A niche or general retail store, which is better?

[Kennysplash]

A niche means something one specializes in. For me I will prefer various products to just one, for some reasons. A noticed a perfume store in my neighborhood, it only sells perfume. It is a nice one but I think it would have been better of he coupled it with skincare products or something relating to that. There are times we go to stores to buy something and ended up buying another that we did not plan for. If it were just a product I don't think that will be possible. Also many people will like to shop in just one place, it is better than going from one store to buy skin product then to another to buy hair care and another to buy perfumes. So varieties is better than niche to me. What do you think?

 

[Khezo]

It depends on how good you are, the thing is if you know you are good or better in a particular niche then it's better you go for that niche alone and don't bother wasting your time venturing into other niches. Venturing into general niches most times doesn't end up well. You have to look for the ni he you know you particular good at for you to concentrate and make more sales .

 

[Teatea]

I prefer choosing a niche than a general retail store. It is very good to explore other areas but choosing a niche helps you set your priorities and focus all your attention in a direction. Combining different products may even confuse your customers as to what the business really stands for, but when you represent a product, it is more easy to target the right audience and market.

 

[Haypril]

Starting up a business should not be a day thing, before taking decision on the operation of the business, there should be a well structured business plan and I believe such business plan should covers the question you have asked. However, focusing on a particular products can be less competitive since most businesses around would probably focus on general products.

 

[Chommyluv]

Having a general retail store online gives you a very good opportunity to monetize your website and earn good morning from several advertisement campaign. Having just a niche makes your product centralized and focus on just one side. If the niche is a popular and profitable one, it quickly and easily yield a better result than having a general retail store.

 

[btaliat]

From your illustration, there may be many factors that warrant the person to be selling only perfume. At times, it is better to specialize on the area that you are very good at it instead of mingling with other ways round. And also, it may be money factor, the person may not have enough capital to expand the shop to be selling variety of things

 

[Hena101]

This depends on the persons involves in the business because only him or she know the kind of products and services he or she can provide and this will determine weather to be niche or general store. But to me general store is better because with it you can provide solutions to many problems because the kind of products and services you will provide is wide and this will make it easy for your business to expand unlike when it's a niche

 

[Highflyer]

Having a niche will give you more sales than having a general retail store, there are many general retail stores around already. Specialising in the sales of one particular product will make you more well known as even retail store owned will come to buy from you. For example someone who has a very big store selling only plumbing materials like sinks, water closets, pipes, etc will make more money than someone into general sale of all building materials, which are common already.

 

[Planet408]

It all depends on the how you package and publicize your business to the world. Some people are too good in what they know how to do and they seems to be the best in their niches. They make a lot of money despite the fact that they are basically specialized in their niche. You can still make it in your specialty even without jacking all trades.

 

[marcusfe]

Starting up a business should not be a day thing, before taking decision on the operation of the business, there should be a well structured business plan and I believe such business plan should covers the question you have asked. However, focusing on a particular products can be less competitive since most businesses around would probably focus on general products.

To me I prefer a general retail store. This is the strategy that Dnagote is using to rule the whole Africa. Hardly will you wake up one day without consuming at meat one product of Dangote, if you don't use sugar, you will use spaghetti or salt or cement and so on. When you're into general retailing you indirectly force people around to patronize you.

 

[Godslamp]

A niche can be seen as a subset of a larger market with its own particular needs or preferences, which may be different from the larger market. For example, within the clothing category, there are many different sub-categories or niches. Each of these niches appeal to a specific segment of buyers. Almost every market can be segmented by the specific needs and preferences of its buyers. Unlike the general store a niche is easier to handle and it promotes specialization since its one segment that is being concentrated on

 

[Briangsam]

Dropshipping came to my mind as I saw the headline. So for beginner dropshippers, a general store is a more lucrative option in comparison with a niche based store. The best niches for dropshipping will require expertise which the beginners might not have. If you invest everything in a niche based store and it doesn't work as expected, you will be left with nothing and be out of business.

 

[Alexandoy]

Maybe I would go for a general merchandise store that is a one-stop shop. If I need soap, milk and cooking oil then the general merchandise store is my haunt. For a niche store like selling cellphone accessories there are lesser customers even if it can be profitable too. However, a general store is not easy to manage especially with the perishable goods in the shelves.