Digital products are becoming increasingly popular every day. Year after year, we’ve seen growth in purchases made through eecommerce, but now there's also a rapid rise in the sale of goods available exclusively in digital form. The global digital goods market is expected to reach $123.29 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $415.73 billion by 2030. Many entrepreneurs, influencers, and creators are turning to digital products - and there are good reasons for that.
In this article, we will not only focus on selling digital products online but also take a closer look at specific products and tools that make it easier to create and sell products online. Let’s see!
What are digital products?
Digital products are on the rise, with new options being added regularly. Because these are non-physical items delivered electronically, they’re usually available immediately. The process excludes postal delivery - payments and product access are handled entirely through digital means, such as Stripe for payments and emails with direct links to the product.
What are some examples of digital products?
- Ebooks - not just novels, but also ebooks with recipes or topic-specific ones, such as marketing ebooks (email marketing for example).
- Webinars - with paid access.
- Paid newsletters - often packed with well-researched, high-quality content.
- Digital templates - for example, email templates, spreadsheets, work blueprints, CVs, or worksheets.
- Mobile apps - downloadable via app stores.
- Digital art - such as printable posters.
- Online courses - covering a wide range of topics.
- Stock photography - images available for purchase and download.
- Music - digital tracks or albums.
- Plugins and themes - for example, WordPress plugins (e.g., SMTP plugins) or custom themes.
All of these are offered by individual creators or companies as digital goods. Think about it - how many of them have you already bought in the past few months?
Why is selling digital products convenient?
Digital products have the advantage that they aren’t limited to large companies - nowadays, almost anyone can create and start selling them. Of course, it still requires some knowledge, ideas, and tools, but the barrier to entry is relatively low.
Digital goods stand out from physical ones because they can be endlessly reproduced without added manufacturing costs. This makes them very appealing to entrepreneurs who want scalable businesses. Although the initial production may involve expenses like software, your time, and distribution fees, the product can be sold multiple times, enabling steady income for an extended period, such as with digital courses or art.
When it comes to selling digital products, there are plenty of helpful tools and marketplaces available. If you want to set up an advanced course store, Moodle could be ideal. Platforms such as eBay, Etsy, and Allegro provide straightforward ways to sell digital items. Additionally, many other options make listing and promoting your products simple.
Sales can take place anytime, day or night. Your ecommerce store can accept orders not only during office hours but also while you’re sleeping. The product stays available as long as your shop or marketplace is operational, especially if it’s simple enough to not require much customer support. This makes it very convenient for customers as well!
How to create your own digital products?
We already know why it’s so popular; now let’s focus on how you can start creating digital products. First of all, think about what you want to sell. What skills or knowledge can you share and monetize? What experience do you have that is documented? How much could it be worth for the target group? Who would be willing to pay for it? Some product ideas have already been shared with you, but the key is to offer something valuable that appeals to buyers.
The easiest way to start is by finding your niche. It’s quite difficult to grow in highly saturated markets if you don’t have anything unique to offer. For example, there are so many Google Ads training courses being sold by well-known industry experts that it will be hard for you to break through with your new course unless you have impressive success and experience. Even then, you’ll likely have to compete on price, at least in the beginning.
With a product that is just starting to gain popularity, you might be able to get ahead of the boom and become a trendsetter. A good example of this is AI specialists - tech-savvy pioneers who believed that AI would be the next 'big thing' in marketing and programming. They spent time testing new tools and developing their skills with prompts, etc. Now, they sell courses and prompts based on their experience and the knowledge people need to stay up-to-date.
If you still have no idea what to sell, you’ll need to do more advanced research. For example, use tools like Google Trends or Etsy to find bestsellers and see what’s happening in the market. Maybe that will ignite the spark and inspire you to create a specific product.
Once you’ve chosen your product, it’s important to identify your competitors. Learning about their quality standards, pricing strategies, and marketing campaigns will support you in developing your own approach. This knowledge can also simplify your choice of ecommerce platform by revealing what’s commonly used in your niche - sometimes it’s worth it just to get inspired by others!
And finally - create your product! Use the appropriate tools depending on the product type, such as Canva, Affinity Publisher to design something special, OBS, or Tella for video courses, and Elastic Email or Figma for email templates. If you’re unsure whether it makes sense to invest a lot of time in the first version, use an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to test the market and assess your product’s potential.
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What do you need to start selling digital items?
Of course, you need a product, but we mentioned and described it earlier, so we are sure that you have already managed with that!
You will need your own domain and website to drive traffic to. Configuring your domain and redirecting DNS, combined with setting up the ecommerce platform, can be challenging for people without a technical background.
Before launching, you will need to decide on your selling platform. There are many options available, with WooCommerce and Magento among the most popular, but configuring them requires some technical skills. This includes setting up not only the website but also payment processing and legal requirements. That’s why, during the process, you need to ensure that your chosen platform supports easy digital product delivery and secure payment processing. In most cases, you will also need support from a developer or programmer.
To finally send your product and additional transactional emails, your ecommerce platform should be connected with an email service provider like Elastic Email. Although this connection is fairly straightforward using API keys or SMTP credentials, it usually involves an additional subscription cost.
Deciding to build your own shop means you’ll need to create the design, use a pre-made template, or hire a graphic designer - and in every scenario, you’ll be investing either time or money.
To sum up, you might need to pay for:
- Domain
- Server
- Ecommerce engine
- Transactional email service
- Programming
- Graphic Designer
When you add up all those costs, it can seem like a very expensive journey for someone who just wants to start their own business quickly, right?
But there are also alternatives that allow you to start selling right away. For example, marketplaces like Etsy, Allegro, or Amazon let you simply register as a seller and add your product along with descriptions, images, and all related details. Usually, they charge a commission for each sale, so you have to keep in mind that convenience comes at a price. If you prefer to sell courses, Teachable might be the answer.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution with just a subscription cost and no hidden fees or commissions, you might want to consider Creator Suite and its Checkout feature.
Checkouts as a solution
We saved our feature for last, but one of the easiest ways to start selling digital products online is by using Elastic Email Checkouts. This feature allows you to create customizable product and payment pages without any coding knowledge.
Whether you offer ebooks, courses, templates, or software, Checkouts enables you to create secure payment forms quickly and easily. With Stripe handling the payments (multiple currencies included), your customers enjoy a safe and smooth checkout process. Plus, Elastic Email takes care of automated delivery, guaranteeing your digital products reach buyers’ inboxes instantly.
See Checkouts in action in this video.
And it all comes with just one product and one subscription. Elastic Email Checkouts not only simplifies the sales process but also helps you focus on growing your business. By eliminating complex technical setups, you can launch your store faster and start generating revenue right away. If you want to start selling quickly and effortlessly, it’s hard to find a simpler solution than Checkouts.
How to maximize your sales?
To sum up, selling digital products can be quite challenging, but on the other hand, it is one of the smartest ways to earn income. It’s scalable, low-cost, and extremely rewarding when your product turns out to be a hit.
By choosing the right tools, targeting the right audience, and above all, offering valuable and in-demand products, you can earn a significant income for years without much additional effort. Evergreen materials are real and do exist! That’s why we strongly encourage you to give it a try, especially if you already have an idea in mind - it's better to regret something you did than something you never tried!
We hope that if you want to make your first sale as smooth as possible, without any ecommerce setup or technical hassles, you will decide to try out our Checkouts feature and Creator Suite product.
Filip Blajet
Filip is a marketing specialist at Elastic Email, who spends a lot of time with data and ads. Outside of work, he loves football, binge watching tv series and travelling.
