Easy to get into and offering unlimited opportunities to grow, selling digital or physical products is a fantastic way to strike gold as an online entrepreneur.
Whether you dream of scaling up your online empire or finding a lucrative side hustle that brings in the big bucks, this is a space you need to know about.
Of course, selling online can be hugely challenging. From creating or sourcing irresistible products to mastering marketing and building a loyal customer base, it demands time and effort. But the rewards? Absolutely worth it!
The good news is that there are an increasing number of AI tools and platforms that can make your journey to financial freedom much faster and simpler. What’s not to like?
So, here’s a look at how AI can support your efforts to make even more money by selling products online.
What Can AI Do For You?
The AI (or artificial intelligence) market has exploded – and shows no sign of slowing.
Globally, the market is expected to grow from $298bn in 2024 to a whopping $1.47tn (that’s trillion!) by the end of the decade.
In recent years, AI has spread into all areas of life and business, with the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT giving everyone the ability to harness its power.
So, what can it do? Using algorithms, machine learning, and data, AI achieves what usually takes hours or days in just a few seconds.
But that’s not all. This automation improves productivity and gets repetitive tasks done, saving you time and effort.
In the ecommerce world, eBay and Amazon are among the giants which were early adopters of AI to improve the customer experience.
When it comes to selling more products online, the main ways that AI can help you are:
- Creating products to sell
- Making it easy for customers to find products
- Streamlining the supply chain
- Marketing and advertising (including social media)
Just as the AI market is growing, so is the revenue generated by ecommerce firms that use the tech.
Need proof? A report by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimates that using AI can increase revenue by an eye-catching 20%. Meanwhile, Amazon’s AI-powered recommendation engine is behind 35% of its annual sales. Not bad, huh?
If you’re building an online business, you need all the help you can get. So, we’ve set out how you can harness the power of AI to supercharge your sales and get those dollars rolling in.
Creating Your Own Products With AI
If you want to create digital products to sell online, AI has your back, giving you the ultimate power and flexibility to develop a unique online business.
Whatever your experience level, AI-powered tools are available that can turn your dream of making and selling your own digital products into a reality.
More products to sell = more money
You can respond to customer demand or trends and seamlessly add products to your catalogue. The types of digital content AI can create include:
Ebooks
One of the main uses of AI is writing. While this has advantages, it’s not all plain sailing.
AI is good for helping with structuring, design, and generating ideas. If you want to create blog posts to promote your ebook, AI can also summarize your chapters and help with social media promotion.
Of course, AI tools can generate a massive amount of written content in lightning quick time, but this isn’t the same as writing a quality ebook which has value for readers.
Proofreading, editing and personalization are all important tasks which AI cannot fully replicate. You also need to be wary of plagiarism and incorrect research.
In short, be sure to check AI’s work before you hit that “publish” button.
Get inspired! Read how Joseph Popelas used Whop to make a cool $15k selling ebooks created with AI.
AI platforms & tools to try: Jasper.ai; Rytr; Designrr.io
Digital art
Another popular product AI can create is digital art. AI tools in this space turn your ideas into artwork and designs in no time, so you have more to sell.
If you can think it, AI can make it. This gives you the power to create something that people will pay for, gifting you a fun and potentially lucrative business.
How can digital art make you money? As well as selling individual prints on sites like Etsy or ArtFinder, you can sell downloadable and print on demand products on platforms such as Printful and Printify.
There are also opportunities to put your art on to physical products, including t-shirts, mugs and home furnishings.
The sky’s the limit!
AI platforms & tools to try: DALL-E; Midjourney; Adobe Firefly
Design & graphics
As well as art, AI tools can create things like templates, logos and wallpapers.
Easy to generate and sell, these are all great ways to add a standalone side income stream to your online business.
It can also complement other offerings, such as adding logo design to your marketing services.
Like art and writing, be aware of relevant copyright issues.
AI platforms & tools to try: Adobe Sensei; Designs.ai; Looka
Courses
The demand for e-learning is huge. If you’re already in this space or want to take a slice of the pie, AI can help you get your courses out there and maximize your earning potential.
This leaves you free to focus on growing your student base and developing even more great learning content.
Whatever your niche or topic, AI can take over the heavy lifting, including course design and authoring.
So, you can offer students a slick and easy-to-use experience they will love and shout about to their friends and followers.
AI platforms & tools to try: Coursebox; Steppit; CourseAI
Sound
From original music to sound effects, audio AI tools help you to create sounds which can make you money.
You can sell your music on platforms including Bandcamp and SoundCloud. Alternatively, try Motion Array and Content Creator Templates for selling sound effects. Some creators work directly with companies to create bespoke sounds.
Again, copyright issues can come into play. This extends to using AI to replicate well-known voices, which should be avoided.
AI platforms & tools to try: AI Music Generator; MyEdit; Loudly
Using AI to Find Products to Sell
Maybe you’d rather cash in by selling products than making your own? AI is good for this, too.
For example, you can use AI tools to analyze customer reviews and even research trending products to find out what people want.
On a basic level, you can open ChatGPT and input a query like: which 10 products are in highest demand on social media?
You get results that look like this:
You can focus on products in a specific niche or price point to get more precise ideas:
Going further, AI tools can do a deeper dive into stats to give you real insight that can drive up your online sales.
Tools like these save you wasting your time trying to sell stuff which has low demand or lean profit margins.
All of this can help you to source the most popular and profitable products that people will be (virtually) lining up to buy.
AI platforms & tools to try: SmartScout; SaleHoo Labs; Koala Inspector
Automating Your Processes With AI
Another way in which AI can help you sell more online is to streamline your processes, taking over some tasks and making others simpler.
How you use AI to automate your sales process will depend on the type and scale of your online business. But here are a few examples:
Data analysis
One thing that’s a cinch to AI is analyzing huge amounts of data. When it comes to ecommerce, data can help you to:
- Personalize customer offers
- Improve customer engagement
- Cut churn rate
- Set optimal pricing levels
- Predictive analysis
- Find out real-time activity
- Identify ways to grow sales
While knowing your numbers is crucial when selling products online, the level of analysis you need will depend on the size of your business.
Some AI tools will provide data which is simply too granular and in-depth for your needs.
Plus, the platform you use to sell your products will offer some level of data analysis, which might be AI-driven. So, using a standalone tool may be overkill when you’re building your business.
AI platforms & tools to try: Dema.ai; Pecan AI; Triple Whale
Social media
If keeping up with your business’ social media is a hassle, let AI take over its management.
AI can schedule posts, produce social media content, and find out the kind of stuff that gets most traction among your potential customers.
Having a strong, engaging and regularly updated social media presence is an important way to grow any business - but it’s also a huge time suck.
AI can keep you connected to your customers while you’re busy counting the money you’ve made.
AI platforms & tools to try: Buffer AI Assistant; FeedHive; Flick
Marketing
AI has lots of applications in marketing. At a basic level, it can take over content creation tasks to help you promote your products.
In particular, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used by ecommerce firms to save time by creating things like:
- Product descriptions
- Routine content
- SEO copywriting
- Images
- Translation (for selling in multiple languages)
At a more advanced level, AI tools can be used to analyze marketing campaigns and get insights into your niche.
It even has a use in the world of influencer marketing, helping you to connect with people who can give your sales a massive boost.
AI platforms & tools to try: Surfer SEO; Notion AI; Zapier; Influencity
Customer service
If you need to ship to customers or interact with them, AI tools can assist you in giving a smoother experience.
It provides customers with a constant presence so they can contact you at any time and get a response. This frees you up from the routine stuff, which is AI’s biggest plus.
AI customer service tools can automate responses via your social media, website or WhatsApp. Options are text-based, live chat, and voice assistants.
A further trend is conversational AI, which lets shoppers chat with the tech like they would with a sales assistant in a store.
Beyond direct customer interaction, AI can automate workflows and create a searchable resource base (such as an FAQ page).
For physical products, AI can handle tasks like inventory management and order tracking.
AI platforms & tools: Chatfuel; Zendesk; ChatSpot; SoStocked
Overall, while it can’t replace everything, you can think of AI a bit like an assistant who works for you 24/7. It makes your business more efficient, productive and responsive – all of this means more sales and bigger profits.
But if you really want to maximize your online sales, there’s another tool you need to know about….
Ramp Up Your Online Sales With Whop
There’s no doubt that AI is a great tool that helps you get more done and gives you more options than ever to get your online business up and running. But when it comes to connecting with customers and boosting sales, you still need a platform that works hard for you. Enter Whop.
We’re a one-stop shop for online entrepreneurs to find their passion and maximize their income.
If you sell any type of digital product or service, you can grow faster with Whop. Whop handles everything from payment processing, to customer service, to digital fulfillment and more. Plus, there are no memberships fees to use Whop - just a 3% cut of your sales. Whop doesn't make money unless you make money, and gives you everything you need to create a thriving business.
With Whop (And AI) by Your Side, There’s Never Been a Better Time to start selling online.
