There are a ton of advantages to selling a single product online and I haven’t listed all of them here, but I’ve listed the most important ones you should be aware of. There’s a reason why more and more entrepreneurs are opting to sell one item instead of a store filled with products, many of which never make a sale!
It’s not all advantages however, there are some disadvantages you should also be aware of first. I suggest you read my article on one-product vs multiple product stores for more information.
1. Quick to Setup
A basic Shopify store selling a single product can be set up and ready to make sales within a couple of hours. The keyword there is basic. By far the most time-consuming part of a one-product store is creating unique and persuasive content as well as designing the store to connect with your target audience.
With a one-product store you have to:
- Add images and videos for a single product
- Create content for a single product
- Get reviews for a single product
- Create social proof for a single product
Unless you’re copying and pasting all the product information from your supplier (Which I don’t recommend) it can take days to add new products to a Shopify store with 50, 100 or 500 products.
Another thing to consider is you don’t have to sort out products and variants then decide which will go in which category and create menus and collections. The entire process can be a confusing nightmare depending on the type of products you sell.
Setting up a one-product store is faster, however, it’s not easy. Having some branding and design knowledge will go a long way in the setup process.
2. Optimizing Results are More Accurate
Split testing and optimizing your store and ads is far easier when you’re dealing with a single product. There are fewer variables with one product and making smaller changes will give you more accurate results.
In a way, optimization never ends and you should be always looking to test and improve each aspect of your store. Most people talk about improving conversion rates but there are a ton of other metrics you should be looking to improve.
Optimizing a single product allows you to split-test small changes to find the most effective method of selling your product. This tactic is not really possible with a store full of products as the results may be a little misleading.
3. The Product is Perceived as the Original Brand
You can appear like the original creator of the product. Successful one-product stores name their store after their product to appear as if they are dealing with the actual brand instead of a store selling a random product.
By appearing as the brand and creator of the product the consumer will trust you more than some store selling another brand’s product. Trust is often overlooked but if a customer does not trust your store they will not buy from you.
Another important factor in creating a unique name for your product is customers can’t Google the same product online to price check and buy it from the store with the lowest price. Instead, they’ll Google the exact product name, not find it anywhere and realize they’ll have to buy it from your one-product store.
My Related Articles:
One-Product Dropshipping Store Examples!
Best One-Product Shopify Store Themes
4. The Product Appears Specialized
When an entire store is built around a single product it gives the perception the product is far more specialized than it really is. The store is named after the product, themed and designed after the product and every bit of content including reviews, testimonials and social proof is based around this product. It must be special!
One-product stores don’t work with everyday generic products that can be found at Walmart. Customers know this and they will be looking for that unique quality or feature that makes this product specialized. This drastically increases the perceived value of the product.
For example, the exact same product in a general store will not have the same perceived value which enables you to charge premium prices in your one-product store. Often lower prices may decrease its perceived value and actually decrease conversions.
5. Selling One Product is More Passive
When a one-product store is up, running and fully optimized, it’s actually far more passive than stores with several products that are fully optimized. This does depend on the type of product being sold as more complicated products do require more ongoing customer service as well as returns and refunds.
Each question and query a customer has can be added to the product information. It’s important to address every objection or concern on your website to reduce customer service but also improve conversion rate.
Often Shopify stores can end up being a constant game of product cycling and testing new related products and variants which can be extremely time consuming. A VA (Virtual Assistant) can take care of most of the customer service and for the most part, one-product stores run on autopilot a large percentage of the time.
6. Bulk Ordering a Single Product
Dropshipping is great in the initial stages, however, you should be looking to order your product in bulk as soon as possible. From there you have two main options:
- You can work with an agent in China who can store your products and fulfill your daily orders as they come in. The big advantage of this is it gives you the ability to ship worldwide at low costs.
- The bulk order can be shipped to a fulfillment center (3PL) who will then store and ship your products to your customer base domestically. It will often cost a little more than using an agent but the shipping times will be faster.
There are so many advantages to transitioning into bulk orders including the shipping times, profit margins and the ability to scale your business confidently.
The obvious downside is the risk associated with ordering in bulk without guarantees the stock will sell. This is the reason why it’s not viable to bulk order multiple products if you have a store with a large inventory.
7. Working with a Manufacturer
A big key to success in eCommerce is differentiating yourself from your competitors and making it as difficult as possible for your store to be replicated. One of the best tactics to do this is to create a unique and superior product your competitors do not have access to.
By working with a manufacturer you can make alterations to improve the product’s functionality, materials or aesthetics. This is one of the most effective ways of protecting your businessese success from being duplicated.
This can be a lengthy process as it will require you to listen to your customer base and make the necessary changes that will appeal to your target audience. A lot of back and forward communication between your supplier and testing various changes will take time.
Because of the work involved it’s only feasible to do this with a single product instead of trying to do it with a store full of products.
8. One Product Equals One Supplier
If you find a reputable and reliable supplier who has enough inventory to allow you to scale your business as you need will allow you to run your business much more efficiently. It’s always important to have a backup supplier as unforeseen circumstances can always arise.
Selling various products from multiple suppliers can get messy and the probability of issues arising are increased. Often customers will order several products from a store but different suppliers will ship each of the products which are additional shipping costs and confusing to the customer having their order arrive in separate packages at different times.
For the most part, working with a single supplier is a major benefit and is all you should need when selling a single product.
9. More Negotiation Power
If you’re selling 100 units of your product a day which is not unusual, it provides you with far more leverage to negotiate better terms with your supplier. This may be lower product cost but doesn’t have to be.
Often you can negotiate better shipping options, faster lead times, product improvements or branded packaging. Often negotiating these terms instead will improve your customer’s experience which may bring your more money in the long run, plus your supplier will prefer these terms over lowering product cost.
It’s more difficult to negotiate better terms if you’re selling a smaller number of multiple products and you’re dealing with multiple suppliers.
10. It’s Easier to Rank on Google with One Product
It’s easier to rank in Google for free organic traffic if you’re store is based on a specific product. Google ranks the most relevant search term for the user based on the keywords they typed in.
If Google can see your store is based on a specific product, it’s named after your product, all it’s content is based around the product and all the social media associated with your website is based on your product, its far more likely to show your website to that user.
Compare this to a general store selling products from multiple categories that also stock the same product. They do not appear as relevant as the one-product store and have a smaller chance of being shown to the user.
If you’re a complete beginner and have never built a one-product store, I recommend you read my article on How to Build a One-Product Store – step by step.
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