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Shopify Guides February 23, 2026

What’s the Best Selling Digital Product for Your Online Store?

Discover what's the best selling digital product to grow your Shopify store. From courses to memberships, learn how to boost profit margins and scale today!

What’s the Best Selling Digital Product for Your Online Store? Image

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The Evolution of Digital Commerce
  3. Identifying the Best Selling Digital Products
  4. Strategic Integration: The Hybrid Shopify Model
  5. How to Create Your First Digital Product
  6. Setting Realistic Business Expectations
  7. Marketing Your Digital Goods
  8. Transparent Pricing: Why It Matters
  9. Technical Advantages of Native Integration
  10. Practical Scenarios for Digital Success
  11. Overcoming Common Challenges
  12. Conclusion
  13. Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

Did you know the global e-learning market is projected to exceed $460 billion by 2026? While many entrepreneurs are struggling with the logistical nightmare of broken supply chains, rising shipping costs, and the constant stress of inventory management, a quiet group of creators is building massive wealth without ever touching a physical box. The question on every aspiring merchant’s mind is simple: what’s the best selling digital product to launch right now?

Digital products represent a fundamental shift in how we think about value. Unlike physical goods, which require manufacturing, warehousing, and shipping for every single sale, a digital product is created once and can be sold thousands of times with nearly 100% profit margins. In this article, we are going to dive deep into the most profitable categories of digital goods, analyze why they outperform traditional inventory, and provide a roadmap for you to integrate these high-margin assets into your existing Shopify storefront.

Our mission at Tevello is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We believe that merchants should have full control over their business, which is why we focus on keeping your customers on your own URL, ensuring you own your data and your brand experience. Throughout this exploration, we will discuss how to leverage the power of seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify to maximize your revenue and build a sustainable, recurring income stream.

The Evolution of Digital Commerce

The landscape of e-commerce has changed. A few years ago, selling digital products was often seen as a "side hustle" or a secondary addition to a physical store. Today, digital products are the main event. The "best selling" status is no longer reserved for viral gadgets or fashion trends; it belongs to information, access, and transformation.

When we look at what makes a digital product successful, we look at its ability to solve a specific problem or fulfill a deep-seated desire without the friction of physical delivery. For a merchant, this means diversifying revenue streams and increasing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) without adding a single dollar to their shipping budget.

Why Digital Products Outperform Physical Goods

  1. Infinite Scalability: You don't need to hire more staff or rent more warehouse space when you go from 10 sales a day to 1,000.
  2. Instant Delivery: Customers receive their purchase immediately, leading to higher satisfaction and fewer "where is my order" support tickets.
  3. Low Risk: There is no "dead stock." If a product doesn't sell, you’ve only lost time, not thousands of dollars in manufacturing costs.
  4. Recurring Revenue: Many digital products can be structured as memberships, providing a predictable a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members to stabilize your monthly income.

Identifying the Best Selling Digital Products

If you are looking for the "best" product, you have to look at market demand and profit potential. While ebooks were the pioneers of the digital space, the market has evolved into more interactive and high-value formats.

1. Online Courses: The High-Ticket Powerhouse

When people ask what's the best selling digital product, online courses are almost always at the top of the list. Why? Because they offer a transformation. People aren't just buying a PDF; they are buying a new skill, a better body, or a more successful business.

Courses allow you to package your expertise into modules, videos, and quizzes. By using Tevello, you can provide all the key features for courses and communities, ensuring your students have a premium experience without ever leaving your Shopify site. This native integration means your customers use the same login for their physical purchases and their digital learning, reducing friction and increasing trust.

2. Memberships and Exclusive Communities

One of the most stable ways to grow a business is through recurring revenue. Memberships allow you to charge a monthly or annual fee in exchange for ongoing access to content, expert advice, or a community of like-minded individuals.

For example, a boutique plant shop could offer a "Green Thumb Membership." For $20 a month, members get access to a library of plant care videos, a community forum to ask questions, and a monthly digital planner for garden maintenance. This transforms a one-time customer into a long-term subscriber. We’ve seen how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses and memberships together, proving that the hybrid model of physical and digital goods is a recipe for success.

3. Digital Templates and Workbooks

Productivity is a massive industry. People are willing to pay for anything that saves them time. This includes:

  • Canva Templates: For social media managers and small business owners.
  • Notion Dashboards: For organized freelancers.
  • Spreadsheet Models: For financial planning or data tracking.
  • Resume Templates: For job seekers.

These products are "low-ticket" items that can move in high volume. They serve as excellent entry points into your brand's ecosystem, warming up customers for your higher-priced courses or physical products.

4. Professional Photography and Video Assets

As more people become content creators, the demand for stock assets, Lightroom presets, and video overlays has skyrocketed. If you are a creative, your unused B-roll or photography portfolio could be a goldmine. Selling these assets directly from your store allows you to retain 100% of the profit, rather than giving a massive cut to stock photo marketplaces.

Strategic Integration: The Hybrid Shopify Model

At Tevello, we don't believe you have to choose between physical and digital. In fact, the most successful merchants are those who combine both. By offering digital products that live directly alongside physical stock, you create a comprehensive brand experience.

Imagine a merchant selling high-end coffee beans. A customer buys a bag of espresso roast. On the checkout page, they are offered an "At-Home Barista Masterclass" for an additional $29. This digital upsell costs the merchant nothing to deliver, requires no extra shipping box, and provides the customer with the knowledge they need to actually enjoy the physical product they just bought.

This strategy is how brands are generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers with relevant digital content. It’s about enhancing the physical purchase with digital value.

Keeping the Customer at Home

A common mistake many Shopify merchants make is sending their customers to third-party platforms like Teachable or Kajabi to host their digital products. This is a missed opportunity for several reasons:

  • Data Fragmentation: You lose sight of the customer's journey when they leave your site.
  • Brand Dilution: The customer is now interacting with another platform's brand, not yours.
  • Technical Friction: Creating a new account on a different website is a major hurdle for users.

Our solution keeps the customer on your URL. This ensures a seamless checkout experience using the payment gateways you already trust and keeps your brand front and center.

How to Create Your First Digital Product

If you’re ready to stop asking "what's the best selling digital product" and start selling one, follow these steps to ensure a high-quality launch.

Step 1: Identify Your Unique Value

What do you know that others don't? What questions do your customers ask you most frequently? If you sell skincare, your customers likely want to know about routines for specific skin types. If you sell fitness gear, they want workout plans. Your digital product should be the "how-to" that accompanies your "what."

Step 2: Choose Your Format

  • Video: Best for courses and tutorials.
  • PDF/Ebook: Best for guides and recipes.
  • Audio: Best for meditations or "on-the-go" learning.
  • Community: Best for ongoing support and networking.

Step 3: Production

You don't need a Hollywood studio. Most "best selling" digital products are created with a smartphone, a decent microphone, and screen-recording software. The value is in the information, not the high-end production. Focus on clarity and actionable steps.

Step 4: Setting Up the Tech

This is where many merchants get stuck, but it doesn't have to be complicated. With Tevello, you can generating revenue from both physical and digital goods under one roof. You simply install the app, upload your content, and set your price.

Setting Realistic Business Expectations

While the margins on digital products are incredible, it’s important to approach this with a long-term mindset. We don't promise that you will make six figures in your first week. Building a successful digital product line takes effort, consistent marketing, and a commitment to providing value.

However, the benefits of the model are undeniable. By diversifying your revenue, you are no longer solely dependent on physical supply chains. You are building a more resilient business. You are increasing your brand loyalty by becoming a source of education, not just a vendor. And perhaps most importantly, you are creating a system that generates revenue while you sleep.

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Marketing Your Digital Goods

Once your product is live, how do you make it the "best selling" item in your store? It comes down to integration and education.

Email Marketing and Automation

Use your existing email list to announce your new digital offerings. Create automated sequences that trigger after a physical purchase. If someone buys a yoga mat, send them an email two days later inviting them to join your "30-Day Yoga Challenge" hosted right on your Shopify site.

Content Marketing

Blog posts, social media videos, and free webinars are excellent ways to demonstrate your expertise. If you provide free value first, customers are much more likely to pay for your premium digital products. Show them the "what" for free, and sell them the "how" in your course.

Leveraging Social Proof

Digital products can feel "invisible" to a new customer. Use testimonials and case studies to make the value tangible. Highlight retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases to show that your community is active and thriving.

Transparent Pricing: Why It Matters

In the world of Shopify apps, pricing can often feel like a moving target. Many platforms charge "success fees," taking a percentage of every sale you make. We believe that's your money, not ours.

When you are comparing plan costs against total course revenue, you'll find that most platforms become prohibitively expensive as you scale. We’ve rejected that model. Our Unlimited Plan is $29.99 per month. That's it.

We charge 0% transaction fees. Whether you sell 10 courses or 10,000, you keep 100% of what you earn. Our plan includes:

  • Unlimited courses and students.
  • Unlimited video hosting and bandwidth.
  • Full community features (member directories, social feeds, profiles).
  • Drip content and quizzes to keep students engaged.
  • A 14-day free trial so you can build your entire curriculum before paying a cent.

Technical Advantages of Native Integration

The technical side of selling digital products shouldn't be a headache. Because Tevello is built specifically for Shopify, the integration is "native." This means:

  1. Seamless Checkout: Your customers use the standard Shopify checkout. No redirects, no confusion.
  2. Unified Customer Accounts: If a customer has already bought a physical product from you, they don't need to create a new account to access their course. They just log in.
  3. Automatic Enrollment: When a purchase is made, the app automatically grants the student access to the content. You don't have to lift a finger.
  4. Reliability: You are leveraging Shopify's world-class infrastructure for your payments and security.

Practical Scenarios for Digital Success

Let's look at how different industries can define what's the best selling digital product for their specific audience.

The Fitness Brand

A merchant selling resistance bands can create a "Home Workout Membership." Instead of just selling the band for $20, they sell a $15/month subscription that provides weekly workout videos. Over a year, that customer is worth $200 instead of $20.

The Crafting Merchant

A brand selling knitting kits can offer "Masterclass Video Series" for complex patterns. This reduces the number of support emails from confused customers and provides a high-margin upsell for every kit sold.

The B2B Consultant

If you provide consulting services, you can package your most frequent advice into a "Digital Resource Library." Instead of trading hours for dollars, you can sell access to your knowledge 24/7.

Overcoming Common Challenges

Selling digital goods does come with its own set of hurdles, but they are easily navigated with the right strategy.

1. Fighting Piracy

While no digital product is 100% immune to piracy, hosting your content within a secure member area rather than sending a simple download link makes it much harder to steal. By using our platform, your content is protected behind a login, and video content is streamed through our secure hosting.

2. Establishing Value

Because digital products are intangible, you must work harder to communicate their worth. Use high-quality mockups of what the course looks like on a tablet or phone. Provide a clear "What You Will Learn" section and use video trailers to give a "sneak peek" into the content.

3. Dealing with Competition

The internet is full of free content, so why would someone pay for yours? People pay for curation and convenience. They don't want to spend 20 hours searching YouTube for fragmented tutorials. They want a structured, step-by-step path curated by an expert they trust. That trust is your greatest competitive advantage.

Conclusion

The answer to "what's the best selling digital product" isn't a single item—it's any digital asset that leverages your unique expertise to provide a transformation for your customers. Whether it's a comprehensive video course, a recurring membership community, or a simple set of time-saving templates, digital goods are the key to unlocking higher profit margins and scaling your Shopify store without the traditional headaches of physical retail.

By integrating your digital learning directly into your Shopify store, you maintain control over your brand, your data, and your customer experience. You move away from the "one-off" sale model and toward a relationship-based business that rewards you with loyalty and recurring revenue.

We invite you to install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today and explore the possibilities for yourself. With our 14-day free trial, you can build your entire digital curriculum, set up your community, and see exactly how it fits into your store without any upfront cost. Remember, with our Unlimited Plan, you get 0% transaction fees—because your success should belong to you.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most profitable digital product to sell on Shopify?

Online courses and memberships are generally the most profitable because they command higher price points ($50 to $500+) and encourage recurring revenue. Unlike a one-time ebook sale, a course offers a deep transformation that customers are willing to invest in.

Do I need to host my videos on YouTube or Vimeo?

No. When you use Tevello’s Unlimited Plan, we provide unlimited video hosting and bandwidth included in your monthly subscription. This ensures your content stays private and provides a professional, ad-free experience for your students.

Can I sell both physical and digital products at the same time?

Yes! In fact, this is our recommended strategy. By selling digital products alongside physical goods, you increase your average order value and provide a more comprehensive solution to your customers' problems. Shopify handles the checkout for both, and Tevello handles the digital delivery.

How do my students access their digital products?

Your students access their products through a unified login directly on your Shopify store. They don't need to visit a third-party site. Once they purchase a course or membership, the content is automatically unlocked in their "My Courses" or "Member Area" section on your website.

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