3 Reasons Why We Build Niche Specific Stores

Niche specific or general store... Which route is better for dropshippers?

If you’ve been following Drop Ship Lifestyle for any amount of time, you know which side we are on: build a niche-specific store.

Niche specific does not mean selling one specific product, it means selling one specific type of product. You don’t have one product page, you have many of them. But these niche specific dropshipping stores are built around a single theme, a single niche.

The best example I give is if I was going to sell stand-up paddle boards, I would have a shop that sold every legitimate stand-up paddle board that I could find.

So in this blog post, I’m going to address the three reasons why I recommend niche-specific stores like a paddle board shop. Let's get started.

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3 Reasons Why You Should Build a Niche Specific Dropshipping Store Instead of a General Store

1. Easy Way to Build Trust with Consumers

One of the main reasons why I recommend you build a niche-specific store over what some people call a general store is it’s an easy way to build trust. With a niche specific dropship store, you’ll have more authority and appear more credible in your niche.

Picture this: If you came across an online store that sold paddle boards,and gun safes, and model trains, and a few other random hobbies, wouldn’t you be a bit confused?

It’s hard to pinpoint why, but niche specific stores build more trust.

So it's hard to describe exactly why it builds trust in, without just staying that when you can be really specific, people know, okay, this is a store. This is a company, this is what they do, and just having that increases your credibility.

Now, if you're thinking, “Well, what about Amazon, right? They sell everything under the sun." That's true– but you're not Amazon and you're not going to be Amazon.

In fact, the other reasons why we build niche-specific stores are because when we get niche specific it actually allows us to stand out. Standing out will give you a competitive advantage over those big box-type stores. This plays into Reason #2 why niche specific stores are better.

2. You Can Create Content for a Targeted Audience

Number two reason why we build niche specific stores is so we can create content around our niche.

Again, take the paddle board example. With a paddle board dropship site, you can create a blog about paddle-boarding, an Instagram about paddle boarding, a Facebook page and group about paddle boarding. You can create, and share content that will appeal to your ideal customer.

This content isn’t just about paddle boarding, it’s about different areas to travel to, different tournaments that coming up, new product releases, even interviews with influencers. All these things where the message I was putting out to the world in forms of content, matches the market, it matches what I'm selling.

The type of stores we build at Drop Ship Lifestyle, are NOT burner stores that last for a few months. I like to teach people how to build a business asset that you can plan to have for the long-term or sell in a few years for a big payout.

So can you build content around multiple different niches if you were to have a general dropshipping store? Sadly, no.

You can't mix in content play that's actually going to connect with your target audience, because when you get random, when you go broad, you have no target audience.

When you go niche-specific you can build content that actually resonates with an audience. And that will attract an audience to you, which of course will then build that trust, help you get more sales, more conversions, more authority. It’s an all around win!

3. Niche Specific Stores Allow You to Position Yourself as an Expert

That plays itself right into the third reason. The third reason we build niche specific stores is so we can position ourselves as experts.

What does that mean?

It means that when people come to our website, we can say, “Hey, are you looking for a new paddle board? You can start a live chat with one of our paddle board experts, and we can get you to the right one. We can help you choose the size. We can help you choose the width. We can help you choose the perfect board.”

With a niche specific store, it’s easy to actually give someone this experience as if they walked in to a shop where there was an expert that's been paddle boarding for 20 years that had all the answers ready to go.

Now if you're thinking well, “I want to get into eCommerce, I want to build a niche specific store that I'm not an expert in.” That's totally fine!

You can become an expert. You can learn. But again, if you were selling paddle boards, and gun safes, and model train sets in one place, it’s not going to be easy to position your store as the expert in all of those categories.

You can't position yourself as an expert in one of those things if you try to do everything. Check out this podcast I recently did to understand why. It goes really deep in to buy-in psychology and how to leverage what are traditionally human, in-person retail interactions.

Remember, if you position yourself as an expert and actually are able to answer questions, or get the answers is a huge reason that stores like the ones that we build, and the ones like our students build can stand out and actually get sales in a world where there a few massive online giants.

There's no denying that, but there are definitely ways that you can be unique and you can stand out. And you do not do that by building some broad general shopping mall-type store.

You do that by getting specific with what you are selling.

Niche Specific Stores vs General Stores Conclusion

I hope this article helps you to understand the difference between niche specific and general dropshipping stores. Hopefully the three reasons above show you why I always, always recommend people to build a niche specific store. To recap:

• Building a niche specific store will make you unique and help you to stand out among the competition.
• Niche specific dropshipping stores are more valuable if you choose to sell them.
• With a broad selection of products in general dropshipping stores, you have no target audience.
• Niche specific stores have a better chance of becoming a long-term, profitable business.
• Finally, remember that focusing on one type of niche will help you build trust, create content, and become an expert which will help you to build a real business and make real money.

If you have any questions about niche specific stores, leave them for me below! And if you know someone who could benefit from this advice, make sure to share this article with them.