Tips for aspiring dropshippers. General business
Tips for aspiring dropshippers. General business
You've decided to try dropshipping. What's the next step? One of the first steps is to determine the type of your future shop. In the previous articles of the Selpway Trading blog, we talked in detail about the niche shop and the one-product shop. Now it is the turn of the general shop.
Such a shop usually offers a wide range of products. They belong to different niches. For example, a visitor might find household goods, electronics, clothing, car products, swimwear and so on.
A one-stop shop may be the right choice if
On the one hand, the advantage of a general store is that you can make a list of the most popular products in all niches and add them to your shop. On the other hand, general stores often look like a collection of random items, which can discourage customers from making a purchase. Let's take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of a general store.
A one-stop shop may be the right choice if
- You want to reach a wide range of customers with different interests;
- You have the resources to manage a multi-product shop.
- You are prepared to adapt quickly to changing market trends and consumer preferences.
On the one hand, the advantage of a general store is that you can make a list of the most popular products in all niches and add them to your shop. On the other hand, general stores often look like a collection of random items, which can discourage customers from making a purchase. Let's take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of a general store.
Advantages of General Store
- Because general stores are not focused on one type of product, there are no barriers to entry. This means you can sell anything you want.
- Flexibility to add different products. You don't have to worry about whether a product fits your niche and target audience. If you find a popular product, you can safely add it to your range. Just don't forget to advertise and promote its appearance in the shop.
- Reach a wide audience. A general store attracts more visitors than a niche or one-product store. The reason is simple - a general store offers a wide range of products.
- Another advantage of a general shop is that you can test several products from different niches at the same time. Just add product cards and promote your new products.
Disadvantages of a general store
Advice from Selpway Trading
If you are just starting out in e-commerce, you should not choose General Store right away. A beginner does not have the experience to manage a large number of product lines at the same time. The best option is to start with a niche store and scale up gradually. When your business metrics show that you are on the right track, you can move on to another niche. And so, step by step, you will grow your business into a large general store.
Our main advice is to understand everything about the dropshipping business before you start. If you find it difficult to do it on your own, seek help from professionals. You can find contacts here: https://selpway.com/en/contacts
- The lack of niche products can make it difficult to create an effective marketing strategy and rank the online shop in search results for certain keywords. It is also difficult to develop a brand for this type of dropshipping shop.
- Low conversion rate. Many visitors come to the general store just to browse the products. In niche and one-product shops, visitors are more likely to make a purchase because they come with that intention.
- High percentage of irrelevant traffic. As most visitors only want to check product prices, this only consumes the shop's bandwidth. These visitors also eat up the paid advertising budget.
- High competition. Compared to a niche marketplace, a one-stop shop competes with every other e-commerce site in the market. Therefore, in order to differentiate your shop and attract customers, you need to pay a lot of attention to marketing strategies and advertising campaigns. These will require the investment of a considerable amount of money.
Advice from Selpway Trading
If you are just starting out in e-commerce, you should not choose General Store right away. A beginner does not have the experience to manage a large number of product lines at the same time. The best option is to start with a niche store and scale up gradually. When your business metrics show that you are on the right track, you can move on to another niche. And so, step by step, you will grow your business into a large general store.
Our main advice is to understand everything about the dropshipping business before you start. If you find it difficult to do it on your own, seek help from professionals. You can find contacts here: https://selpway.com/en/contacts