How to sell candles online – If you are selling homemade candles, you may definitely have this question in your mind.
The candle industry has seen an exponential increase in sales and customers over the years. According to a Research Study, the candle industry was valued at US $7562.83 million in 2021. And it is expected to grow by US $10156.05 million by 2027.
Today, candles are used for several purposes like decor, relaxation, and gifting for celebrations like birthdays or anniversaries. People have started to use scented candles for different occasions.
Selling candles from home is a profitable option because it offers you endless opportunities for marketing your store for several events.
Should You Start a Candle Business Online?
Yes, you should. Initially, only big brands used to sell candles. But slowly the trend of homemade candles took over. People began to choose scented and personalized candles over generic ones.
It has indeed become a profitable market and is easy to make. Also, consumers are not buying homemade candles for gifting or decoration purposes. Candles are also used as a stress reliever and induce relaxation. Many cafes and restaurants use candles to create a soothing and aromatic environment for their customers. And it’s a winning situation for them.
To help you get a clear picture of the question ‘’Should I start a candle business online’’, let us understand how to sell candles from home and the benefits associated.
Benefits of Selling Candles from Home
With the rising demand, people may think that there would be a barrier to enter into the candle market; however, it’s not the truth. Sure, there are several players in the market. But in the end, it’s your skills, creativity, and marketing that can help you stand out from the crowd. The following are the benefits of selling candles from the comfort of your home:
Making homemade candles may be a bit pricier, but candle making is comparatively inexpensive and a bit easy. It comes with a low-cost entry.
Selling candles isn’t limited to one place. You can collaborate with a craft or decor store and sell them there. Or you can set up an online store through platforms like Windo and sell your candles online; however, the best place to sell candles is going for a mix of both offline and online platforms.
Candles are easy to make. It doesn’t matter if you are a DIY master or not, online guides and tutorials can be a great help when it comes to candle making.
The best part about candle making is that it is customizable. You can personalize candles as per the needs and demands of your customers. The higher & better the personalization, the more the business.
Candle-making is an art that can be learned by anyone. Once you become skilled at it, you will be all set to start an online candle business.
How to Start an Online Candle Business?
Well, here are a few steps you need to keep in mind before launching your online candle business:
Do Market Research
How to sell candles from home — The first part of the answer is to do market research.
Market research is a broad term. It covers majorly 3 elements that include audience demographics, past & current marketing conditions, and current demand for products & services.
Creating a buyer persona can help you understand your target market better. It tells you who you are creating products or services for. In simple words, you cannot target everyone. It becomes easy to position yourself if you niche down to a specific target audience.
The current demand tells if a product will work or not and how it will perform in current marketing conditions. Market research can be conducted through several techniques like focused group discussions, interviews, surveys, customer observation, and more.
Planning and conducting marketing research is important before you plan to launch a product or service.
Differentiate Your Product
Candle making is a huge market with intense competition. Identifying your product USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and positioning yourself as a reputed brand can turn the tables in your favor.
For example, you can launch unique scented candles with personalization and tell the purpose behind them. Along with it, make sure you give a visual identity to your brand and product. It includes a logo, website, social media handles, product photography, and packaging.
Differentiating your product will give you a competitive advantage and help you steal the spotlight.
Understand the Legal Requirements
Before starting any business, you need to understand the legal requirements. Make sure to know the safety codes and regulations before making candles. Your ingredients and packaging must follow all the legal rules. Furthermore, ensure all the ingredients are listed on the packing and you get a license, if necessary.
Pricing
Keep the price according to the size and packaging of the candle. Different candle sizes and styles can help customers easily make a decision. You can even launch special hampers on special occasions for your customers to gift their loved ones.
Create a Business Name
Besides giving a proper texture and fragrance to your candles, giving a good name to your business is also vital. But keep it short, simple, and easy to remember. The more memorable your business name is, the better. Because people tend to remember such names easily.
If your name is hard to remember, word-of-mouth marketing will become difficult. When we talk about how to start an online candle business, it doesn’t only involve pricing and uniqueness, but even brand name, logo, visual identity, and marketing.
Write a Business Plan
You cannot move forward without writing a structured and detailed business plan. In your business plan, define your goals, plan your strategy, write down the challenges, list down competitors, and analyze your business ideas in detail before launch.
How to Market Candles?
Once you have defined your business plan and are ready for the product launch, it’s time to plan your marketing strategy. If your candles are high in quality and have excellent fragrances, word-of-mouth marketing will start happening once you plan other strategies.
We have created a short marketing guide (or tips) that you can follow to plan a marketing strategy for your product. Let’s get started.
Leverage Social Media
Whether you have an established business or not, having a social media presence is important. It lets you cater to a wide audience and convert more customers.
For this, select the social media channels that align with your brand and product. Instagram and Facebook are the best platforms to market your candle business as they support images and videos.
High quality product photography makes a long-lasting impression and tends to attract the audience faster.
Create a Content Calendar
Once you have set up your social media profile, create a content calendar in advance. Planning your content in advance can save you from last-minute chaos. Brainstorm content themes and ideas in bulk and create a content calendar accordingly.
Sticking to a content calendar is a good marketing practice.
Sell at Local Events
Along with promoting your candles on social media, sell them at local stores and events as well. Local events have a more captive audience with a few vendors, so they will easily remember your brand.
You can partner with local stores or events and put your products there. This allows you to cater to local audiences and meet them in person. Local events are a great opportunity to build customer relationships and trust.
Furthermore, local events are indeed a great way to increase brand awareness and build the credibility of your business.
Host Candle Making Classes
Once your business is established, you can even host candle-making classes. It not only serves as a side income for you but even increases awareness. Because your students may spread word-of-mouth, persuading others to buy from your business.
It increases awareness, builds trust, and creates credibility for your business.
Hosting candle-making classes may turn the tables in your favor as it proves your skills and expertise in your industry.
Run Instagram Ads
Organic marketing is indeed the best. But growing on social media channels like Instagram has become quite difficult. You need to have a kickass organic strategy to increase your reach and attract several eyeballs.
However, brands can no longer just rely on organic strategy as Instagram’s algorithm keeps changing. Therefore, it is also advised to run Instagram ads to reach a larger audience and not limit your business to your area.
Conduct Contests and Giveaways
Contests and giveaways drive audience engagement and generate quality leads for you. Moreover, it helps you reach a wider audience without spending a lot of money on it.
Indeed, it is the most common strategy that is applied by businesses across the globe; however, contests and giveaways tend to get more engagement and reach as compared to other posts on social media.
Therefore, there is no way you can miss out on this. You can give your brand’s candles as a giveaway to the winners. And if they like it, they will come back to you to purchase more.
Leverage Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has been creating a buzz for the last few years. From startups to established brands, everyone is utilizing the power of influencer marketing. Because it is a great way to increase brand awareness and reach your potential audience.
If you think you cannot afford influencers, you have got it completely wrong. Small brands like yours can collaborate with nano and micro-influencers. You can indulge in a barter deal where these influencers will promote your brand on their page in exchange for a free product.
You can even ask them to review your candles and post the same on their social media handles. Positive reviews have the power to attract more potential customers and convert them into your sales.
Even though businesses know how to market candles, they still end up asking one important question — ‘’Where can I sell my candles?’’ There are various platforms to sell your candles online. Read further to know more.
Best Place to Sell Candles
Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are great places to sell your candles online. After all, your potential target audience is most active on these platforms.
Apart from creating engaging & promotional content, and running Instagram ads, you can even leverage its ‘’shop feature’’. It allows your customers to explore your storefront to go through the various products you sell. Instagram shop feature lets them shop for your products directly on your business profiles.
However, if you don’t feel like leveraging this feature, there is another way available. Create an online store through eCommerce platforms like Windo. It can help you create & design your online stores in a few clicks.
You don’t have to wait for days to make your website go live. It is one of the best platforms to sell your products and that too with a hassle-free process. You can put your sales on autopilot mode and get directly paid by your customers.
It is specially created for small businesses where owners do not require any prior coding experience or learning curve. Therefore, you can create your online shop seamlessly and without anyone’s help.
If you are looking to sell candles online, you can opt for social media platforms or your online store; however, an ideal piece of advice would be to leverage both platforms as it will give you a truckload of opportunities to increase your customer base, generate leads, and drive more engagement.
Therefore, create the brand profile and online stores, and get started with your business in a few minutes.
Final Thoughts
We hope you got a detailed answer to this question: How to sell candles online. Remember, creating candles isn’t enough. If you can’t market it properly and find an ideal & suitable platform to sell, your efforts will go in vain.
The candle industry is growing exponentially and it’s a great business opportunity if you are planning to start a new venture. Furthermore, candle-making is simple and easy to learn.
Focus on both offline and online selling because it will provide you with ample opportunities to interact with your audience in different ways. While offline interactions can help you build customer relationships, online interactions will improve your brand reputation and increase awareness.
Thus, it’s the right time to get started with your candle-making business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is selling candles online profitable?
Yes, selling candles online is extremely profitable. The barrier to enter into this market is low and has a huge potential. So, it’s a good time to start a candle business online.
How can I sell my candles fast?
You can sell your candles either on social media platforms like Instagram or create your online shop through Windo and sell it directly from there; however, once you have designed your online store, make sure your audience knows about the same. Promote it on social media to get more traffic to your online store.
Who buys candles the most?
Women. Yes, a survey says that more than 95% of candles are purchased by women. And in the U.S., candles are used in 7 out of 10 households; however, lately many cafes & restaurants have started purchasing scented candles to create a pleasant ambiance and attract more customers.
Are candles in high demand?
Yes, candles are in high demand today. The candle market is growing exponentially because it has started serving various purposes like gifting your loved ones, being used in cafes to create an aromatic atmosphere, and more. As the demand is increasing, so is the value of the business.
What is a good profit on a candle?
Selling candles is a good and profitable business. And one can expect a 25% to 50% margin. It has been also observed that new candle makers can expect to earn between $500 – $1000 per month. As the demand for candles is increasing, it automatically makes it a profitable business.
What color candle sells the most?
The top five color candles that sell the most are purple, peach, blue, red, and pink. People usually buy candles considering their fragrance and color that complements their home decor.
What scented candles sell the most?
Vanilla is amongst the highest-selling and favorite scented candles amongst others. Its fragrance has been loved by many. Thus, there is no surprise that it is the top-selling candle scent; however, apart from Vanilla, the other popular candle scents are rose, lavender, coffee, sandalwood, peppermint, incense, eucalyptus, and more.