Creating a Niche
In today’s fast paced world e-commerce is quickly becoming a key success factor for any business that wants to be competitive. However, when you begin trading online you go from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond. With global conglomerates and Amazon, it can be very difficult to compete with their economies of scale advantage.
For example, if a local pharmacy wanted to begin selling online they are competing with Amazon and Boots. To be able to compete in this market they have to differentiate themselves.
As it is nearly impossible to compete with big online retailers on price, you have to create a niche in order to create value in non-financial ways.
What is a niche?
An online niche is choosing a specific target audience and creating a product, service or brand for them. By doing this you are avoiding going into direct competition with major online competitors. Creating a less competitive market will result in the ability to create sustainable e-commerce success.
The ultimate goal of creating a niche is to enter a blue ocean market. This occurs when you create a niche that no other service provider or retailer is in. An example of a blue ocean market is the Wii. When Nintendo introduced the Wii, it was the only product of its kind and had no other game consoles that allowed its users to exercise while gaming.
Examples of successful Niche businesses.
A great example of an Irish brand that effectively created a niche that allows them to remain competitive online is Gym & Coffee. By noticing the growing number of people in Ireland who use cafe’s and gyms as a social hub, they were able to create a niche that separated them from the major competition from the likes of Nike and adidas.
How can your business create a niche?
When creating a niche there are 2 ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. Either create a brand around your target market, like Gym and Coffee. Alternatively, create a product or service offering based on your niche market. Creating a niche product offering may include superior customer service, additional features, sustainable sourcing and locality to name a few.
Conclusion
If you are looking to start or improve upon your businesses e-commerce website, BeQuick Media Web Design & SEO are here to help. We can help in every step of the process, whether that be building the website itself, or helping you get found online through SEO and digital marketing.