From Credibility to Conversions: Why General Stores Fall Behind Niche Stores

If you’ve been following Drop Ship Lifestyle for a while, you know that we focus on building niche-specific stores and not general stores. 

General stores sell all kinds of products—different products. You may find a combination of surfboards, 3D printers, and even kitchen supplies in there.

But niche-specific stores focus on selling one specific TYPE of product. Their themes concentrate on that one single type or niche, like high-quality surfboards, and nothing else. 

This is why general stores tend to falter in comparison with niche-specific stores. 

In this blog post, I’m going to explain three main reasons why they fall behind niche stores. Find out why I always recommend the latter when building a store. Let’s get started!

They Look Less Professional 

Professional-looking stores build trust with potential customers faster and easier. 

When you’re selling various products all at once, everything looks chaotic and unprofessional. Imagine stumbling into a store of surfboards, gun safes, and horse saddles. Confusing, right? How can you ensure that they know what they’re selling?  You’ll instantly lose credibility with shoppers. 

But a niche store tells a different story. Products look more organized and more professional. This makes it easier for shoppers to trust you and your store. 

I can’t really put into words how this builds trust. It’s just when you see a store and see they specialize in one type of product, they look more credible and trustworthy. 

Yet, you might be thinking, “What about Amazon?” The platform indeed sells all kinds of products. But face it, you’re not Amazon and you can’t be Amazon.

Plus, it would be easier to stand out in the market with a niche store. Selling just one type of product will give you a competitive advantage, which actually overlaps with the second reason I have.

Their Content Marketing is Impossible 

E-commerce relies on content marketing to sell and make a profit. And the second reason why general stores fall behind is because their content marketing sucks. It’s nearly impossible to create content around different types of products at once. 

But with a niche store, marketing your niche with content is easier. For example, if you have a surfboard niche store, you can create different types of content around that niche. 

You can write a blog about surfing and surfboards. You can create social media accounts and post videos and images about them. Or even anything related to the activity and your business. 

In short, it would be easy to come up with ideas and share content with your target audience. This will allow you to connect with them and persuade them to buy.

With a general store, you basically have a vague target audience. You can’t create content about multiple topics and market to a broad audience. Broader means there’s no target audience at all. You won’t be making any progress with that and it would be a nightmare to handle. 

They Lack Expertise in Their Products 

The last reason is that general stores lack the expertise in all the products they’re selling. 

If you’re selling a variety of product types, it can be challenging to know everything about each one. Trying to position yourself as an expert across multiple products can dilute your credibility as an expert. When customers ask questions, you might struggle to give accurate or detailed answers.

But with niche stores, shoppers can expect expert guidance not only about the product but also the niche it belongs to. For example, a surfboard store allows you to position yourself as an authority not just on surfboards but on surfing as a whole.

Even if you have no prior knowledge or experience with the niche, learning will be easy since you’re only focused on that niche. This makes conversions easier as shoppers will be assured that you actually know what’s up. It will be easy to give answers and convince them to buy.

This is a form of customer service that many seem to overlook but is as important in getting conversions and sales. You can check out my recent podcast to learn more about the psychology behind this and understand it more deeply. 

Conclusion: General Stores vs. Niche Stores

I hope this article helps you gain a better understanding of why I never recommend building general dropshipping stores. Here’s a quick recap: 

• General stores don’t stand out and may look unprofessional to shoppers. 
• You’ll have no target audience, making content marketing almost impossible. 
• It would be difficult to be an expert on multiple niches, which will result in poor customer service and conversions. 

Niche stores offer more chances for you to build connections with your target audience, be an expert, and make real money. So make sure to focus on one niche if you want to start a real business! 

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