Little traffic - no sales

[meeyule]

My answer is simple. If that is the case, AliExpress and thousands of other online stores who are selling several million products would not have succeeded.

True, but you nor I are AliExpress, or Amazon or whatever. We don't have a marketing budget of millions of dollars, nor do we employ a huge workforce.

 

[Mar]

True, but you nor I are AliExpress, or Amazon or whatever. We don't have a marketing budget of millions of dollars, nor do we employ a huge workforce.

Yes, because they sell everything they succeeded and that is why they can afford to spend millions of dollars in marketing. But selling and marketing a few thousands of products don't need millions of dollars and huge workforce. The point is if you are selling dog related products for dog fans, you market it and through links, these dog fans will always find dog products in your store, and I don't see a reason why dog fans will not buy in your store because you are selling other products not related to dogs. In fact there is a good chance they end up buying something else that caught their attention while in your store.

 

[Myst7]

Yes, because they sell everything they succeeded and that is why they can afford to spend millions of dollars in marketing. But selling and marketing a few thousands of products don't need millions of dollars and huge workforce. The point is if you are selling dog related products for dog fans, you market it and through links, these dog fans will always find dog products in your store, and I don't see a reason why dog fans will not buy in your store because you are selling other products not related to dogs. In fact there is a good chance they end up buying something else that caught their attention while in your store.

If you want to eat sushi and you see 2 restaurants next to each others in the street :

- One restaurant with a Japanese name and japanese style, offering japanese style cuisine
- One restaurant specialized in "Mexican & French & Japanese Cuisine"

Which one are you most likely to chose?

 

[meeyule]

Yes, because they sell everything they succeeded and that is why they can afford to spend millions of dollars in marketing. But selling and marketing a few thousands of products don't need millions of dollars and huge workforce. The point is if you are selling dog related products for dog fans, you market it and through links, these dog fans will always find dog products in your store, and I don't see a reason why dog fans will not buy in your store because you are selling other products not related to dogs. In fact there is a good chance they end up buying something else that caught their attention while in your store.

I'm not disagreeing with you as such, it's just that a newbie in this business has a better chance of succeeding with a niche store than a general store. You were either very lucky, or else you have a very good grasp of eCommerce and marketing. Most of the people on this forum have no idea, and have a better chance of succeeding if they go the niche way.

When I was a kid, I tried to sell things and failed dismally - subscriptions of newspapers door to door, that sort of thing. I finally decided that I just wasn't a salesman.
Then when I left school, I bumped into an old friend who worked in a toyshop. I used to go in there to chat with him, and also to check out the toys - there were awesome toys in the store, like building kits etcetera, that I really liked. Then one day the store got really busy - it was just before christmas and people were there to buy presents for their kids. My friend was alone and couldn't cope, so I started helping out by answering questions that customers had. I made a whole bunch of sales. Then I realised that I COULD actually sell stuff, if I knew the niche and was excited by it. That's why it's good for beginners in this business to choose a niche they are passionate about, themselves.

Now, after years of experience, I can sell anything, but first I need to understand the niche, and know what makes its potential customers tick.

 

[Mar]

If you want to eat sushi and you see 2 restaurants next to each others in the street :

- One restaurant with a Japanese name and japanese style, offering japanese style cuisine
- One restaurant specialized in "Mexican & French & Japanese Cuisine"

Which one are you most likely to chose?

It depend on the marketing. If the restaurant that specialize not only on Japanese Cuisine market their Japanese Cuisine well than the Japanese sounding restaurant, they may have more Japanese Cuisine fan customer even if they are located next to each other. It really boils down on how the products are marketed.

 

[Mar]

I'm not disagreeing with you as such, it's just that a newbie in this business has a better chance of succeeding with a niche store than a general store. You were either very lucky, or else you have a very good grasp of eCommerce and marketing. Most of the people on this forum have no idea, and have a better chance of succeeding if they go the niche way.

When I was a kid, I tried to sell things and failed dismally - subscriptions of newspapers door to door, that sort of thing. I finally decided that I just wasn't a salesman.
Then when I left school, I bumped into an old friend who worked in a toyshop. I used to go in there to chat with him, and also to check out the toys - there were awesome toys in the store, like building kits etcetera, that I really liked. Then one day the store got really busy - it was just before christmas and people were there to buy presents for their kids. My friend was alone and couldn't cope, so I started helping out by answering questions that customers had. I made a whole bunch of sales. Then I realised that I COULD actually sell stuff, if I knew the niche and was excited by it. That's why it's good for beginners in this business to choose a niche they are passionate about, themselves.

Now, after years of experience, I can sell anything, but first I need to understand the niche, and know what makes its potential customers tick.

I don't really disagree with you especially that I see you are more experienced in eCommerce. Everybody start as a newbie in any journey. Experience is the best teacher, that is why words from people like you is something not to be ignored. I believe in niche, but I also believe that you don't have to restrict your self because of the niche. It was a good discussion.

 

[justicel]

I kind of learned something about both worlds when I ran stores on shopify. It was not much sale at all it was a general store
On the other hand I started a niche store for fan mech and it was the same
Im starting to think that marketing is the controlling factor here. So I am trying and take my time setting up another general store https://tiaremarket.com
I will clean up the menu but the store is being redeveloped and this will take another month or so for the frontpage to finish. It will then be optimised while adding products. Since I am doing this as kinda of a part time hobby I kinda got nothing to lose but if it will work out then that will be a bonus, watch this space ...

 

[justicel]

and quality organic traffic will be key too so i am being careful with SEO ... 4 social media pages have been setup and already being followed. will start paid ads when coding is done in next month - from google ads to fb to insta ... online directories etc etc

 

[justicel]

i have a couple of VAs helping me clean up all imagery and descriptions so should be all nice and clean like this:

https://tiaremarket.com/dresses/

 

[justicel]

and social rabbit posts to all 4x social media pages
FB
INSTA
TWITTER
PINTEREST

nice work rabbit

 

[ZAPPY]

i have a couple of VAs helping me clean up all imagery and descriptions [...]

Just a heads up!

I visited your store today and saw this is on the home page and a few other products have missing images too

 

[ZAPPY]

If the reason you stick to a niche is to avoid competition (I saw it in many posts), the reality is before we came and launched a store, thousands of other stores were already there. What ever niche you choose, thousands of other stores are already selling those products. So don't limit your self because of that myth..

@Mar
Exactly!

How many versions of water in a bottle on sale are there?

Would there be versions if there wasnt buyers?

Has your store products total grown since you posted? Just reading the amount in Jan 2018 was enough to make my head go giddy!

Well done for managing that many items.

Do you have VA helping you with orders and customers queries?

Must say your lack of confidence as a seller to proof you can be a seller story was a great read.

 

[ZAPPY]

It's about quality of traffic, not quantity.

@meeyule
Agree!

And this is where (in my view) Google ads have the advantage over FB ads.
~ Google folks are searching for a definite solution (or info) and are in conversation with themselves.
~ FB folks are in conversations with others when a 'distracting' curious advert appears.

What do I mean? (even though I'm sure you realise too)

Your product appearing on Google gives thoughts of: "is this what I'm looking for?"
Whilst on FB, it's more a thought of: "this looks interesting"