Thinking of starting an eCommerce business? Well, entering the eCommerce space may sound like a piece of cake, but running it profitably is surely a challenge. In most cases, it’s not about the business but the business ideas that can turn it from rust to gold. Launching your eCommerce website will be easier once you know what idea you should pursue or what products to sell online to keep the business gainful.
We’ve jotted down the list of best start-up ideas that have proven to be fruitful based on current market trends and success rates.
The Best eCommerce Business Ideas
There can be hundreds and thousands of online business ideas, but you need an idea that is unique so you can turn it into one of the most successful online businesses around. Beauty and health products, smartwatches, smart home products, and selling eBooks and kids’ games are among the most profitable eCommerce categories. Now, let’s take a look at the list of best business ideas in 2022.
Start A Niche Business
You must have heard the expression, “jack of all trades, master of none”. The phrase holds true meaning when it comes to online selling business. You can choose to be a generalist by selling multiple things or a specialist by carving a niche market for a specific audience. In case you want to serve as a go-to brand for a particular audience, you will need to establish your credibility which will further result in a more focused business.
What is a Niche Market?
A niche market is a section of a larger market that can be distinguished by its unique needs or preferences that makes it different from the bigger market. For example, if we talk about the market for women’s shoes, you can find products under various categories. There are vegan shoes, shoes for plus-sized women, nurse shoes, and so on. All these are examples of niche markets within the larger market. Following are some of the niche market samples and the products you can sell.
Conscious Consumers
Conscious consumers are looking for sustainable (vegan, eco-friendly, cruelty-free) products in every category. To target these customers, you may want to sell the following products:
- Reusable drinking straws
- Vegan-friendly apparel
- Cruelty-free cosmetics
- Menstrual cups
- Bamboo toothbrushes
Pet Owners
The fast-growing pet industry has carved a huge potential for pet products. You can pick some of the following products to cater to the needs of pet parents.
- Organic pet treats and food
- Pet accessories and clothing
- Personalized products with the pet’s photos
- Pet cameras to watch and interact with pets from a distant location
- GPS pet trackers
LGBTQ Community
Serving a unique community needs unique business ideas as well. The LGBTQ community is quite huge and these consumers spend comparatively more than an average Indian consumer. As they have unique shopping habits, you can fulfil their demands by selling the following products.
- Pride-inspired designs
- Clothing designed for certain body types
- Makeup designed for specific skin types
Travellers
Online sales in the travel industry have increased significantly in the past few years. Here, it’s important to notice that the number of frequent business travellers has lowered in the past two years mainly because of the pandemic. Now, you may want to understand the needs of a remote worker struck with wanderlust to meet the changing traveller requirements. As travellers are now becoming more environmentally conscious, you shall focus on their evolving choices while selling products for them. Following are some niche product ideas for avid travellers.
- Practical and comfortable athleisure for frequent flyers
- Smartphone accessories for travelling content creators
- Eco-friendly bottles and other accessories
Smart Home Products
Despite the rise in the demand for smart home products, there aren’t many brands focusing on these products. Apart from the industrial revolution in the early 1900s, consumers’ interest in smart devices has been fuelling the demand for connected devices.
Internet of Things (IoT) connects goods, software, algorithms, and end-users, allowing the data to make real-time decisions. As these products are in high demand, selling these in today’s time would be greatly advantageous.
AR/VR Headsets and Accessories Store
Though Augmented/Virtual Reality took a long time to become available to the masses, it’s in high demand now. As more companies are expected to invest in developing AR/VR apps and accessories in the future, you can grab the chance to become an early promoter of a technology that will soon be the major talk in the eCommerce sector.
Online Learning Platforms
Teaching an online course is one of the best business ideas to do in a low investment to garner a high margin. While there are already many education portals available online, there’s a need for evolvement in the sector. So, if you believe you can do justice by providing quality educational resources to people who’re looking for unconventional ways to study, you can get started with this business idea.
Rent High-budget Fashion to Budget-minded People
People love high-end brands, but not everyone can afford products from those brands. It all started with renting out dresses online. While it may have seemed to be an odd idea at first, some of these businesses are running successfully. Give a chance to fashionistas to rent accessories and fashion products from big brands at a retail price. You can offer products under various categories and may also want to promote your business through social media marketing to boost sales effectively.
Electric Scooters, Skateboards, Hoverboards
With the increasing popularity of eco-friendly products, electric scooters and skateboards are now becoming mainstream. There’s a huge demand for these products in the market and you can bridge the gap. Since delivering these products from the manufacturers’ place to the customers is a tricky part, you may want to go with the dropshipping business model.
Online Grocery
This can be a great eCommerce business idea if you’re ready to cater to the huge target market in this domain. Local sourcing of products is in trend right now that helps both the business and the local participants to earn a good margin. You can start small by procuring from the local producers and can decide to scale once the profits increase.
On-demand Organic Food
If you’re interested in selling food items, selling organic food to clean-eating enthusiasts can be a great idea. It’s a wide market out there, so specialising in this niche will help you with a good margin in the long run. While the profit potential is good, you may have to do aggressive marketing to spread the word.
Selling Services
If you’re good at a skill, you can turn it into a full-fledged profession. For example, you can offer online services like website development, graphic designing, content writing, social media marketing, SEO services, and more. With a huge number of growing businesses, there’s an immense requirement for digital marketing services. Starting an online business to fulfil these market demands can be a profitable idea.
Dropshipping Business
Dropshipping is a profitable business model that lets you sell products without investing in buying or storing products. The idea is to associate with a third-party manufacturer or wholesaler who handles inventory management and order fulfilment for dropshipping partners. You can list products from different wholesalers on a single platform and sell them at a higher price to earn as much as you want.
Conclusion
Running an online business has its appeal, but you must start with the right business idea to make it successful in the long run. Once you take a pick from the above-mentioned online business ideas, you need to begin working on the different steps before launching your business website. From naming your business, creating a logo, and building your store to choosing your sales channel and doing promotional activities, you have a lot of things to accomplish in the process.
