Find your eCommerce niche

A niche is the provision of goods and/or services that fit a specific part of the market that may not be covered by ‘mainstream’ providers. If you’ve found a niche then you can target all parts of your communication, marketing and product development to fit this. Niche markets are useful for eCommerce because you will then be the designated place that people come to for that specific thing, and people also see you as an ‘expert’ in that field. Read on to find out how to find your niche.

Firstly, there is a difference between a niche market and your target audience, don’t get them confused. Your target market is the demographic of the people you’re selling to ie/ gender, age, occupation etc. But your niche is the service you’re offering to the target market, but the target market may make up part of your niche. For example, if you a female plumber, you may decide to target female customers as they may feel safer with you in their home. But technically your niche is that you are a female plumber (around 6% of plumbers are women). So in addition to finding your niche, you need to start by finding your target market.

Steps to follow to define your niche market:

1. Define your target market (see above).
2. What’s your product? This will start to define your niche – are you selling dog accessories (general), or are you selling customised dog accessories (niche)?
3. Talk to your target market about your product; use focus groups and surveys to test your idea on the people who will become your customers. If they don’t want to buy, then you’ve got something wrong.
4. You might find that some parts work and some don’t, don’t be stubborn. Your customers might start to change your niche, or they may create a deeper more defined niche than you started off with. Roll with the changes and make sure you’re continually monitoring success and feedback.

Finally, become the authority on your niche; write blog posts (this will be good for SEO), write guest posts for other sites, get registered with a governing body (if there is one) and make sure people start to see you as the ‘go-to’ for your niche.