Taking the right decision for an entrepreneur in the E-Commerce world is probably the hardest part. A wrong decision can ruin all the plans that you have for your E-Commerce website. The foremost decision that any entrepreneur has to take when setting foot to the realm of E-Commerce is to set the tone for their website. What is the perfect tone for your E-Commerce website? Should it be generic one? Or is it better to follow a particular niche? A generic website or a niche site; which one creates the maximum appeal among the customers? These questions haunt every person who wants to start their own E-Commerce and it has a fuelled an eternal debate. Generic site vs Niche site, which one is the most feasible option? Well, the debates may never conclude but let’s study the data and observe the customer behaviours to understand where the customers go in the first place to buy what they want. But before we dive further into the what is better, first let see what is a generic and niche website.
Generic Websites
A generic website is the one that does not target people on the basis of interest on a particular type of products; rather it takes a broader approach and tries to appeal to customers belonging to different interest groups. For example let’s take Amazon into account, the products that it sells do not belong to a single category. You can buy your smartphone from Amazon at the same time you will get your cream cheese that you need for the dinner party next weekend delivered to your doorstep. So, basically, there is something for everyone in Amazon. And that is what a generic site is, it has something for everyone.
The niche websites, on the other hand, revolve around a particular type of products or services and target a particular group of customers. You can take the example of FlowerOnWheels. It is a website that only sells flowers, bonsais and plants, so the customers who are looking for buying a flower bouquet or indoor plant will pay the site a visit.
Where do the customers go in the first place to buy?
Is it the generic websites or the niche sites? It turns out the traffic generated is much more in the generic websites than in the niche websites. The reason behind this is, since the generic websites are not focusing on a single type of products it attracts more people. But the lead generated in the generic websites is much lower than the niche websites. The data shared by Kingpinning shows that the revenue collected by a generic site is $0.5-$1.25 per visitor in a given day compared to which the revenue generated in a niche website is $1.75 - $2.5 per visitor. So, you can come to a conclusion that the customers mostly go the niche websites for buying a product that falls under that particular niche. The niche marketing strategies make an appeal to the target groups thereby compelling to buy the products. That being said, if you take the big generic websites like Amazon or Flipkart into consideration, then you will see that the number of buyers is much more in these big generic websites than in any niche site. It is all because of their focused marketing and grand offerings.
Final Words
Then where does it leave you? How will you answer the question? Well, the answer depends completely on your budget and the magnitude of your business. Where the customers will go in the first place completely depends on what you are offering. For the websites with small budgets, it is always best to follow a particular niche. The customers trust the niche websites more than generic ones. But if you have a behemoth budget and you can afford to market your products in all possible ways then you can make your website generic. A credible big generic website will always attract the customers first than any niche website you see on the Internet.
