Most people think that your online store needs a lot of products to do well, but that’s not true.
In fact, many stores that only sell one thing make six figures every year. Who can say? You might be able to do that, too.
So, our Ultimate FAQ Guide will show you everything you need to know, from how to set up a one-product store to how to figure out what makes it successful.
Let’s begin!
What Is a One Product Store?
As the name suggests, a one-product store is a business that focuses on selling just one product.
Starting a store with only one item
You might ask why someone would want to do that. After all, more people means more fun, right? Well, that’s not always true.
You don’t have to look for more than one thing. You can start on the road to success even if you only have one product and a good plan.
General vs Niche vs One Product Store: What to Choose?
Whether you want to start a dropshipping business or a regular online store, you need to have a clear plan.
It’s hard to say that a certain type of store is the “best.” After all, you might make a lot of money with a one-product store but almost none with a general or niche store, and vice versa.
So, let’s look at what each type of store does best so you can make an informed choice:
General Store
Perfect for people who are just starting out with dropshipping and online business.
Can be started with a small amount of money for marketing.
It’s easy to make a website because there are many default themes to choose from.
Good for business owners who don’t want to take too many risks.
Niche Store
Perfect for people who have done a little bit of dropshipping, e-commerce, and market research before.
Perfect to start with if you have a medium budget for marketing.
You may need website development experience or help.
Good for entrepreneurs who are willing to take some risks.
One Product Store
You need to have some experience with dropshipping, e-commerce, and general market research.
There may be a need for a decent-sized or larger marketing budget.
You need to have at least intermediate experience building websites or get help from a professional.
Entrepreneurs must be willing to take risks.
In the end, each type of store has its own possibilities. Your choice will depend a lot on how much you know, how much money you have, and how willing you are to take risks.
General vs Niche vs One Product Store
Also, the conversion rate for one product store is usually the highest because you become the “flagship” dealer for that product.
Advantages of a Single Product Store
As risky as it sounds to open a store with just one product, there are some good things about it, such as:
Defined Target Market
You don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out who your target market is.
Since you’re only selling one product, you can quickly find your prospects by using a reliable online tool like Google Trends or Facebook Audience insights.
On the other hand, even if you run a store with a narrow focus, you would still have to gather data for many products, which can take a lot of time.
High Conversion Rate
If you plan and market your store well, single-product stores tend to have a higher conversion rate.
That’s because all of your business is built around that one product, and you’re marketing yourself as the expert.
If you do it right, you may get more customers and even bulk orders from other stores that sell the same thing.
Easier to Rank on the SERPs
The less choices you have, the easier it is to get to the top of the search engine results pages.
SEO is the reason why a niche store can easily rank higher than a general store, while a store that only sells one product can rank higher than both.
Since all of your marketing and SEO work will be focused on ranking that one product, you will see the results sooner or later.
Easier to Analyse Information
The more products you sell, the more difficult it is to look at the data.
To figure out how to move forward, you need to look at the data of a huge number of competitors and customers.
But when it comes to stores that only sell one thing, things get a lot easier. You only have to look at the data and insights of one product and come up with a plan based on that.
How To Make your One Product Store Successful
Most of the time, the success of a single-product store depends on the product you choose and how well you market it.
Still, the following can also play a big role in its success:
Phenomenal Quality
If you want your one-product store to be successful, you can’t cut corners on quality.
If you can’t prove it, it doesn’t help much to say you’re the best. If a customer has a bad first time shopping with you, they are very unlikely to come back.
So the saying “the first impression is the last impression” is definitely true for online stores.
This is why, no matter where you get your products, you should not leave anything out when it comes to quality.
Outstanding Visuals
Make your posts on social media or any other platform where you’re promoting your product look as good as possible.
The more work you put into the way the product looks, the more likely it is that people will buy it.
This is one of the reasons why starting a single-product store costs a lot more money than starting a general or niche store. Since you may need to hire a professional, a lot of your money will go toward marketing.
On the bright side, it’s much easier to come up with creative visual ideas when you only have to think about one thing.
Social Proof
Any business that wants to be successful needs to build a good reputation.
How can you make prospects trust you when there are more and more online scams? This is why there needs to be real social proof.
Before you ask your customers for reviews, it’s a good idea to get testimonials from people you’ve worked with before.
When you start getting more reviews, you can put the best ones on your website to make your brand seem more trustworthy.
Should I Start a Single Product Dropshipping Store?
Can you dropship only one item? Of course you can. Should you do it, though? These three things will help you decide:
Previous Experience
If you try dropshipping a single product without having done it before, you may end up regretting your choice.
Most of the time, dropshippers are told to start with 5 to 10 products, with 1 to 3 being the most important.
This is because it will help you keep your business going. Even if you can’t make money from one product, you might be able to from another. This is how you build your business.
But running a one-product store is like having only one bullet: if you don’t hit your target, you could lose everything you’ve invested.
Because of this, having experience will reduce the chances of making mistakes and help you steer your single product store toward success.
Reliable Supplier
Obviously, if you’re only dropshipping one product, that one product will bring in all the money.
But what if your supplier doesn’t have what you need? It will stop your business and hurt your reputation, especially since you’re supposed to be running a flagship store.
So, if you can’t find a trustworthy supplier, you should either change the product or keep looking until you find someone you can trust.
In our Dropshipping Suppliers Ultimate FAQ Guide, you can learn more about how to find dropshipping suppliers.
Adequate Funds
As we’ve already said, a store with only one product has the highest conversion rate, but it’s also the most risky.
If you don’t have any other way to make money, it’s probably not a good idea to put all of your money into a dropshipping store that only sells one item.
Funds
Before you open a store that only sells one thing, you should always have a plan B in case things go wrong.
Lastly, even if your marketing is perfect, things can always go wrong, so only invest what you can afford to lose.
How to Start a Single Product Dropshipping Store?
If you’ve decided that dropshipping a single product is something you want to do, here’s how to get started:
Hunt the Product
The first step in starting a dropshipping store is to look for products to sell. And if you only sell one thing, the stakes are even higher, so you’ll need to put in more time.
But here are a few quick tips to help you with your search:
Choose a product that is hard to get anywhere else.
The product should solve the problems that customers have.
Find a product that can be improved so that you can get repeat orders.
It shouldn’t be easy for shoppers to guess how much something costs.
Customers should be able to buy the product without having to do a lot of research first.
On our website, you can find a full list of products that you can dropship. From there, you can narrow down your choices.
Choose the Platform
You can start your one-product dropshipping store on a number of different platforms.
But which one should you pick? The answer depends on who you’re writing for.
Even so, ever since Shopify bought Oberlo, a plugin for dropshipping that makes importing and fulfilling orders easier, dropshippers all over the world have become more interested in it.
Yet, WordPress with WooCommerce is also a great choice for dropshipping a single item because it gives you more ways to customize your website and more than 20 ways to get paid.
So choose the one that gives you the most flexibility, doesn’t cost too much, and brings in enough money to keep your business going.
Before you start your business, you may want to read these Top 30 Dropshipping Blogs to learn as much as you can about dropshipping.
Can you Sell One Product on Shopify?
Yes, Shopify lets you sell a single product or a single product line. In fact, it is one of the best platforms for online stores that only sell one thing.
It has a lot of features and third-party apps that make it easier for one-product stores to run and sell more.
Shopify
You can also find themes that help you start stores for just one product. Even though they might not be exactly what you want, if you are on a tight budget, you can make them work.
How to Build a One Product Shopify Store?
You want to start a one-product store on Shopify, but you don’t know how. Start by following our step-by-step instructions:
Sign-Up on Shopify
To get started with Shopify, you don’t have to worry about buying hosting. All you have to do is go to the Shopify website and sign up for an account.
Click the “free trial” button, enter your contact information, and answer a few simple questions. When you click “Next,” a simple form will pop up asking for your address and other personal information.
After that, things like currencies, taxes, and your location will be set up automatically based on the information you put in. Then, just click the “Enter my store” button to get to your store’s dashboard.
Add the Product
Now is the time to add the product to your Shopify store.
You’ll find “Add Product” right at the top of your dashboard screen’s home page. Once you click it, you can add the product’s description, price, and image.
You can also change how the screen looks, so take your time setting things up and play around with them. It can always be changed if you’re not happy with it.
Select a Theme
The hardest and most important part of starting a single-product Shopify store is choosing a theme.
Even though it’s best to make your own theme, you can always choose one of the default ones right above the Shopify theme store button if you can’t.
If you already have a theme on your computer, you can use the theme customization menu to upload it.
Choose the theme’s.zip file from your computer, and then wait for it to be uploaded and installed on your Shopify store.
Enter Product Content
Some themes already have sample data with random texts and pictures. Here is where you need to be creative or hire someone to write great web content for you.
In the same way, take some good pictures of your product from different angles. From the admin panel, you can also choose to add more pages.
Tune Up your Stores Appearance
Even if you use the default theme, you can still change it. At the bottom of your Shopify store’s “Theme” page, you’ll see “Theme Settings.”
When you click it, a menu that lets you change your site’s font style, colors, and logo will pop up.
Get a Domain Name
All you have to do now is transfer your domain or sign up for a new one.
What should I do? To make your domain work, you just need to find the “Add a Domain Name” button on the dashboard, click it, and pay the fee.
Your one-product store is almost ready to go live. You just need to activate the payment processor, which brings us to the next step.
Activate Payment Method
Click the “Settings” button on your dashboard to turn on payment on your Shopify store. The “Payments” button is in the second row of the menu that appears.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to accept payments on your Shopify store. To do this, click on the button and follow the step-by-step instructions.
Payments
Now, all you have to do is click “Launch Website,” and your online business will be up and running.
Best Platforms for One Product Store
It was thought that the e-commerce market was worth a whopping 5.5 trillion dollars.
So it’s safe to say that there are plenty of ways to start a store with just one item.
But to help you choose, here are the top three best platforms for one-product stores:
Shopify
You already know how to start a Shopify store with just one item. Why is it one of the best places to do it, though?
The answer is because it has a lot of add-ons, strong SEO features, and free templates of the highest quality.
All of this can be used to help you sell more and connect with your target audience more easily.
On Shopify, you can find a lot of one-product stores that are doing well. In another part of this guide, we’ll talk about some of them.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin for WordPress that is used by online stores all over the world. Some of you may already know this, but WordPress sites are known for how easy they are to change.
But the WooCommerce plugin takes it up a notch because it adds a lot of new features to your sites, like faster checkouts, customer reviews, and preorders.
It also has more than 20 payment gateways, so you shouldn’t have any trouble activating payment processing no matter where you are in the world.
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is one of the best e-commerce engines you’ll find. To use it, you may need some technical know-how.
It has a lot of helpful features that you can use to add different kinds of functions to your online stores and take your brand to the next level.
You don’t have to pay to use it, but you can buy some extra features from within the engine if you want to. However, you don’t have to.
Common One Product Store Mistakes to Avoid
Found something awesome? That only gets us halfway there. There are a number of things you need to keep in mind if you want your store to do well.
Here are five common mistakes that can stop your one-product online store from growing:
Slow Website Processing
We all know how annoying it can be to wait forever for each page to load when shopping online.
If your website is slow, there’s a good chance that people will close the tab and look for a different seller.
We often get so caught up in different ways to make money that we forget the most important thing about running an online store: making sure customers have a good time.
This is why, once your site is up and running, you should check it from different devices and IP addresses. Watch how long it takes to process, and if it seems a little slow, call a professional to help you fix it.
Low-Quality Product Images
Your product pictures are the eyes of your brand, so you don’t want to use your 2-megapixel phone camera to take them.
The pictures of the product are one of the first things people notice. Even if you find the best products on the market, pictures that aren’t very good can hurt your credibility.
You might have to pay a professional to take pictures of your products, but it will be well worth it.
Poorly Written Product Description
Bill Gates said in 1996, “Content is King,” which couldn’t be more true today.
The whole point of opening a store that only sells one thing is to become the expert in that one thing. And poorly written descriptions of your products will only help you make a bad impression.
If you can’t come up with funny lines on your own, hire a copywriter to help you.
Even if you’re not forced to buy, the quality of the product descriptions can be a big factor in turning prospects into customers.
No Option for Bulk Discounts
Since you only sell one item, it makes sense to offer discounts to customers who buy in bulk.
This will not only help you get repeat orders from other stores, but it will also help your brand get a good name in the market.
Wrong Website Theme
The most important part of making a one-product store is the site’s theme. And it’s too bad that a lot of people get it wrong.
Even though you can use custom themes, you shouldn’t. First of all, it’s not easy to find a theme that fits your brand identity and product perfectly.
Even if you could find a similar one, it’s likely that other stores would be using it too, so you wouldn’t be able to stand out.
Top One Product Store Examples
Not sure what to do with your one-product store and need some ideas?
These examples might be just what you need:
PillowPup
The pet supplies business is a big one that is expected to be worth about $261 billion by 2020. PillowPup has taken full advantage of this fact.
The idea behind their one-product store is pretty simple: they sell personalized pillows and cushions for dogs.
Considering that a lot of content about pets is made every day, it’s not surprising that this has become a leading one-product store.
WatchPlay Store
Smartwatches are popular right now, and you can buy them from thousands of online stores. But what is different about the WatchPlay Store?
On Shopify, they sell smartwatches with 5th generation technology.
Not only that, but smartwatches also have great features like the ability to take pictures, record videos, and connect to social media platforms.
Their website is also classy, just like their watches. This is one reason why their store gets so many good reviews from customers.
Snooz
What’s more important than getting a good night’s rest? This store has turned this simple idea into a portable white noise machine called SNOOZ that makes money.
With more than 10 volume settings, they have tried to solve the problem of poor sleep quality that many people face every day. This is one of the main reasons for their success.
Stop the Fire
About 180,000 people die every year because of fires. Stop the Fire wants to bring that number down by selling high-quality fire blankets that can withstand temperatures up to 550 degrees.
The product is cheap, good for the environment, and doesn’t go bad.
If that wasn’t enough, they also offer a discount for buying in large quantities, which brings in thousands of buyers every year.
Myro
This product really shows how private-label dropshipping can be successful if it’s done right.
They sell deodorants that have been clinically tested to be safe. This means that even people with sensitive skin can use them.
Because everyone likes to smell good, the store has a lot of happy customers who keep coming back.
Final Thoughts
We usually say that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. One product store, however, is an exception because of the potential they show.
If done right, it can make more money than any other model for an online store.
So, now that you’ve read this guide, we hope you know enough to build your one-product store and make it successful.
