Profitable Digital Products You Can Sell on Shopify

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why Sell Digital Products on Shopify?
3. Top Digital Product Categories to Explore
4. Industry-Specific Ideas: What Can You Sell?
5. Practical Scenarios: How It Works in the Real World
6. How to Create Your First Digital Product
7. Marketing Strategies for Digital Goods
8. Overcoming Common Challenges
9. The Tevello Advantage: Why We Built This
10. Setting Realistic Expectations
11. Conclusion
12. FAQ

Introduction

The global e-learning market is currently projected to soar past $460 billion by 2026, yet many e-commerce merchants are still tethered exclusively to the complexities of physical inventory. While shipping boxes and managing supply chains are traditional staples of commerce, the most successful modern brands are realizing that their greatest asset isn't just what they can put in a crate, but what they can teach or share digitally. Imagine a business where your inventory never runs out, your shipping costs are zero, and your profit margins hover between 90% and 95%. This is the reality of the digital product economy.

In this guide, we will explore the landscape of digital goods and specifically answer the question: what digital products can you sell to diversify your revenue and build a more resilient brand? We will move beyond basic ideas to look at high-value courses, membership models, and digital assets that can transform a standard storefront into a multi-dimensional brand. From professional educators to niche hobbyists, the opportunity to monetize expertise has never been more accessible.

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, which is why we focus on solutions that keep your audience on your own domain rather than sending them away to third-party platforms. By the end of this article, you will have a clear roadmap for selecting, creating, and launching digital products that drive recurring revenue and increase your customer lifetime value.

Why Sell Digital Products on Shopify?

Selling digital products offers a level of scalability that physical goods simply cannot match. When you sell a physical t-shirt, you have to source the fabric, manage the printing, pay for storage, and handle the logistics of shipping. When you sell a digital course or a downloadable template, you create the asset once and can sell it ten thousand times with no additional production cost.

Low Overhead and High Margins

The primary draw for most merchants is the financial efficiency. Without the need for warehouses or international shipping fees, the cost of goods sold (COGS) drops significantly. This allows you to reinvest your earnings into marketing or further product development. For those concerned about hidden costs, we advocate for predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, ensuring that as your volume grows, your expenses remain stable.

Increasing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

Digital products are exceptional tools for upselling existing customers. If someone buys a physical yoga mat from your store, they are the perfect candidate for a "30-Day Yoga for Beginners" video series. By offering digital complements to your physical stock, you transform a one-time buyer into a long-term student of your brand.

Ownership of the Brand Experience

One of the biggest mistakes merchants make is redirecting their hard-earned traffic to external course marketplaces. When you do this, you lose control over the user experience and, more importantly, the data. We prioritize keeping customers at home on the brand website to ensure that the transition from browsing to learning is seamless and keeps your brand front and center.

Top Digital Product Categories to Explore

When considering what digital products you can sell, it helps to categorize them based on the value they provide to the end user.

1. Online Courses and Masterclasses

Online courses are the gold standard of digital products. They allow you to package your expertise into a structured curriculum that guides a student from point A to point B. Whether it is a deep dive into professional photography or a short tutorial on sourdough baking, people are willing to pay for a transformation.

For example, a merchant selling high-end kitchen knives might create a "Mastering Knife Skills" course. This doesn't just sell a product; it sells the ability to use the product effectively. When you utilize all the key features for courses and communities, you can offer video lessons, quizzes, and progress tracking all within your Shopify store.

2. Exclusive Membership Sites

Memberships offer something that every business owner dreams of: recurring revenue. Instead of a one-off sale, customers pay a monthly or annual fee to access a library of content, a private community, or ongoing resources. This model builds immense brand loyalty and provides a stable financial floor for your business.

We have seen how a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members allows communities to grow without the fear of escalating "per-user" costs that eat into margins.

3. Digital Templates and Tools

In a world where everyone is trying to be more productive, templates are highly sought after. These can include:

• Business Templates: Contract layouts, specialized spreadsheets, or project management boards.
• Design Assets: Canva templates, social media kits, or presentation decks.
• Hobbyist Patterns: Crochet patterns, woodworking blueprints, or garden planning guides.

A great example of this is how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with digital patterns, demonstrating that digital assets can be just as lucrative as physical kits.

4. Ebooks and In-Depth Guides

If you have a wealth of knowledge but aren't ready to get in front of a camera, ebooks are an excellent entry point. They are relatively easy to produce using tools like Google Docs or Canva and can serve as a "lead magnet" or a low-ticket entry point into your brand's ecosystem.

Industry-Specific Ideas: What Can You Sell?

The beauty of digital goods is their versatility across almost any niche. Let’s look at how different industries can leverage these products.

Professional Services and B2B

If you are a consultant or a freelancer, your time is your most limited resource. You can break the "time-for-money" trap by selling:

• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for other businesses.
• "Done-for-you" swipe files (email sequences, ad copy).
• In-depth industry reports or whitepapers.

Creative Arts and Crafts

Artists and makers are uniquely positioned to sell "process-based" digital products. If you sell physical art, consider selling:

• Procreate brushes or Photoshop presets.
• Video tutorials on specific techniques (e.g., watercolor blending).
• Printable art for home decor.

The success of generating revenue from both physical and digital goods shows that your creative hobby can become a diversified business empire when you stop limiting yourself to physical output.

Health, Fitness, and Wellness

This is one of the fastest-growing sectors for digital products. Beyond selling supplements or gym wear, you can offer:

• Personalized meal plans or recipe ebooks.
• Subscription-based workout libraries.
• Mindfulness and meditation audio tracks.

Technology and Photography

For those in the tech or photography space, digital goods are often expected by the audience. You can sell:

• Lightroom presets or LUTs for video editing.
• Software plugins or specialized code snippets.
• "How-to" guides for complex hardware.

Many brands have seen massive success by generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers on digital assets that enhance the use of their physical gear.

Practical Scenarios: How It Works in the Real World

To truly understand what digital products you can sell, let's look at how they integrate into a merchant's daily operations.

Scenario A: The Specialty Coffee Roaster

A merchant selling premium coffee beans faces high shipping costs and thin margins. By adding a "Home Barista 101" video course to their Shopify store, they create a product with 100% margin that requires no packaging. When a customer buys a bag of beans, the roaster can offer the course as a "one-click upsell." This increases the average order value (AOV) and ensures the customer gets the best possible taste from their purchase, leading to higher retention.

Scenario B: The Fitness Equipment Store

A store selling kettlebells and resistance bands can easily feel like a commodity. However, by launching a "6-Week Transformation Membership," they provide the "instruction manual" for the equipment. This creates a recurring revenue stream and a community of users who share their progress. By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, the merchant ensures that customers use their existing Shopify account to log in, reducing friction and support tickets.

Scenario C: The Professional Photographer

A photographer selling physical prints can diversify by selling "Editing Masterclasses." They can also sell digital presets that help amateur photographers achieve a similar look. By focusing on retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases, they turn a one-time print buyer into a repeat student who buys every new preset pack released.

How to Create Your First Digital Product

The transition from idea to live product doesn't have to be overwhelming. Follow these steps to ensure a smooth launch.

Step 1: Identify the Pain Point

Don't just create a product because it seems easy. Ask yourself: what are my customers struggling with? If you sell gardening tools, perhaps they are struggling with "when to plant." A digital planting calendar is the perfect solution.

Step 2: Choose Your Format

Does the solution require a visual demonstration (Video Course), a quick reference (PDF/Ebook), or an ongoing support system (Membership/Community)? Choose the format that best delivers the result for the customer.

Step 3: Production (Quality Matters)

You don't need a Hollywood studio, but you do need clarity. For video, ensure your audio is crisp—people will forgive average video, but they won't tolerate poor audio. For ebooks and templates, ensure the design is clean and professional.

Step 4: Set Up Your Shopify Infrastructure

This is where many merchants stumble. They try to use complex, external platforms that don't talk to Shopify. We recommend reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from to find a native solution. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Marketing Strategies for Digital Goods

Selling a digital product requires a different approach than physical goods because the customer cannot touch or feel the product before buying.

Use Video Previews and Teasers

Show, don't just tell. If you are selling a course, show a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the student dashboard. Let them see the curriculum and a snippet of a high-value lesson. This builds trust and lowers the perceived risk.

Leverage Email Marketing

Your existing email list is your most valuable asset. Since these people already know and trust your brand, they are the most likely to purchase your new digital offering. Create an email sequence that focuses on the outcome of the digital product, rather than just the features.

Create Bundles

One of the most effective ways to sell digital products is to bundle them with physical goods. "Buy this camera, get our 'Photography Basics' course for free" is a powerful incentive that can help you stand out from competitors who are only selling the hardware.

Focus on Social Proof

Since digital products are intangible, reviews and testimonials are crucial. Encourage your first few students or users to provide feedback. Video testimonials are especially effective for courses and memberships.

Overcoming Common Challenges

While the digital model is highly profitable, it isn't without its hurdles.

Dealing with Piracy

It is a common fear that digital products will be shared or stolen. While it is impossible to stop 100% of piracy, using a professional delivery system can deter most of it. By keeping content behind a secure login on your own domain, you make it much harder for unauthorized users to access your intellectual property.

Managing Customer Expectations

Because digital products are delivered instantly, customers expect immediate access. Any delay in the "welcome email" or a confusing login process can lead to chargebacks. Using a native Shopify integration ensures that the checkout and fulfillment process is handled by the same system the customer already trusts, leading to a much smoother experience.

Avoiding "Information Overload"

When creating a course or an ebook, it's tempting to include every single thing you know. However, customers pay for results, not volume. Keep your products focused on solving a specific problem as efficiently as possible.

The Tevello Advantage: Why We Built This

We recognized that Shopify merchants were tired of "franken-stacking" their businesses. Using one platform for shirts, another for courses, and a third for a forum creates a disjointed experience for the customer and a technical nightmare for the merchant.

Our solution offers install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today as a way to simplify this entire process. We offer a single, Unlimited Plan for $29.99 per month. This isn't a "starter" tier; it includes everything:

• Unlimited courses and an unlimited number of students.
• Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth (no more worrying about Wistia or Vimeo bills).
• Full community features including member directories and social feeds.
• Drip content scheduling to keep students engaged over time.
• Interactive quizzes and progress tracking.

Most importantly, we charge 0% transaction fees. We believe that if you do the work to create and market a product, you should keep 100% of the revenue.

Setting Realistic Expectations

Selling digital products is not a "get rich quick" scheme. It is a robust business model that requires effort in the creation and marketing phases. However, the benefits of diversifying your revenue streams and increasing your Customer Lifetime Value are undeniable. By building a digital wing to your business, you create a more stable, higher-margin brand that can weather the ups and downs of physical retail.

Whether you are looking to scale a community or simply offer a few helpful templates, the key is to start. You don't need a massive library of content to begin. Many successful merchants start with a single "mini-course" or a high-value ebook and grow from there.

Conclusion

The question of what digital products you can sell is limited only by your imagination and your understanding of your customers' needs. From structured online courses and exclusive memberships to simple downloadable templates, the digital landscape offers a path to high-margin, scalable growth. By leveraging your existing Shopify store, you can create a seamless experience that keeps your customers engaged with your brand and provides them with immense value.

At Tevello, we are committed to providing you with the tools to make this transition as simple as possible. We reject the complicated pricing structures and hidden fees of our competitors, offering instead a transparent, all-in-one ecosystem where your physical and digital products can thrive side-by-side.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from. You can start your 14-day free trial today and build your entire curriculum before paying a cent. Remember, with our 0% transaction fee policy, your success is entirely yours to keep.

FAQ

1. Can I sell digital products alongside my physical products on Shopify? Absolutely. One of the greatest strengths of the Tevello integration is that it allows digital courses, memberships, and downloads to live directly alongside your physical stock. This makes it incredibly easy to bundle products together or offer digital upsells during the checkout process, all within a single storefront.

2. Do I need to pay for separate video hosting? No. When you use our Unlimited Plan, video hosting and bandwidth are included in your monthly subscription. This eliminates the need for expensive third-party video hosting services and ensures your students have a fast, reliable viewing experience directly on your site.

3. Will my customers have to create a new login to access their digital products? No, and this is a major advantage of a native integration. Your students use their existing Shopify customer account to access their digital content. This reduces "login friction," minimizes support tickets, and keeps the user experience consistent with your brand.

4. How much does Tevello cost and are there any hidden fees? We believe in simple, transparent pricing. Our Unlimited Plan is $29.99 per month. We charge 0% transaction fees, meaning we never take a percentage of your sales. You keep 100% of your earnings, and there are no hidden "success fees" as your business scales.