To be successful in the long term, you need to find product niches with enough room for newcomers to thrive. Typically, that means selling products with sufficient demand, but relatively little competition that would otherwise drown out your chance to profit—or creating a brand-new product that consumers didn’t even know they needed.

In 2021, second-shift digital entrepreneurship isn’t exactly a new phenomenon—but it is more popular than ever. To help you get started, let’s go over some of this year’s top e-commerce business ideas. We’ll highlight popular product categories and offer specific examples of profitable products based on what people are buying and selling in 2021.


1. Natural pet toys and treats

There’s a new trend toward “natural” pet toys and treats that use “clean” or unusual ingredients, unbleached cotton and BPA-free plastics. Here’s an example: these yak milk chew toys. Despite being visually unappealing to everyone except the dog, they’re selling like hotcakes.
  • Pros: Not only are pet products lucrative, they’re fun to product-test (if you like petting cute, fuzzy animals, that is). One third of U.S. consumers consider their pets a priority in their lives, and 50% of these pet lovers plan to buy supplies like food, toys, and beds on the internet.
  • Cons: Lots of other people also want to sell pet products. The good news is that the sheer variety of pets and their individual entertainment and maintenance needs translates to many sub-niches.

2. Stylish cat trees

I think I speak for many people when I say that standard-issue, carpeted cat tree/jungle gym/climbing towers are unforgivably ugly. There’s a market for sleeker versions for design-conscious pet parents, but the offerings tend to be expensive.

3. Books on self care

The same goes for their mental health—nearly half of all consumers have made it a focus area in 2021. Selling high-converting titles on wellness and spiritual solutions to self care is a profitable move.
  • Pros: Given consumers’ interest in health and wellness and spirituality in 2021, it should be no issue to sell used books covering nutrition, cooking, and religion. Once you’ve exhausted your home library, try browsing secondhand sites like eBay, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace, where you can find entire lots of used books for low prices.
  • Cons: You’ll have to do some research to make sure you’re listing books that actually sell well online. You can do that by checking a given title’s Best Sellers Rank on Amazon—the higher the rank, the more sales the listing earns.

4. Books on nutrition and diet

Consumers’ interest in their physical health and well-being has jumped in the past several months. This means they’re looking for advice on what to eat, as evidenced by the sales performance of nutrition books on Amazon.

5. Vaccine-related gear

If you’ve read our article on the wild success of shirts, hats, masks, and pins emblazoned with the phrase “Hug me, I’m vaccinated,” then you’re aware that people want to convey their health status through fashion. There’s still plenty of time to jump in on this trend—or to create some other COVID-related gear.
  • Pros: Clothing is the top category for online shopping in 2021—49% of U.S. consumers plan to buy their clothing on Amazon or from other online retailers this year. People may be leaving home less frequently, but they still want to feel good in what they’re wearing.
  • Cons: It’s the top consumer category, meaning lots of other sellers will jump on board to take advantage of its popularity—and that’s not even addressing existing clothing sellers. You can succeed in selling clothes on Amazon, but it’s imperative that you find a unique angle.