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E-commerce: How to identify a successful online store idea in 5 steps

Do you want to start your own online business? Whether you're aiming to increase your income or explore a new field, you've heard of people who make thousands of dollars a month working online, and you want to join this success, right?

E-commerce: How to identify a successful online store idea in 5 steps


While this sounds great, developing one idea for your online project and choosing the right products for it can be confusing. You may find it difficult to decide on the right idea for your store or in choosing the products you will sell. Is that what you're facing?

Perhaps you are desperately looking for ideas and products that are profitable and trusted by potential customers. If you're worried about this, you don't have to worry anymore!

In this article, we will provide you with all the information you need to identify a profitable online store idea and help you choose the products you will sell on your online platform.

Why should we pay close attention to defining the idea of your online store

There is a wide variety of ideas available in the market, and each idea has attractive advantages and repulsive disadvantages. Each idea has the ability to be suitable for your needs, making the process of choosing the right idea become a difficult task.

Getting a profitable online store idea is one of the biggest challenges individuals face when they embark on their e-commerce journey.

Choosing an idea entails many things... Including the nature of the products you will offer, how to market them, and the formulation of the marketing plan for your store.

This idea will be the basis for choosing the keywords you will use, and will help you determine the unique selling point of your products, which aligns with your target category.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay great attention towards defining the idea of your online store. You should devote time, reflection and good research to this.

You have to realize that deciding the right idea for your online store for your circumstances andeds will be the main challenge that will greatly affect your success, so you must adopt this decision carefully and carefully.

Don't worry, because we have developed a simple practical plan that contains steps that help you define your online store idea in an organized and practical way. Just keep reading to learn more.

Steps to identify an online store idea

There is a set of steps that we think will be very useful to you in defining an online store idea, and it consists of exactly 5 steps that we will discuss soon.

Before we get into that, I should explain to you that our strategy for defining an online store idea relies heavily on the filtering strategy.

In other words, we start with a set of multiple ideas, then gradually reduce this list, removing the options one by one until we reach a small group of 3 or 4 ideas that we focus on at the end to choose the best from them.

First Step: Start working with your interests and knowledge

The best thing is to identify an online store idea that you are passionate about and have knowledge about, as you should never sell products that do not carry your interest or knowledge.

Start with a pen and paper, brainstorm to jot down all the thoughts that come to mind, with your friends or family members if possible, as they will have valuable additions at this point.

There are questions that can help you determine the idea of your online store, such as:

  • Do you have experience in a particular Nish?
  • What products do you enjoy buying and know a lot about?
  • What products does your friends and family benefit from your advice in buying them?
  • What products do you buy frequently?
  • Where do you prefer to buy these products?
  • What products do you know what buyers are looking for?

Through these questions and the help of your friends and family, you will discover many potential online store ideas. This step paves the way for the transition to the second step.

Step Two: Examine the Interest in the Idea

The next step in identifying a profitable online store idea involves figuring out if there are interests on the part of others in that idea or products.

You can easily achieve this by doing keyword research using a range of different tools such as:

  • Google Trends tool.
  • Google Keyword Planner.
  • Ubersuggest.
  • Keywords Explorer by Ahrefs.


Exclude ideas that don't have keywords with sufficient search volume, as this indicates that there isn't enough interest in those stores or their products.

In this step, you combine your personal passion with market demand. You should use keywords that customers are looking for to buy, such as when you sell mobile phones.

Don't be limited to searching for "mobile phones", but search for "buy mobile phones" or "mobile phones at the best prices", etc.

You can also search in smart ways like using Flippa, a platform for buying and selling websites and online stores.

Through this website "Flippa", store owners for sale are asked to provide information on traffic and estimated monthly profits, giving you a glimpse of successful ideas and profit estimates.

After this step, the number of ideas on your list may be halved, which is considered positive. Now, move on to step three.

Step Three: Identify customer problems and create unique points of sale

You may have already figured this out during your research. Although there are many ideas and online stores, there is nothing that guarantees that you will stand out from the crowd

The importance of this step lies in identifying the idea of a profitable online store. You can consider this stage as a stage of study and exploration

Do in-depth research and study of each idea individually. Find out the ability of its implementation and how it can stand out from your competitors in the market.

Consider the nature of the products you'll offer, how consumers respond to them, and how much they need them.

The main point of this step is to identify the problems faced by the customers of those stores, and try to find solutions to these problems.

You can get this information by participating in related Facebook groups or by reviewing customer reviews on various social media platforms.

In addition, you have the opportunity to benefit from your extensive experience in your niche, which means that you have a clear knowledge of what is happening within this market.

Step Four: Monitor Competition and Discover Unique Selling Point

After narrowing down your choices, look for well-known and powerful stores that focus on the same idea you are aiming for.

Step into their stores and explore their different strengths and weaknesses. See how you can outperform them and outperform their presentation.

Discover the mistakes they make and take advantage of them, and know the opinions of their customers and what they expect from their services.

This step will enable you to identify your unique point of sale, or what is known as a unique selling point, that will distinguish you from the rest of the stores in the market. Simply put, it's the reason customers will buy your products instead of competitors' products.

Step Five: Try Ideas

This step may not be suitable for everyone, but I recommend doing it if you have the right budget.

After your list has shrunk down to 3 or 4 ideas, try them by creating a Landing Page that lists some of the products you plan to sell.

Run a paid ad campaign on Google and try implementing a few different ideas on how to create the store. Display a variety of products that target your audience and perform A/B tests.

The results of these campaigns will help you determine the most profitable idea for your online store among the final ideas you have.

Eight tips on choosing an online store idea

  1. Consider logistical aspects such as shipping and packaging when deciding on your online store idea.
  2. Make sure your store idea offers real and useful value to your customers.
  3. Balance your choice between a large niche that is difficult to compete in and a small niche that may not bring you big profits.
  4. Avoid relying on seasonal products and ideas and look for an online store idea that can bring in revenue all year round.
  5. Select a suitable pricing method for your products that attracts customers and sets you apart from competitors.
  6. Stay up-to-date with the latest market developments and changes in consumer behaviour to provide the right products and services.
  7. If you're a beginner in  e-commerce, initially focus on one niche for ease of marketing and brand building, and then consider expanding later.
  8. Do not forget the importance of following the latest articles in the fields of marketing and e-commerce, as it will help you increase your profits and sales success.

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