A lot of people who want to build a successful ecommerce business start out thinking they want to sell a huge variety of products. After all, if you’re able to sell more stuff, you’re going to make more money, right?
Well, while this line of thought isn’t totally off-base, it’s not realistic to think your new ecommerce business is going to be able to compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart. This is where developing an ecommerce niche comes into play.
Choosing a niche for your ecommerce store is sort of like choosing a specialty in any other realm of your life. By narrowing your focus, you can do a better job targeting a specific set of customers. While you won’t be able to take on Amazon when it comes to selling general clothes, you might be able to have a successful ecommerce store that sells a highly specific type of baby clothes. Let’s look at some of the things you need to consider when developing a niche for your ecommerce store.
Choose Something Meaningful to You
As with everything in life, you’re going to have more success with building an ecommerce business if you pursue something with personal meaning. Think about where your interests and knowledge bases intersect with potentially lucrative opportunities.
For example, if you’re someone who loves radio-controlled cars, starting an ecommerce store that facilitates this in some way can be a possibly successful avenue. You as an avid enthusiast are going to have a better idea of what consumers really want than a megastore. By populating your ecommerce business with only the products you find most worth of your niche, you can eventually gain a loyal following of consumers who value your expertise.
Balance Specificity with Broad Interest
When thinking about how to start an ecommerce business, your niche needs to strike a balance between being narrow and broad. Basically, you want to find a niche that will allow you to be one of the top players in the field, which will likely be a relatively small pool. But you don’t want to get so specific you’re not actually going to be able to drum up interest from consumers.
It can take some experimenting to finally strike this balance, so don’t get discouraged if things don’t click right away. One of the best things you can do to move yourself closer to your niche, and identifying ideal customers, is to look at what others are already doing in spaces close to your niche. Refining your own ideas based on the established niches of similar ecommerce stores can position you for your own unique band of success.
Look at Keywords
Keywords are your friends when you’re in the process of developing an ecommerce niche. There are a couple reasons for this. First, by doing keyword research, you can get a better idea of how much interest—and competition—is already out there for your potential niches. This will help you determine whether or not a certain route is actually worth pursuing, or already too crowded.
Additionally, keyword research is an essential element to marketing your ecommerce store online. After all, how are people going to find your site if they don’t know it exists? You’ll need to spend time developing keywords to help your site reach higher through both organic and paid search results.
Successful Businesses Solve Problems
At the end of the day, the most successful businesses are the ones that solve problems for people. Google solves the problem of connecting people with information, and makes money by advertising similar results. Your ecommerce store probably won’t be the next Google, but should operate on the same basic principle. Solving problems for people is what creates value and customer loyalty. Always consider how you’re making the consumer’s life better when building your ecommerce store.
There’s a lot you need to consider when building an ecommerce business. Choosing a niche is undoubtedly one of the most important pieces of this puzzle. Following these tips can help you build a better ecommerce store.
