Product sourcing is one of the most important parts of dropshipping. The items you sell are the heart of your strategy. The formula is pretty simple: Trending, high-converting products = sales. Products that nobody is searching for? That’s basically like setting up a lemonade stand in the middle of nowhere (no traffic, no sales, no fun).
So, how do we find the right trending dropshipping products? Easy: just use AutoDS’s product research tools. AutoDS offers multiple tools to find winning items and import them in just a few clicks, from an exclusive marketplace to a trending products hub based on real-time data and AI suggestions.
In this guide, we’ll cover the ABCs of product research. We’ll explain why it’s so important, the difference between manual and automated sourcing, and exactly how to find trending products with AutoDS.
Trending products aren’t static. They change with consumer behavior, seasons, and market shifts, so continuous research is key.
AutoDS simplifies product research with product finder tools, AI product suggestions, and real-time market insights that help you spot trending items.
Smart testing leads to growth. Use AutoDS’s curated database of trending dropshipping products and its automation tools to test, validate quickly, and double down on the ones that sell.
What Is A Dropshipping Trending Product?
Long story short, trending dropshipping products are items that sell. Simple as that. But let’s go back a few steps to add valuable extra context. Dropshipping is an e-commerce model where you don’t keep inventory yourself. You resell suppliers’ items, who then ship the products to the people who buy them from your store. This means any product could become hot at any time.
But if you don’t keep inventory or ship the products, then what do you do as a dropshipper? You spot high-demand items or products with potential, list them on your store, and make sure the purchase experience is smooth. The key is the products you choose, when and how you list them, and who you target to buy them. That’s why product sourcing is so important: it’s one of the most important responsibilities in dropshipping.
But here’s the trick: trending products are always changing. There’s no magic recipe (if there were, everyone would be selling the same 10 items) and what’s super viral today might not be viral tomorrow. So, in a market that’s always changing, what makes a trending product “trending”? There are a few aspects to keep in mind. Let’s see:
- Demand. Are people actively searching for it? Or will they soon?
- Profit margin. Does the math actually work after supplier costs, shipping, and fees?
- Wow factor. Does it solve a problem, look unique, or have that impulse-buy appeal?
- Seasonality. Is it a quick holiday hit? Or something bought all year round?
- Competition. If everyone is already selling it, what’s your edge to stand out?
A trending dropshipping product is the perfect mix of all those factors. Sometimes you’re hopping on a trend quickly, sometimes you’re creating the demand yourself. Find your perfect catalog of trending items, and you’re off to a great start.
Ready to spot your first trending product? With AutoDS, skip the guessing and let AI-powered sourcing do it for you 👉 Start your $1 trial today
Traditional Ways to Spot Trends (Manual Research)
One way to do your product research is the old-school manual way. You start by browsing Amazon best-sellers, checking eBay hot items, or stalking TikTok viral hashtags. Then, pick your favorites and copy-paste them into a spreadsheet to track prices, suppliers, and potential margins.
You can also use Google Trends to check and compare interest over time. Say you’re trying to figure out what niche works better: pets or fashion. Compare both terms for the past 12 months, and you’ll see which one drives more interest. Spoiler alert: it’s pets, to no one’s surprise.
Lastly, you can order a few samples from different suppliers to test quality, shipping speed, and packaging. This will give you the last piece of information you need before committing to one supplier, and it will leave room for alternatives in case something happens with option A (out of stock, shipping delays, the usual dropshipping drama).
All of this sounds doable, right? Sure… until you realize you’ve spent three hours just comparing dog leashes and still don’t know which one actually sells. Manual sourcing is time-consuming (especially as you scale) and, honestly? It’s so hard to validate.
That’s where automated product finder tools come in, reducing this entire process to just a few clicks.
How to Find Trending Products with AutoDS
Sourcing winning products doesn’t have to be a spreadsheet nightmare. AutoDS, the all-in-one dropshipping platform, makes it simple with automation tools built for beginners and experienced sellers. Here’s how to find trending products with AutoDS step-by-step.
Step 1: Open the AutoDS Product Research Tool > Trending Products
Once you’re logged into your AutoDS account, start by heading to the Marketplace tab and selecting Trending Products. You’ll get access to a database of hot items across multiple niches.
AutoDS also offers other product finding tools: a huge Marketplace that stores all available products (in high demand or not), the Ads Spy tool to spot trending items through real Facebook and TikTok ads, and the Hand-Picked Products hub, where experts curate ready-to-sell winners for you on a weekly basis.
The difference with the Trending Products selection is that these items are curated solely by AI based on real-time sales demand. Plus, it lets you filter products based on social media performance, such as likes, impressions, and comments, to uncover how users are actually responding. You can use these insights to develop your own marketing strategy for the product based on what is already working right now.
For each product, the Trending Products hub provides insights into market demand, competition, and consumer behavior. It also has advanced filters to analyze products by niche, profit range, and more.
This gives you a real edge when sourcing products. You’re getting behind-the-scenes data that would be impossible to uncover if you were manually researching.
Step 2: Use AI Product Suggestions
Not sure which product to pick? Let AutoDS’s AI product suggestions lend you a hand. The system analyzes data and recommends winning items tailored to your store and audience.
“On their Marketplace, come down to this Trending Product section. You can start scrolling, and you can import all these products to your store. AutoDS is using AI to scrape TikTok Shop, TikTok ads, AliExpress, and even using data from their own warehouses to show us products that they believe will sell.” – Anthony Eclipse
This feature is especially helpful for beginners who don’t know where to start. Instead of spending hours researching marketplaces, you get a ready-made list of products with real potential, curated by AI just for you. Just click on your niche and that’s it: you’ll find all suggested items for that specific category.
Step 3: Analyze Supplier & Shipping Options
Of course, before you import a product, you have to check the supplier. Suppliers are a major part of your dropshipping success. A good supplier means high-quality products, fast shipping, and transparent, rapid communication.
So, before importing a product, take a moment to review where it’s coming from and who’s supplying it. Again, AutoDS makes this easy with filters and data that let you spot trusted suppliers at a glance.
For instance, looking for fast shipping? The AutoDS marketplace offers filters that let you choose local warehouses in the US, EU, UK, and more, so you can choose the one closest to your potential customers. Just head over to the Marketplace and filter by “Ships To” and “Ships From”.
You’ll also find plenty of data on supplier reliability. You can check ratings, order volume, and fulfillment speed to make sure you’re working with trusted partners. A tip? Don’t skip on this extra vetting step. It can save you big headaches later, from shipping delays to quality problems.
Step 4: Import & Test Products Instantly
Got your winners? Great. Now it’s time to import them to your store. Luckily, AutoDS makes this super easy. Instead of manually copying and pasting every detail, adding variations, and uploading pictures and videos, with AutoDS importing tools, you can do this in a couple of clicks.
First, you’ve got the One-click-importer. See a product you like? Does it check all the boxes? Cool, you just click “Import Draft” from the AutoDS marketplace or the Chrome extension, and that’s it. You can publish it straight away or tweak the draft to your liking.
You can also import single or bulk items directly from the AutoDS dashboard. Just copy-paste the original URL from your supplier’s website, and the system will automatically pull all the information for you.
Before launching, you’ll also have the chance to customize descriptions, images, and pricing so each listing matches your brand. You can use AutoDS’s AI Product Title & Description Generator to optimize copy and make your listings SEO-friendly.
Once your products are published, you will automatically see them live on your store (Shopify, eBay, WooCommerce, or any other AutoDS-supported selling channel). The best part? This entire process takes only a couple of clicks, making it super easy to test new products and see what sticks.
Find, import, and scale products in minutes with AutoDS. Get real-time market data, full automation, and AI-powered recommendations to save time and grow faster 👉 Start your $1 trial today
Best Practices for Testing Trending Products
Finding trending products is only half the job. The real magic happens when you test them. Here are some best practices to make the process more effective so you can stick to items that actually work for your store.
1. Start with a curated database. Use AutoDS’s trending items from top suppliers as your foundation. These products already come with sales data and proven demand, so you’re not starting from scratch.
2. Leverage AI-powered recommendations. AutoDS’s algorithms save beginners from the guesswork by suggesting products with high potential or established sales volume. This makes it easy to test: instead of wasting so much time researching and guessing, you can follow AutoDS’s informed suggestions and see what works best for your audience.
3. Track performance closely. Pay attention to metrics like clicks, conversions, and feedback. These insights reveal whether a product is worth scaling up (or is better left behind). The good news? You don’t have to measure this manually. In the AutoDS dashboard, you’ll find top-selling products, average profit, total revenue, and many other metrics that help you make smarter decisions. As much as you may like a product, if weeks go by and nobody’s buying it, it’s time to move on.
4. Optimize listings as you go. Once your products go live, don’t just forget about them. Update titles, optimize descriptions, and adjust pricing based on performance and customer responses. See how you can improve listings that aren’t performing well: you can tweak titles to increase traffic, write a more compelling description, or create an exclusive offer to drive conversions.
Want to test prices and see what drives more conversions? No need to manually update listings one by one. AutoDS’s Automatic Price Optimization tool keeps prices competitive based on real-time performance. A product is not performing well? The system can lower the cost to boost sales, and raise it back up once demand kicks in. This way, you maximize profit without constantly testing prices manually.
5. Diversify suppliers when possible. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Testing the same product with multiple suppliers can help you compare quality and fulfillment times. Moreover, it gives you alternatives in case your first supplier runs out of stock at the last minute or changes prices out of nowhere.
Keeping track of supplier prices and stock can be a headache. You never know when they might raise costs or run out of inventory, leaving you with an active order that either can’t be fulfilled or just makes you lose money. AutoDS’s Price and Stock Monitoring tool tracks any changes in real-time and updates your listings automatically, so you’re always protected.
Why AutoDS Is the Best Tool for Finding Trending Products
There are many ways to source products. You can do it manually, which takes forever. You can also use standalone sourcing tools, but if they’re not made specifically for dropshippers, you’ll probably waste time and resources juggling apps and dashboards and trying to piece together the metrics that matter.
Then, there’s AutoDS. Why is AutoDS the best tool for finding dropshipping products? Many reasons. First, AutoDS gives you a curated database of trending items from top suppliers. It does most of the job for you. Instead of getting out there and finding products yourself, AutoDS gives you vetted, ready-to-sell items based on real-time data.
Then, there are AI-powered recommendations to save beginners from the guesswork. You’re not just getting another generic marketplace. You’re getting a smart hub with recommendations that make sense for your business, plus smart filters and market data that complete the full picture.
Last but not least? Built-in automation for every step of the dropshipping workflow, not just for sourcing. You get automated importing, price optimization, and stock monitoring—all from the same place. This allows you to centralize your entire operation in one single dashboard while automating most of your processes.
The result? Significant time savings. What used to take hours or even days of manual research now takes minutes, and most of it runs on autopilot in the background.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a product is trending?
To know if a product is trending, check demand signals like sales velocity, search volume, and AutoDS’ trending database, which gives you a full product report with metrics such as product score, sales count, profit, interaction rate, and reviews.
Can AutoDS really suggest products automatically?
Yes, AutoDS provides AI product suggestions through its Trending Product hub based on real-time market data—all tailored to beginners and advanced sellers.
Does AutoDS work with multiple suppliers?
Absolutely, AutoDS supports multiple suppliers like AliExpress, Walmart, Home Depot, Amazon, and many more suppliers and private sellers around the world.
How fast can I import a trending product into my store?
If you’re importing products manually, it can take several minutes per product. If you’re using AutoDS, you can use the one-click or bulk importing tool to get your products into your store in just seconds.
Is it better to test one trending product or many?
It’s always better to test many products at once so you don’t waste time. AutoDS makes this quick and easy with sourcing and importing tools that allow you to find and add multiple items into your store in just a couple of clicks.
Find Trending Products With AutoDS Today
The main takeaway? The products you sell are the magic in your strategy. They are the main reason customers buy from your store and keep coming back. Luckily, finding trending dropshipping products doesn’t have to be a guessing game.
AutoDS lets you research, test, and scale winning items fast. From AI-powered product suggestions and product finder tools to built-in automation for pricing and stock, everything is designed to keep you ahead of the competition.
Want to keep learning? Check out more of our dropshipping guides and tutorials to sharpen your strategy:
