When it comes to obtaining ideas for an eCommerce store, the world has no shortage in it. But which eCommerce business ideas are worth pursuing and which ones are just going to be a waste of time? This can be hard to tell. And the world has reached a place where almost everyone is buying something online. In fact, there are about 1.9 billion people buying things online. So, if you are planning to open an eCommerce store, it is the best option due to the potential buyers. It is a worthwhile endeavor for those who want to make a good income.
This article is here to help you in choosing the best eCommerce business ideas that are worth your time and investment. So, keep reading!
Ecommerce Business Ideas
Before we talk about what are some good eCommerce ideas for your business, let us understand a little about what eCommerce is all about. We already know that building an online shop is quite an easy task today. For you to create your own website, you will just need a website hosting, a domain name and some kind of eCommerce website builder like Shopify.
What is an eCommerce business?
eCommerce is also known as internet commerce or electronic commerce. It is the process of buying or selling services or goods using the internet. All the processes like the selection of items, processing of payment, transfer of money and data to execute these transactions – take place online. eCommerce is basically the sale of physical products online, but it can also be described as any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet.
Just to be clear, e-business refers to all the aspects of operating an online business, while eCommerce refers to the transactions of services and goods online. eCommerce started on exactly 11th August 1994, when a man sold a CD to his friend through his website – NetMarket. It marked the first ever online sale. Since then, eCommerce has grown and evolved to make products easier to discover and purchase via online marketplaces and retailers.
A lot of the small businesses, independent freelancers and large corporations have benefitted from eCommerce. It has helped them sell their services and goods at a large scale which is not possible through the offline retail stores. In fact, the global retail eCommerce sales of 2020 reached $27 trillion. It shows huge hope for everyone. If you are hoping to start an eCommerce store, this is a great industry to enter. In fact, it has become easier to start websites without any coding knowledge.
And even if you do not have any coding and design skills and experience, you can easily create one website and have it running within no time, thanks to all the tools available today. These tools are called website builders and there are a lot of them in the market. Some of the most popular ones where you do not need any coding skills or website building experience include BigCommerce and Shopify. There are many more as well that you can choose from. But to use these builders, you will have to spend some amount of money, obviously.
There is an alternative option to these which is free – WordPress. Yes, you can easily set up an online shop using WordPress as well. This is done by using the WooCommerce plugin while you set up your WordPress website. It will handle the eCommerce side of your website. This is the best option that is cost-effective as well, as compared to the other conventional website builders.
Types of eCommerce business (B2C, B2B, C2C, C2B)
There are four main kinds of eCommerce models which describe all the kinds of transactions that take place between businesses and consumers. These are:
- Business to Consumer (B2C): This is when a business sells services or goods to an individual consumer. For instance, you buy a sofa from an online retailer.
- Business to Business (B2B): This is when a business sells services and goods to another business. For instance, company A buys a customized software application from another company to use.
- Consumer to Consumer (C2C): This is when a consumer sells services or goods to another consumer. For instance, you sell your handmade products to someone online using a platform like eBay.
- Consumer to Business (C2B): This is when the consumer sells their services or goods to a business. For instance, an influencer can offer a company exposure for their products to the influencer’s audience for a fee.
9 Best eCommerce Business Ideas
With this clear, we can now look into the different innovative eCommerce ideas that you can opt for. There have been many great eCommerce business ideas that have turned into the most successful eCommerce businesses. You too can be the next one. Here are the top ideas for you:
#1 Online learning/courses
And before you say that there are many education portals in the world, just note that where there is demand, there are no entry restrictions there. And online learning platforms are in huge demand. They are still evolving and are one of the best eCommerce business ideas for you. One thing that you need to keep in mind is that there are many students who look for unconventional ways of accessing educational resources. This is the perfect opportunity for you. The field is wide open for you to start off. Pick up your vocational, academic or any other niche subject and start sharing the knowledge.
#2 Online clothing store
Clothing stores are a good option as well. Yes, there are already many stores as such online but people like a variety of things. You can pick up the sub-niche of the kind of clothes that people are not able to get online. Other than selling pre-loved clothes online, you can also consider renting clothes online. A lot of people are also interested in renting since they want to get something for a specific occasion and they would never use it again. You can also resell things. There are many of us who want to own many clothes without buying many clothes. With the option to rent and resell, it becomes easier for many people. You can create a platform that allows this.
#3 Content marketing
Another one of the innovative eCommerce ideas is selling the service of content marketing. Content writing is a greatly valued service and is one of the most important services when it comes to online marketing as well. As time passes, this service is actually becoming more valuable. So, if you are good at this, then you can create an online store where you can sell your services of content writing. You can also prepare a pre-written content and put it up for sale. Obviously, you will need to start off by making your services affordable and low priced to get off the ground. But as soon as you take off, you can then increase our rates and make a good business out of it.
#4 Fashion/jewelry products
Another great option is to sell fashion accessories and jewelry online. Customized fashion accessories are something that you can easily succeed in selling online. From simple accessories to silver/gold accessories, you can easily set up a jewelry store online and have it take your business to a new level.
#5 Fitness coaching
Fitness classes can be sold online as well, just like every other thing today. It is, in fact, one of the best eCommerce business ideas that you can opt for. And with the pandemic and things changing, you can now gain more people as your customers with gyms closed all around the world and people scared to go out. Take this opportunity to give fitness lessons. You can give the classes to a group of people or you can give private classes with a higher fee. Begin with home workouts and then when you get a huge set of followers, you can set up your business and reach out to people all over the world easily.
#6 Selling home decor/gardening products
Home decoration and gardening products are something that will never go out of fashion. And with everything coming online, selling these items online can also work since people would prefer to buy things online rather than to visit the store during this time. At first, it might take a while for you to get a following and you might need to work on the marketing as well so that the word reaches out, but after that you will begin to see the business run smoothly.
#7 Grocery and food products
Selling grocery and food products online is a great business idea. But the profitability of this idea is based on the relentless drive to increase the customer base and the vendor relations with you. But if you are successful in making huge contacts with vendors and start offering a large range of products that are available in huge supermarkets and so on, you will be successful in running this business. Local sourcing is a rising trend. You can start off small by offering your local area with products and as you grow, you can scale up to other areas as well.
#8 Smart home products
Although there is a rise in the demand for smart products, not a lot of eCommerce stores are selling these products. During the last year itself, there has been a 50% increase in the number of people who have bought smart products online. This is one of the best innovative eCommerce ideas that is for sure going to make a great profit for you. As they say, the future is now. Take this idea and begin offering this to those around you. Start local and grow slowly and eventually.
#9 Offering SEO and Digital marketing services
Just like content writing, this too is not really a product. But it is a service, and selling a service, as we defined initially, is also a part of eCommerce. With almost all businesses going online, these businesses are looking for a way to have their business marketed. And digital marketing services are in a huge demand due to this. More and more people are searching for this service. So, if you have these skills and can work on SEO easily, you can start using them right away. It would help you make a lot of money and it can also turn into a business the moment you get long-term clients.
Need any Assistance in Forming Your Business
Have your plan ready and are searching for help to set up your company? IncParadise can help you with this. Our team will help you from registering your business to setting it up. We offer incorporation services, registered agent services, virtual business address services, mail forwarding services, assistance in EIN, and bank opening. In fact, if you need more help after you have started your business, we also have a sister company Eqvista, which is a cap table application. This will help you keep track of all the shares and everything in your company.
