We should begin this article by being upfront about one critical point about niche markets – there is no guaranteed “method” to building success.
Think of this as training your dog to stay or helping your kiddos learn math. Some tried and true suggestions will get you most of the way, but in the end, everyone is unique and requires a little subtly to cross the finish line.
That being said, there are some foundational tips to ensure your niche and product selection will do better than others.
What is a Niche Market?
A Niche Market is a small group of people with a shared interest or common goal. Many niche markets can be profitable for your ecommerce business, such as bird watchers, people who like to travel, and knitters.
Some of the best niches would have 1,000 visitors per month, while others may have more than 100,000 visitors per month. It depends on demand and what you provide to overcome their unique pain points.
The best thing about niche markets is that they’re more profitable because you know exactly what your audience wants and what type of products they’ll buy from you. They will trust you more because they feel part of something special.
For example, Star Wars is a massive intellectual property with millions of fans. That may seem too broad of a market, but if you break it down to selling customizable lightsabers that are durable enough for dueling, then you have a pretty unique niche.
How do You Select a Profitable Niche for Your Business?
1 – Find Your Passion
It’s important to know what you’re passionate about. You need to be enthusiastic about your niche and products because this will help drive sales, but it also helps with your store’s marketing. If you don’t have any passion for what you’re selling, how can you expect anyone else to?
It can be hard to determine exactly what your passion is and where it lies, so here are some questions that might help:
- What is your favourite subject in school?
- What do you like doing when not working or spending time with friends and family?
- What have you always wanted to do as a job?
- What have you always wanted to learn more about (e.g., history)?
2 – Do Your Research
It’s essential to understand how big the market is, who your competitors are and what they’re doing well. You can use tools like Google Trends or Keyword Planner to get a feel for how many searches there are for products related to your idea.
If there aren’t many searches, that doesn’t mean it’s not a good niche—but it does mean that you’ll have less competition than if there were millions of people searching for something every month.
Social media is another vibrant potential marketplace full of ideas and inspiration for popular products, services, and trends.
3 – Check Current Trends
What are people talking about? What products are trending? Are there any specific items that you should be paying attention to?
You can get a lot of this info by checking out your competitors. Find two or three online stores similar to yours and note what they’re doing well (and not so well).
Google Trends is the best tool for uncovering current product hits and misses. Etsy and Pinterest are a close second.
4 – Look at the Competition
You want to see what customers are saying about competitors in your industry. Are they getting good reviews? What are their sales like, and does it seem like people are returning to buy again?
Look at the way they handle customer service issues and problems, and make sure that you’re going to be able to do the same in a better way. It’s also important to check out their products as well, especially if they have similar products or ones that overlap with your niche.
5 – Solve a Problem
You should find a problem that is not being solved. It may sound counterintuitive, but the best way to stand out in your niche is to solve a problem that nobody else has tried to solve before.
The key here is not just finding a new product or category, but also taking on a problem that doesn’t have an obvious solution already available on the market today. This will give your customers an incentive to buy from you because they can’t find what they want anywhere else easily.
6 – Don’t Fear High Ticket, Small Audience Products
You might be thinking, “If I’m going to be successful at this, I’d better start with low-ticket items that everyone needs.” While that may seem like good advice on the surface, it’s not always the best way to go.
After all, what if you’re selling something more niche and specialized? What if you’re offering a high-priced product that has a tiny audience but would be difficult for anyone else to offer? In these cases, it can actually be more profitable for your business.
Let’s take an example of a high-ticket item—a luxury watch. It’s undoubtedly expensive enough that most people won’t buy one without some serious consideration. When someone does buy one from your site, they’ll probably also buy some other stuff along with it.
Since their purchase is so big upfront and because they’ve already made up their mind about whether or not this particular brand name fits them, you know there’s no risk involved in sending additional products off into their cart.
7 – Look at Social Media, Reddit & Quora
Social media can be a great place to find niche ideas. Look at the types of questions people are asking and how often they’re being asked. Are there specific topics that come up over and over again?
Reddit is another great place to look for niche ideas. Reddit has several subreddits (special interest forums) devoted to finding the best products in particular niches, which can help you find niches with loyal followers.
Quora is also an excellent resource for this kind of research. It allows users to answer any question on any topic through crowdsourced content, meaning that if there’s someone out there who knows something about your niche, they probably have an answer somewhere on Quora.
8 – Be sure of Pricing & Suppliers
The next step is to find a supplier. This is where it gets tricky. You want to ensure you’re getting the best price on quality products and that the supplier is reputable and will deliver your product on time.
Make sure that they have a good track record of delivering quality goods at competitive prices, then ask them if they can offer discounts off their regular selling price if you order in bulk quantities (10 or more units).
Negotiating with them may take some time, but this could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars over time, so it’s definitely worth doing.
Trust Your Instincts and Experience
You can find a niche that you are passionate about and that has a lot of potential by using your expertise and experience. You may know a lot about a certain topic or be very experienced in it.
Finding the right niche market is crucial if you’re looking to start an ecommerce business. You can do this by using some of the tips listed above and by doing your research ahead of time.
Don’t be afraid to take risks. After all, it’s better than selling something that doesn’t interest you.
That is why we have so many custom plugins, apps, and extensions for ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and WooCommere – because we are passionate about automation and solving ecommerce problems.
When you finally decide on a niche, rely on our expert developers at OPMC to provide you with powerful add-ons so your online store can grow well into the future.
