can use the Micro-influencer network (KOC) to create authenticity and intimacy. Deeply understanding the target market helps you reposition your product in the smartest way.
Step 2: Find the source of goods and calculate profit - Numbers don't lie, you have to make a profit to do it.
Choose a reputable supplier and create a detailed spreadsheet including cost price, shipping fees, packaging costs and expected marketing budget to ensure a net profit margin of over 30%.
Nguồn hàng chất lượng chính là huyết mạch quyết định sự sống còn của shop. Dù bạn bán hàng vật lý thông thường hay làm mảng Print-on-Demand (in theo yêu cầu), hãy đàm phán thật kỹ về thời gian xử lý đơn và chính sách đổi trả hàng lỗi. Tại Phạm Hải, mình luôn khuyên mọi người phải lập bảng Excel tính toán chi li từng đồng một.
If the total cost exceeds 70% of the retail price, feel free to skip that product. To build a systematic system, automate calculations and effectively manage supplies, mastering how to use Shopify to create a dropshipping store from A-Z will help you save dozens of hours of work every week.
Step 3: Run test ads (Test Ads) with a small budget - Use a small amount of money to "test the waters" before "swimming" into the big ocean.
Launch advertising campaigns with small budgets, from 10-20 USD/day for 3 to 5 days to collect real data on customer interest.
This is a vital product testing step to protect your wallet. Absolutely do not rush to import thousands of products to fill the warehouse without knowing whether the market will accept them or not. Create a simple landing page, cut together an attractive promotional video and start running ads. During this sensitive period, applying the MVP product with No-Code validate idea is an extremely wise tactic. It helps you quickly verify the actual needs of the market without spending too much money or time hiring programmers.
Step 4: Read the data and make a decision - Based on indicators such as CTR, Conversion Rate, ROAS to decide to "kill" or "raise" the product.
Analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) such as click-through rate (CTR > 1.5%), conversion rate and return on ad spend (ROAS) to make accurate decisions on whether to scale up or stop.
When doing business, emotions will kill the business, only data analysis can save you. If after 3 days of testing ads, the CTR index (Click Through Rate) is flat below 1% and there are no add-to-carts, definitely "kill" that campaign. On the contrary, if the ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) index is > 2, congratulations, you have successfully found a winning product and a best-selling product. At this point, your job is to slowly increase your advertising budget to scale and optimize operations.
"Money-burning" mistakes to avoid when looking for best-selling products
Avoid these 3 fatal mistakes that can deplete your account: blindly following trends, ignoring core product quality, and misidentifying your target customer profile.
Blindly following trends: Hot products often have a very short life cycle. By the time you import the products, the trend is already gone.
Importing large quantities of products that explode following social network trends poses the risk of huge inventory when the trend suddenly cools down.
Toys like the Fidget spinner or the Squid Game that have become a sensation are clear lessons about business risks. The life cycle of a trend on TikTok is currently extremely short, usually only lasting about 2 to 4 weeks. If you don't own a super-fast supply chain, riding the peak of the trend will leave you with a pile of inventory that cannot be liquidated.
Ignore product quality: No matter how good the marketing is, a product with poor quality will die prematurely because of bad reviews.
Poor product quality will lead to high return rates, a series of 1-star reviews and the risk of having the seller's account permanently locked on e-commerce platforms.
product review score is the life of an online shop. You can use tricks to trick customers into buying for the first time with sparkling promotional videos, but if the goods received are in reality like "rags", they will expose you to all groups. A product with poor quality never has a chance to become a winning product that brings long-term passive income.
Wrong target audience: Wrong targeting not only costs advertising money but also fails to sell products.
Running an advertisement for a high-priced product to a student customer base or completely misaligned interests will waste your entire marketing budget.
Selling combs to monks is just an inspirational parable, not a practical strategy that can be applied. If you are selling a high-end neck massage machine worth 2 million VND but target your advertising to 18-year-old Gen Z, the return result will definitely be a round number 0. Understanding your customer base, their pain points and their ability to pay helps you optimize every ad spend.
Tìm winning product sản phẩm bán chạy là một hành trình dài của sự nghiên cứu tỉ mỉ, thử nghiệm liên tục và tối ưu không ngừng nghỉ. Nó hoàn toàn không phải là một cú ăn may từ trên trời rơi xuống, mà là kết quả xứng đáng của một quy trình làm việc thông minh và dựa trên dữ liệu thực tế. Đừng sợ thất bại, bởi mỗi một sản phẩm "xịt" đều là một bài học đắt giá để bạn tiến gần hơn đến "mỏ vàng" của riêng mình. Quan trọng nhất là, hãy tắt tab này đi và bắt tay vào làm ngay hôm nay!
Have you ever "burned money" on a product that kept running without orders? Please share your bloody story in the comments section below, let's discuss and learn from each other!
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