Niches in E-Commerce

The heavyweights of the online business community have served as building blocks of this bustling community. We have here the likes of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Good Guys, Best Buy. However, they are not the only ones who can play the e-commerce game. It is just as much everyone’s playing field. Even without the clout of a Fortune 500 corporation, relatively smaller businesses can still make their mark – and their profits – in this world. You just need to find your niche among these giants and adapt yourself to thrive there.

niche: 1) a recess in the wall; 2) a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person is best fitted; 3) a specialized market.

“Niche” comes from a French word that means “to nest” – which is exactly what small companies should do: fill the small voids left by the big birds. Instead of going head on head with them, turn instead to the niches.

So what exactly are these niches? We have the Unfilled niches, Poorly filled niches, Partly filled niches, and the Niches that have yet to be created.

Unfilled Niches
Statistically speaking, the chances of finding a niche that nobody is filling are low – however it still is possible. This is best statement to sum this up would be: Find a need and fill it. Know your customers, and pick out a particular group that you know best. The following questions could help gain some key insights in your chosen field:
Who are your customers?
What are they asking for?
What would they like?
What keeps them from filling this need on their own and gaining success?

Your interest along with any background or training should give you the vision and the muscle to see and realize these opportunities. You could go ahead and develop a new or improved product, service or even business process. This, with the Internet’s power harnessed can certainly help you make your mark.

Poorly Filled/Realized/Utilized Niches
In contrast to unfilled niches, poorly filled niches are exceedingly common. With so much that you can expect from the Internet, it is extremely frustrating to actually find something not available online – when you know that people out there are aware that the need exists. There may be sites out there that attempt to address this need – but the customer enters the website with a lot of questions, and leaves with still a lot, if not more unanswered questions. Or it could be populated by sites that make it easy to avail of peripheral products, or that do not provide expert opinion or customer feedback, etc. In short, poorly filled niches are those that don’t have a single ‘best’ or ‘greatest’ place online to provide for the customers’ needs. The solution? Build one yourself.

Partly Filled Niches
There may be many eggs in the basket – but don’t count your chicks till they’re all hatched. In the same way, a particular area for a particular need may already have several hundreds or even thousands of websites attempting to answer to it – but not all of them would be able to do so. Thus, there is still the tremendous need for sites and solutions that could fill the demand more completely.

Niches to be Created
Create a need, and thus a niche, where there wasn’t one before. That does not only put you as a pioneer in your field - that would also make you the foremost provider of the demand. Besides, who else would know about filling that need than the one who created it?

Brick and Mortar vs. Internet Niches
It need not be a choice of staying in a physical store or migrating towards the Web. If you already have an existing brick and mortar store putting your business online is an option you could consider. You gain an advantage in the stability of your traditional business as this leaves you with enough time and energy to feel your way around the online business world. However, in your excitement to make that jump, do not put your entire business offerings online. Concentrate instead on those that are unique and especially adaptable to the Internet. Find out which aspects of your business is best suited for online marketing and put that online. Do not diffuse the focus by filling your website with generic products and services.