To Go Big or Go Small?

One great feature of Logicblock is the ability to list as many products as you want in your store. While other companies either cap your product count or don’t even let you add custom products, we know you may think about expanding in ways you can’t foresee right now. Having the freedom to branch out and try new things with your online store’s inventory can be very liberating

Of course you have to ask yourself in the first place: is this path the right one? Even though I can list as many products as I want, should I be concentrating more on finding the best available combination of products for my store instead? Will my customers care if I have tons of products or would they respond better to a small selection?

Let’s take a look at some pros and cons of each path

Never-ending Inventory

Immediately when you think of a store with a lot of variety you imagine all the various customers said store would bring in. After all, if you have a ton of different stuff, different types of customers will want to buy from you, increasing your profit. It’s simple math, right?

Sometimes this is true. It’s the same ideas stores like Wal-Mart or even dollar stores operate on: have as much as possible to buy in order to hit as wide a variety of buyers as you can. Naturally some items won’t sell, but the cost is made up with all the other sales

Not every business can operate like this, though, especially on the web. Offering a wide variety of items can be costly, particularly if you make your own products. Plus, branding yourself will be a little tougher if there are no “key” items to rally around

But it can be done, and has been done in the past. It’s up to you whether this fits with the vision of your business. It may even affect your goals for the near future, and you’ll have to make a decision if that’s worth it to you

The Small, Curated Online Store

When most people imagine an online store they generally picture someone selling stuff out of their home. Maybe they have household items or crafty things they’ve made at their kitchen table, but either way they typically think of a small store with just a few items

This isn’t a coincidence considering this is how a majority of online sellers operate. They have a few items and want to concentrate solely on those items. Some, however, ignore the fact that branching out to other items could make them more successful. They just don’t want to deal with the hassle

But staying in a niche does have its advantages. You can work on building up an audience of people you already know and sell to and develop a strong brand in that niche. You may even become an expert in the field and develop a reputation for being the #1 in that industry

At the same time you do risk alienating potential customers if you never branch out. You could have tons of new customers and new fans waiting for you around the corner and never know it because of fear of the unknown. It may be worth at least exploring new options as you can always refocus on your niche if it doesn’t pan out.