ECommerce: Is It Better To Sell General Goods Or Niche Products?

Ah, the Internet. Many articles online will write that it’s arguably the greatest invention in the past 50 years. Well, they aren’t wrong in that regard, especially when you see how eCommerce has become such a successful endeavor for many companies and business owners.

It’s amazing at how entire businesses can be built on the information that the Internet allows us to share with each other. Property rental businesses like Airbnb don’t own a single apartment, ride-hailing businesses like Grab and Uber don’t own their own fleet of cars, and dropshipping businesses don’t make their own products. Yet, they all flourish because the Internet is able to connect sellers to buyers.

Now, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if you came forth and said that you want in on the action. eCommerce is a real way to make lots of money when done properly (emphasis on DONE PROPERLY).

And one of the most important, if not the most important aspect of setting up an eCommerce business is the merchandise you plan to sell. What you plan to sell is going to heavily determine whether or not your business takes off, or explodes upon ignition. And for this, there are two types of products that you can base your strategy on.

Do you sell general goods or do you sell niche products?

Well, here’s a twist you didn’t expect. The answer.

Niche products will sell better than general goods simply because too many businesses already sell general goods. But, take note that this really depends on your level of experience in the eCommerce field.

Sure, with a general goods online store, it’s going to be significantly more difficult to stand out from a sea of identical businesses, but if you’re new to the game, then this is the best way to start a dropshipping business because of the flexibility and the fact that you get to test several niches at once. You don’t put your eggs in one basket, especially if you’re not even sure if you’re going to make it home.

However, for experienced online sellers, niche products are going to be better to sell for the following reasons:

Filtered Traffic:

The traffic that reaches your store is naturally filtered by the buyers’ interests. You can almost always guarantee that every visitor on your store page is looking to buy something from the niche you’ve chosen. They already have an interest in the type of products you sell, which means…

Easier Ranking:

Niche-based stores rank better on Google than general goods stores because they are perceived, both by the search algorithm and by the social algorithm, as more credible. This, in turn, means that when users search for niche products, like say, health products like Mountain Rose Herbs, these niche stores will often appear at the top of search results.

Higher Conversion Rates

Since your store gets visited by a specific group of buyers, you can already assume that they’re also likely to buy from your store. Not only that, but niche sellers get more sales because satisfied niche buyers will often buy from the same store on a recurring basis. Any business owner worth his or her salt is aware of the importance of having a loyal customer base.