6 Items to Sell Online in May 2021

The DealNews Seller's Guide

Welcome to the DealNews Seller's Guide. Today we’ll talk about six of the best items to sell online in May 2021. What products resonated with DealNews readers last May, and will they be popular again this year?

People bought a lot of stuff online last May — and that's putting it mildly. According to Adobe's Digital Economy Index for May 2020, "e-commerce shopping levels during April to May were higher than what retailers saw during the 2019 holiday season." Consumers' online spending reached 153 billion dollars last April and May; that's seven percent higher than the amount people spent online during the last two months of 2019.

But what were people actually shopping online for in May? And what does that mean for Marketplace sellers this year? We looked at which items resonated with DealNews readers in May 2020, and will tell you about six of the best items to sell online this May.

Let's kick things off with home improvement supplies.

We don't know if our readers were inspired by round-the-clock HGTV viewing or a general desire to DIY, but they made home improvement items the most popular product category in May 2020. So these items could be a safe bet, if you're wondering what to sell in May. Last year, readers gravitated toward supplies like super glue gel, vinyl electrical tape, vacuum-hose attachments for cleaning dryer vents, and door-seal strips.

The second category to consider listing in May is household products.

Getting shoppers hooked on an item they must replace on a regular basis can be a boon for sellers. And household products definitely fit into this category. Household items that were popular with our readers last May included toilet bowl cleaner, which was also popular in March, along with double-A batteries, lithium coin batteries, freezer and snack bags, and even ant killer.

Let's move on now to the third thing to sell in May, which is dental products.

Lots of our readers were apparently focused on their dental hygiene in May 2020. And selling dental products could be a smart bet, as people must care for their teeth and gums every month of every year. Last May, DealNews readers went for items such as waxed dental floss, toothpaste for sensitive teeth, and two-packs of vibrating toothbrushes. Dental care items require periodic replacement, just like household products. That gives them extra appeal.

Going hand in hand with the home improvement category from earlier are tools and related items.

In May 2020, our readers were drawn to clamps, nitrile-coated and nylon work gloves, safety goggles, and sharpeners for lawn mower blades, among other products.

It's no surprise that tools ranked among our most popular categories last May. According to a report from Mastercard, in-store and online U.S. hardware sales were up 36-point-two percent in that month compared to May 2019. This could mean that tools and related items may not be as big of a draw in May 2021, but that remains to be seen.

Another type of product to sell in May is plant and lawn care items.

Many folks took up gardening last year in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and this hobby shows no signs of slowing down in 2021. A survey from Axiom Marketing found that 86 percent of homeowners plan to continue gardening this year. What's more, 47 percent of the people surveyed said they'll plant more and expand their garden spaces this coming season.

So what garden items should you sell? Popular items with our readers last May included indoor plant food spikes, crabgrass-control products, bug-control lawn spray, and grass seed mixes, not to mention garden decor.

The final item we'll talk about today is one we're all familiar with, and that's groceries.

Online grocery buying boomed in 2020, and if consumers keep purchasing food online, that could be a big opportunity for Marketplace sellers. According to the Mastercard report we mentioned earlier, U.S. grocery sales were up nine-point-two percent year-over-year in May both online and in-store. Mastercard states that "this is the strongest grocery sales volume for the month of May in SpendingPulse history."

The best grocery items to sell can be hard to pinpoint, but among the trending items with our readers last year were yellow corn, tins of butter cookies, bags of trail mix, instant yeast, and breakfast cereal.

That's all for this edition of the DealNews Seller's Guide. If you liked what you heard, be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss a new one. And if you want to learn how you can turbocharge your Marketplace revenue and gain access to the exclusive DealNews traffic network, head to advertise.DealNews.com, or send an email to [e-mail].

Thanks for listening!

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