Have you ever wanted to start your online niche store?
If so, you are not alone.
The interest in ecommerce has been trending up for quite some time now, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Even though many people have the idea of starting their online niche store, few follow through.
This is because starting a store can seem intimidating. But here is the thing; it doesn’t have to be!
Online store owners are learning new ways to compete with big online shopping sites every day.
So, if you want to start an online niche store in 2022, this article will outline seven different tips that will make the process much easier.
Advantages of starting an online niche store
When starting with ecommerce, you will have three choices when it comes to the type of store you are going to build:
A one-product store
A niche store
A general store
In short, a one-product store sells just a single product. A niche store sells several products that fit in one niche. And lastly, a general store can sell anything and everything.
Each type of store comes with its benefits when compared to the others. So, what are the advantages of starting an online niche store?
For a quick overview of the advantages – check out our infographic below:
Attract more loyal customers
First of all, a niche store allows you to attract more loyal customers.
Let me give you an example to explain why. Let’s say you are running a store in the fitness niche.
Through one of your social media ads, a customer found a product he was interested in and purchased it. Since he is passionate about fitness, you have a big chance that he will check your store later to see if you have any other exciting products.
If your store offers excellent customer service and good-quality products, this is even more likely to happen!
Build a unique store
When running a general online store, it’s pretty challenging to differentiate yourself from competitors and make your store unique. Doing that is much easier with a niche store.
When running a niche store, you segment the products you offer on a smaller, more specific market. By tailoring your products to a particular niche, you will lower your competition more and more.
For example, there may be thousands of companies selling beds for cats. But fewer companies sell pet beds with your own cat’s image printed on them.
In short, the more specific you can make your product, the more unique you will be, and the fewer businesses will compete with you.
You can start social media theme pages.
An online niche store is a perfect opportunity to start your theme page on Instagram, Facebook Ad, or Pinterest.
By posting content on social media around your niche, people will have a reason to follow you because they see a lot of content they like. You will be able to gather new followers, which you can later turn into buyers!
Improve your store’s SEO with a blog
A great way to get free traffic to your niche store is by starting a blog.
This will improve your store’s SEO and, therefore, your search engine rankings, but it’s also a great way to show your expertise in the niche you are operating in. The only thing you will have to do is write an interesting article about some topic in your niche!
Upselling is easier
Let’s continue with the last (but excellent) benefit of starting an online niche store. It will be much easier to upsell your customer when running a niche store than a general store! Most people who visit your store will like many of your products because it falls in their interest.
For example, if someone comes to your store to buy a dog toy, it is more likely they will also purchase a similar product like dog foot wash cups.
However, if you are selling a dog toy on a general online store, the chance of upselling that same person with something like a yoga mat is slight.
7 Tips for starting an online niche store
The following seven tips will be for those thinking about starting an online niche store.
They will help you prevent some common mistakes that people make and make the overall process go more smoothly.
Let’s begin with the first tip.
1. Choose a niche you are interested in
It will be much easier to build a successful online niche store if you have an interest or passion for the niche you are operating in.
By building a store around that niche, you will learn even more about it, and it will motivate you on hard days to always keep going until you succeed!
But that’s not all.
It will also help you choose the best products, write more accurate product descriptions, and perform customer service tasks better. You will be the one doing all the work to make this a success, so you need to choose a niche that interests you for the best chances of succeeding.
2. Try to find a niche supplier
When it comes to suppliers for your store, you will find two main types, similar to online stores.
On one side, you will find the general suppliers. These supply products that can fit into several niches, just like a general online store.
On the other side, there are niche suppliers. These suppliers specialize in products that fit into a specific niche, just like an online niche store!
There are several benefits of using a niche supplier for your niche store. Niche suppliers often sell many unique products in your niche and have experience with those products. So, if you would have any questions regarding your products or the niche, these suppliers will often give you helpful answers!
3. Don’t sell random products that belong to other niches
Let’s continue with a mistake that some people make when running a niche store: Selling products on their online store that don’t fit inside of their niche.
It’s better not to do this since it completely ruins the advantages of a niche store we talked about earlier.
It will confuse your visitors, the new product often won’t fit your store, and you are essentially turning your niche store into a general store!
Therefore, here is my short and simple tip:
When running a niche store, don’t try selling a different product that doesn’t fit your niche!
4. Get inspiration from other niche stores
Before creating your new niche store, it’s great to get some inspiration from other stores first.
By looking at how other stores design, the products other stores sell, and more, you will likely get some fantastic ideas that you can use for your store!
For example, you might see a unique product page layout. By saving that page, you will be able to recreate something similar in your store later on.
5. Pick a domain name related to your niche
When it comes to choosing a domain name for your niche store, it’s a good practice to pick a name related to your niche. A name like this allows visitors to recognize that you specialize in selling hiking products, increasing their trust in you.
And if coming up with a name for your new online store isn’t your thing, then remember some tools and methods that can help you come up with a great name!
6. Pick a store theme that fits your niche
After picking a niche, thinking of a domain name, and finding a supplier, you will eventually arrive at the point where you have to choose a store theme. Some people might not know that different store themes are best suited for specific types of stores.
For example, general stores benefit the most from themes suited for extensive inventories. Meanwhile, niche stores can take advantage of themes designed specifically for their niche!
7. Show your store’s expertise within your niche
Today’s last tip will show your store’s expertise in the niche you are operating in.
By doing this, you can convince your visitors that you know what you are talking about, your products’ quality is good, and that if they have any problems, you will be able to provide them with an answer.
Then, there is one thing left. How do you show your store’s expertise?
You can do this in several ways.
A popular way is one I already talked about, creating blogs. By writing articles, you may be able to help customers with their problems using your knowledge and eventually turn them into paying customers!
A detailed FAQs page added to your product page can also help to show your expertise.
Conclusion
I hope this article helped you form a better understanding of how to start an online niche store.
Remember to try and implement the seven tips we have given to increase your chances of building a successful store.
Hopefully, this article has covered most of what you need to know. But if you left with any questions, please write them in the comments below.
Good luck with starting your online store!
Private Agent for Dropshipping Success