Excellent question! It’s tempting to sell to everybody. You don’t want to miss out on a sale, right? Amazon does it, why shouldn’t you? Well, it doesn’t work that way.
While Amazon seems to have all the products under the sun [they actually don’t; they are very selective as to which products to sell], they offer a huge selection of every item.
They started by selling books. Then, they extended their catalog and now sell electronics, clothing, office products, and more. But, they have the most insane variety of each product.
If you were to search for “wire strippers” you would find a mind-blowing selection – 5000 products, to be precise:
Can you see where I’m getting at? Amazon can afford to expand their merchandise, as they have the means to specialize in each niche they add.
It’s an impossible task for a small store.
I’ll give you another example.
Let’s say you are looking for a specific screwdriver. Where will you be shopping? In a general store, selling pet collars, notebooks, rubber ducks and tools, or will you go straight to a hardware store? We all know where you’re going to find exactly what you need.
It’s the same online. People search for a specific item and like to have a large selection – don’t forget that online shoppers are getting more and more picky!
Trust also plays a huge role; if you specialize in tools only, your customers will feel you have an authority in that niche and they can trust your knowledge. They wouldn’t feel equally secure trusting the recommendation of a general store. Can you see the difference?
So go ahead and specialize: pick a certain niche you feel confident in, stick to it, and grow your merchandise.
Specializing is better for your bottom line too – it’s cheaper to promote a store if there’s only one audience. You target one customer type and the few platforms they use.
Try promoting your tools, rubber ducks, beach parasol and dozens of other items to all customer groups. It’s madness – almost an impossible task. So specialize – work smarter, not harder!
