Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Strategic Advantage of Digital Products
- Educational Products: Turning Expertise into Revenue
- Content-Based Digital Products
- Templates and Professional Tools
- Creative Assets for Creators
- Real-World Success Stories with Tevello
- How to Choose the Right Product for Your Brand
- Building Your Digital Product Business on Shopify
- Step-by-Step: Launching Your First Product
- Setting Realistic Expectations
- Advanced Strategies: Bundles and Recurring Revenue
- Overcoming Common Challenges
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
Did you know that the digital product market is projected to reach a staggering $416 billion by 2030? This isn't just a trend; it's a fundamental shift in how value is exchanged in the global economy. For Shopify merchants, this represents an unprecedented opportunity to move beyond the constraints of physical inventory. Imagine a business where your profit margins hover between 90% and 95%, where you never have to worry about a "sold out" notification, and where your shipping costs are exactly zero. This is the reality of selling digital assets.
At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We believe that merchants should fully own their customer data and brand experience. This conviction led us to build a solution that allows you to sell courses and memberships directly on your own URL, ensuring your customers never have to leave your ecosystem for a third-party platform. Whether you are a fitness coach, a specialized artisan, or a software expert, the right digital product can transform your business from a transactional store into a recurring revenue engine.
In this guide, we will explore what are examples of digital products to sell to maximize your store's potential. We will break down diverse categories—from educational courses and membership sites to creative templates and professional tools—while providing a roadmap for how to launch these products natively on Shopify. By the end of this article, you will understand how to diversify your revenue streams, increase your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), and build a stable, scalable digital empire.
The Strategic Advantage of Digital Products
Before we dive into the specific examples, it is crucial to understand why digital products have become the gold standard for e-commerce growth. Unlike physical goods, digital products are created once and can be sold an infinite number of times. This "build once, sell forever" model allows for massive scalability without a proportional increase in overhead.
When you integrate digital products into your Shopify store, you are essentially creating a high-margin upsell or a standalone revenue stream that functions 24/7. This model provides recurring revenue stability, which is often the missing piece for merchants struggling with the seasonality of physical sales. By using a native Shopify integration, you maintain a seamless checkout experience using the payment gateways you and your customers already trust.
Educational Products: Turning Expertise into Revenue
Education is perhaps the most lucrative niche within the digital product space. People are increasingly willing to pay for specialized knowledge that solves a specific problem or helps them achieve a desired transformation.
Comprehensive Online Courses
Online courses are the crown jewel of digital products. They allow you to package your expertise into a structured curriculum featuring video lessons, downloadable PDF workbooks, and interactive quizzes. For instance, a merchant selling high-end espresso machines could create a "Home Barista Mastery" course. This digital product serves as a perfect companion to their physical stock, providing the customer with the knowledge needed to get the most out of their purchase while adding a high-margin item to the cart.
With Tevello, you can offer all the key features for courses and communities that your students expect. Our Unlimited Plan supports unlimited courses and students, meaning your costs don't balloon just because your business is succeeding.
Mini-Courses and Workshops
Not every educational product needs to be a 20-hour masterclass. In fact, many customers prefer "micro-learning"—short, focused courses that solve a single, immediate problem. If you are a photography equipment retailer, a 30-minute workshop on "Mastering Low-Light Portraits" is an easy purchase for a customer who just bought a new lens. These mini-courses serve as excellent entry points into your sales funnel, building trust before you pitch a higher-priced offering.
Paid Membership Sites and Communities
Memberships offer the ultimate business stability: recurring revenue. By charging a monthly or annual fee, you provide ongoing value to a dedicated group of followers. This might include access to a private forum, monthly live Q&A sessions, or a library of exclusive content.
At Tevello, we facilitate this by providing an all-in-one ecosystem where physical products, digital courses, and community engagement live side-by-side. Our community features include member profiles, directories, and social feeds to foster real connection. This approach to keeping customers at home on the brand website ensures that the community feels like an extension of your brand, not a disconnected social media group.
Content-Based Digital Products
If you have a knack for writing or curation, content-based products are a fantastic way to start. These often require the least amount of technical setup and can be produced relatively quickly.
Ebooks and In-Depth Guides
Ebooks remain a staple in the digital world. They are highly portable, easy to consume, and serve as authoritative resources. A merchant selling organic gardening supplies might sell a comprehensive guide titled "The 12-Month Permaculture Blueprint." This adds immediate value and establishes the merchant as an expert in the field.
Premium Newsletters
While many newsletters are free, there is a growing market for "paid-only" insights. If you provide market analysis, industry trends, or highly curated news, a subscription-based newsletter can be a very steady source of income. This model works exceptionally well when integrated with Shopify, as you can manage your subscribers alongside your customers.
Digital Printables and Planners
Printables are a massive category on marketplaces like Etsy, but selling them on your own Shopify store allows you to keep 100% of the profit. Examples include:
- Daily productivity planners.
- Budgeting trackers and financial worksheets.
- Artistic wall prints or coloring pages for children.
- Meal planning templates and grocery lists.
Templates and Professional Tools
In the digital age, "speed to result" is a major selling point. People will pay for tools that save them time or make a complex task easier.
Notion and Productivity Templates
Notion has become a powerhouse for personal and professional organization. Creators are making thousands by selling specialized Notion templates for project management, habit tracking, or even comprehensive operating systems for small businesses.
Social Media and Canva Templates
Small business owners are always looking for ways to improve their social media presence without hiring a full-time designer. Bundles of Instagram post templates, Pinterest pins, or LinkedIn header designs are high-demand items. Because these are often editable, they provide immense value to the buyer who can customize them to their own brand colors in minutes.
Spreadsheets and Financial Models
For many, Excel or Google Sheets are intimidating. If you can build a robust, user-friendly spreadsheet that handles complex calculations—such as an inventory management tracker or a tax preparation sheet—you have a high-value product. These tools are functional and solve painful problems, making them easy to market.
Creative Assets for Creators
The "Creator Economy" is fueled by people who need raw materials to make their own content. By selling these assets, you become the "picks and shovels" provider for the modern gold rush.
Stock Photography and Video
If you are a talented photographer or videographer, you don't have to rely on giant stock agencies that take a massive cut of your sales. Selling your own curated collections of high-quality, niche-specific stock footage directly on Shopify is a great way to maintain control over your pricing and licensing.
Presets and Filters
Adobe Lightroom presets and video LUTs (Look Up Tables) are incredibly popular. They allow amateur creators to achieve a professional aesthetic with a single click. Influencers often sell the specific presets they use to edit their own photos, allowing their followers to replicate their signature style.
Audio Assets and Sound Effects
Musicians and sound designers can sell beats, background tracks for podcasts, or foley sound effect libraries. As the demand for video content continues to rise, the need for high-quality, royalty-free audio assets is following suit.
Real-World Success Stories with Tevello
To understand the true potential of these digital products, we can look at how actual merchants have used our platform to scale.
The Power of Bundling: Crochetmilie
One of the most inspiring examples of digital success is how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses. By taking their expertise in a traditional craft—crochet—and packaging it into a digital format, they were able to reach a global audience. They mastered the art of generating revenue from both physical and digital goods, proving that you don't have to choose between one or the other. Their success demonstrates that even niche hobbies have a massive appetite for structured digital learning.
Upselling for Retention: Fotopro
Another excellent case study is Fotopro, a brand that focused on generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers. Instead of always hunting for new leads, they leveraged their existing base by offering high-value digital complements to their physical photography gear. This led to incredible retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases, significantly boosting their overall LTV.
How to Choose the Right Product for Your Brand
With so many examples of digital products to sell, the challenge is often narrowing it down. To find your "perfect fit," consider the following three factors:
- Your Existing Expertise: What do people always ask you for advice on? If you run a Shopify store selling skincare, you likely know a lot about ingredient chemistry. A digital guide on "Decoding Skincare Labels" would be a natural fit.
- Customer Pain Points: Look at your customer support tickets or social media comments. What are your customers struggling with? If you sell complex DIY kits, a series of video tutorials is a logical product that reduces frustration and adds value.
- Market Gap: Research your competitors. Are they only selling physical items? If so, you have a massive opportunity to be the first to offer a comprehensive digital solution or community in your niche.
If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.
Building Your Digital Product Business on Shopify
Once you have chosen your product, the implementation phase begins. Many merchants make the mistake of overcomplicating this step by trying to stitch together multiple third-party apps that don't talk to each other.
Why a Native Solution Matters
At Tevello, we advocate for a native approach. When you use our app, you are seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify firsthand. This means:
- Seamless Checkout: Customers buy your digital product using the exact same cart they use for physical items.
- Data Control: You own your customer list. You aren't building your business on "rented land" like Udemy or Teachable.
- Consistent Branding: Your courses and community live on your domain (e.g., members.yourstore.com), reinforcing your brand authority.
Transparent and Predictable Pricing
We believe in predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees. Most platforms will lure you in with a low monthly rate but then take 5% to 10% of every sale you make. We find that model unfair to the hard-working merchant.
That is why we offer The Unlimited Plan for $29.99 per month. With this flat rate, you get:
- Unlimited courses and students.
- Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth.
- Full community features.
- Drip content and quiz functionality.
- 0% Transaction Fees. You keep 100% of what you earn.
This flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members allows you to scale your revenue without scaling your expenses.
Step-by-Step: Launching Your First Product
- The Planning Phase: Outline your curriculum or design your template. Focus on the transformation: what will the customer be able to do after using your product that they couldn't do before?
- The Creation Phase: Record your videos, write your ebook, or build your Notion workspace. Don't worry about perfection; focus on clarity and value.
- The Integration Phase: Install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today to begin setting up your member area. You can utilize our 14-day free trial to build out your entire curriculum before you ever pay a cent.
- The Marketing Phase: Start promoting your digital product to your existing email list. Use it as an "order bump" at checkout for physical products to immediately increase your average order value.
Setting Realistic Expectations
While selling digital products is highly profitable, it is not a "get rich quick" scheme. It requires the same dedication to quality and customer service as any other business. However, the benefits are undeniable:
- Diversified Revenue: You aren't reliant on a single supply chain.
- Higher LTV: Customers who buy a course are more likely to stay engaged with your brand and buy your physical products.
- Operational Freedom: Once the content is created, the fulfillment is automated.
By focusing on building a "digital learning powerhouse," you are creating an asset that grows in value over time. You are moving away from being a mere reseller and becoming an educator and a community leader in your space.
Advanced Strategies: Bundles and Recurring Revenue
Once you have your first digital product live, you can start exploring advanced tactics to maximize revenue.
The Hybrid Bundle
One of the most effective strategies for Shopify merchants is the "Hybrid Bundle." This involves selling a physical product and a digital product together. For example, a merchant selling yoga mats could bundle a "30-Day Yoga for Beginners" video course with every purchase. This doesn't just increase the price of the sale; it ensures the customer actually uses the mat, finds success, and returns to the store for more gear in the future.
Strategic Drip Content
Using all the key features for courses and communities, you can "drip" your content out over time. This prevents students from becoming overwhelmed and keeps them coming back to your store regularly. Every time a student logs in to view a new lesson, they are exposed to your brand and your latest physical product offerings.
Community Engagement
A thriving community is the ultimate retention tool. When customers feel like they belong to a group of like-minded individuals, they are far less likely to cancel their membership. Our community tools allow for keeping customers at home on the brand website, creating a "sticky" experience that competitors cannot easily replicate.
Overcoming Common Challenges
Selling digital goods does come with its own set of challenges, but they are easily manageable with the right tools.
- Susceptibility to Piracy: While no system is 100% foolproof, hosting your content behind a secure, member-only login significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized sharing compared to simply sending a PDF link via email.
- Intangibility: Since customers can't touch a digital product, you must use high-quality visuals and detailed descriptions to convey value. Use video trailers for your courses and mockups for your ebooks.
- Technical Friction: Many merchants fear the "tech" side of things. This is why we built Tevello to be a native Shopify integration. If you can navigate the Shopify admin, you can navigate Tevello.
Conclusion
The shift toward digital products is one of the most significant opportunities for Shopify merchants today. By understanding what are examples of digital products to sell—ranging from masterclasses and membership communities to simple templates and guides—you can build a business that is more resilient, more profitable, and infinitely more scalable.
At Tevello, we are committed to providing the tools you need to succeed without the burden of complicated fee structures or fragmented third-party platforms. We want you to own your brand, your data, and your future. Whether you are just starting out or looking to add a new dimension to an established store, the digital path is clear.
Start your journey by diversifying your revenue streams and increasing your customer loyalty. With our 0% transaction fee model, you can rest assured that as your business grows, your profits stay in your pocket.
To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell digital and physical products in the same Shopify order?
Yes, absolutely. One of the primary advantages of using a native solution like Tevello is that your digital products function just like any other item in your Shopify admin. A customer can add a physical book, a t-shirt, and an online course to their cart and checkout in a single transaction. This is a powerful way to increase your average order value through bundling.
How does Tevello handle video hosting for my courses?
We include unlimited video hosting and bandwidth in our Unlimited Plan. This means you don't need to pay for a separate service like Vimeo or Wistia to host your course content. You can upload your videos directly into the Tevello app, and we ensure they are delivered securely and smoothly to your students, regardless of where they are in the world.
Do I need to know how to code to set up a membership site?
No coding knowledge is required. We have designed our platform to be user-friendly and intuitive for business owners of all technical levels. Our interface allows you to build out your curriculum, set up your community feeds, and manage your members using simple drag-and-drop and text-entry tools that feel familiar to anyone who has used Shopify.
What happens to my content if I decide to leave the platform?
We believe in merchant empowerment, which means you always own your content and your customer data. Because we integrate directly with Shopify, your customer list remains in your Shopify database. If you ever choose to move your content elsewhere, you can easily export your videos and documents. We don't believe in "vendor lock-in"; we want you to stay because you love the platform, not because your data is held hostage.


