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What is more succesfull a big or a small store

by allegandro
8 replies
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I see many people who like to start their drop shipping adventure with 1-20 products and hope that in their niche they will be successful. But in my opinion size matters and if I as a consumer come to a niche store with 20 or with 2.000 products I would probably find what I want in the bigger store.

Also, I very often stay away from smaller stores because, in some kind of way, I just don't trust them. Where if you come to a bigger store you have the feeling that they are legit.

This can be just me, but my wife is a professional shopper (Not a joke) and she agrees on this point with me.

So my question, why to choose for a limited amount of products if you can fill up your web store with almost an unlimited amount of products when you do dropshipping?
#big #small #store #succesfull
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    Originally Posted by allegandro View Post

    So my question, why to choose for a limited amount of products if you can fill up your web store with almost an unlimited amount of products when you do dropshipping?
    I would say it comes down to the variable of "Marketing" Big stores with a ton of product require Brand recognition which more than most that would read this don't have. The flip side of this is minimal product backed by item specific marketing IE Ads that sell that one item specifically to the people that would buy it - or that's the idea anyways.

    I run more than a few stores.. and the ones that sell specifically ONE product far out number the ones that sell an abundance of items. The Stores that sell ONE item far outsell my larger stores for sure.
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    • Profile picture of the author allegandro
      Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

      I run more than a few stores.. and the ones that sell specifically ONE product far out number the ones that sell an abundance of items. The Stores that sell ONE item far outsell my larger stores for sure.
      Doesn't it also depend on the niche?

      Let's say you sell cat furniture, and there are 50 suppliers of cat furniture, each having 100 different models, would you then sell 1 model, or sell multiple models?

      You can even think farther, you just select for each supplier the brown models that are under 100cm, made for 2 cats and cost between 75$ and 100$. from the 5.000 models, you still have 200 left in your store. This solves your marketing cost problem.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by allegandro View Post

        Doesn't it also depend on the niche?

        Let's say you sell cat furniture, and there are 50 suppliers of cat furniture, each having 100 different models, would you then sell 1 model, or sell multiple models?

        You can even think farther, you just select for each supplier the brown models that are under 100cm, made for 2 cats and cost between 75$ and 100$. from the 5.000 models, you still have 200 left in your store. This solves your marketing cost problem.
        At the micro level what you are saying makes sense... but at the macro level - the level that there is actually success at scale, its really not how it works.

        So lets go super macro to give you an idea. PEPSI - huge brand Sells a limited number of products etc... B U T... look here: https://www.investopedia.com/article...-pepsi-pep.asp and it is quick to see Pepsi is not the only thing that Pepsi sells. In fact goto Pepsi.com and see for yourself by pressing "View Products" they only list 14 products. No mention is made Quaker Oats or Frito Lay or Naked Juice.

        Step the view back into the Micro level and how do the big guys develop stores? Minimal products. And Why? because the overall ROI of advertising. But then you are going to say Look at Walmart, or Neiman Marcus - as this is EXACTLY where "Brand" falls into play. And the reality small little anyone that is doing "Drop shipping" cant afford that game.

        Advertising 101 suggests that you will get better results Advertising and selling a single item over Advertising a "Store" and dropping them to the home page of 5000 items. And when we start talking about this specifically... Better results is not just "Sales" but the CTR ( Click through Rate ) of the ad itself. Sp even with the idea of "Branding" your store, you will simply get more visits to your store by selling a single item vs - trying to just drive traffic to the store itself.

        So I am a very firm believer in minimal store inventory and product direct Ads that specifically sell those items and in turn this then gives me the opportunity to obtain an e-mail address to send '"Store" advertising directly to a niche specific audience for future sales.
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        • Profile picture of the author allegandro
          Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

          At the micro-level what you are saying makes sense... but at the macro level - the level that there is actually success at scale, it's really not how it works.
          Are you sure? look at Amazon or a car part seller? Sure they are the big players with huge marketing budgets. But still, if I want to buy something for my cat, I want a choice. And then I prefer a shop with 5.000 items for cats and not a micro-website with just 5 items for cats.

          What is completely true is that in some kind of way a website that sells only cat stuff is more interesting than a website that sells beside cats stuff also snowboots and women's health products.
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          • Profile picture of the author savidge4
            Originally Posted by allegandro View Post

            Are you sure? look at Amazon or a car part seller? Sure they are the big players with huge marketing budgets. But still, if I want to buy something for my cat, I want a choice. And then I prefer a shop with 5.000 items for cats and not a micro-website with just 5 items for cats.
            Originally Posted by savidge4

            But then you are going to say Look at Walmart, or Neiman Marcus - as this is EXACTLY where "Brand" falls into play. And the reality small little anyone that is doing "Drop shipping" cant afford that game.
            If the end user is going to shop, just to shop... BRAND wins every time. However if you the buyer does a search for "specific X cat toy", this no longer is about "Choice" this is about Price and Trust - and it doesn't matter how many other items there are. And this is simply where the little guy can and does win.

            So let me cement this a bit more. Lets look at say Home Depot. Everyday at about 10am I get a text from them... "The Deal of the Day" More often than not its 5 or 6 o the same type of item..be it fans or drills or bathroom vanities... BUT the days its a single item and I finally get around to looking at the text at say 5pm more often than not the item is sold out. On the multi item days... I honestly cant recall a day an item was sold out.

            CHOICE dilutes the buying process - this is straight scientifically proven fact ( in an online environment ) Look at the whole concept of a "Squeeze Page" the only visible link should be the BUY NOW, or SIGN ME UP, or LETS GET STARTED link. Put just 1 more choice on a page like that, and "Conversion" is cut by more than half.

            So lets say I DO have a store with 5000 cat items. My approach is going to be exactly the same. I am going to develop funnels for say 10 to 20 of my best selling items - that I know I can develop positive ROI with paid advertising. ONCE I have created the sale, developed a buyers trust, and have their e-mail address, THEN and only then will they see I have 5000 cat products.

            The truth is, THIS is what works for the little guy... THIS is the entry into becoming the "Source" for some ones every cat need. Trying to attract buyers by having it all from the get go is simply a losing proposition - and with this - this is where 99% of online efforts fail.
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  • Profile picture of the author IGotMine
    Also, I very often stay away from smaller stores because, in some kind of way, I just don't trust them. Where if you come to a bigger store you have the feeling that they are legit.
    That's funny, I actually think the exact opposite. A small specialty store gives the impression that they know a lot about their limited product line. Whereas a store crammed with everything available on some generic data-feed gives the impression they know very little about any of it.

    "UH, I think it's made in Chiana??"
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    • Profile picture of the author allegandro
      Originally Posted by IGotMine View Post

      That's funny, I actually think the exact opposite. A small specialty store gives the impression that they know a lot about their limited product line. Whereas a store crammed with everything available on some generic data-feed gives the impression they know very little about any of it.
      Yes, I agree with you, but there is a difference between small and small. A website with just 5 products, let's say Apple iPhone cables don't give me the trust as a phone cable website with 1.000 cables that got the connection cables for each phone type.

      The last one is still small but gets more trust from me, then the first one.

      But I think it's also very personal.
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  • Profile picture of the author natostanco
    I honestly feel that it depends on the niche.

    1 huge store that sells clothing might not sell as much as 1 small store that is jumping on a specific niche. Also, advertising is a big one too.
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