General vs. Niche Dropshipping Store | What Is the Best Choice in 2023?

You probably found this article because you're not sure if you should start with a general or a niche dropshipping store, right?

Well, don't worry! I will give you all the upsides and downsides to owning a general and a niche dropshipping store. This will help you answer your question at the end of this article: “Will I go for a general or a niche dropshipping store?”

The main difference between a general and a niche dropshipping store is that with a general store, you can sell all kinds of trendy products, while in a niche store, you're focused on a specific category or niche of products that appeal to a certain audience.

So, a general or a niche dropshipping store?

This is one of the most asked questions by dropshipping beginners.

They keep second-guessing themselves on whether they should niche down or be more general.

If you're just a beginner, I suggest going for a broad niche dropshipping store. Like pets instead of just dogs, or outdoors instead of just camping.

Let's get started by understanding the basics!

What is a general dropshipping store?

To start off, I will quickly explain what a general and niche dropshipping store is, then I will go over all the upsides and downsides of both to then give you my final answer of what I suggest you choose in 2023!

So, what is a general dropshipping store?

A general store is basically a store without any specific niche.

It can contain everything and anything! Ranging from coffee cups to swimwear. Yes, I know, that was super random, but that's basically what a general store is!

Most people do this to “ride with the trendy products.” They advertise products that are trending at that moment and have a great chance of selling (like with the fidget spinners).

What is a niche dropshipping store?

But what about a niche dropshipping store? What is that?

A dropshipping niche means having a store catered for a type of people with the same interests.

For example, having a dropshipping store with only dog products because you want to target people who love dogs.

If you take that example. What do you think would happen if you suddenly put cat products in your dog niche store? Your loyal customers will be like, “What? We love dogs, not cats… I won't shop here again!”

Furthermore, a niche can be divided into two different kinds of niches. You have the steady and the trendy niche. You can click here if you want to learn more about what a steady and trendy niche is.

Do you see the difference between a niche and a general store now?

Upsides of having a general dropshipping store

Let's begin with the upsides of having a general dropshipping store.

1. You can add every product you want

This is great if you don't have any prior experience. You can just start testing and not worry about if that product fits within your store and target audience.

2. You can add all the trendy products you want and start selling

You don't need to worry if it falls inside your niche or not. Just import and done!

3. You can reach way more people

Because all of your products will have different kinds of people liking them. This way you have the ability to reach way more people than a niche dropshipping store.

Downsides of having a general dropshipping store

Now, let's move on to the downsides of having a general dropshipping store.

1. It's hard to get customers to come back to your store and purchase again

Most of the customers you get will be one-time purchases, sadly. People just do not have a reason to visit your store again and look around like you would have with a niche store where your new potential customer could love every single product in your dropshipping store.

Upsides of having a niche dropshipping store

Now that you know what the upsides and downsides are from a general store, let's move on to a niche store.

I will start off with the upsides of having a niche dropshipping store.

1. You can easily use social media channels now

You can post content inside that niche to gather new followers from that niche who you can then turn into buyers!

People will have a reason to follow your, for example, dog Instagram page because you will post a lot of content they like (because they like dogs).

2. You can build a blog around that niche to get free traffic

You can get free traffic from search engines easier when you have a niche store because you can optimize your store's SEO better.

For example, with a blog on your dropshipping store. You can learn more about SEO for a dropshipping here.

3. More repeat purchases from past customers

For example, if you've got a cat store and you advertise to someone who loves cats and he visits your store, you have a greater chance of them coming back or buying more because everything is inside their interest.

And if they purchase something with you and you add more related products inside your niche, they are more likely to come back and purchase these products because it falls inside their interest.

4. It's easier to do email marketing

You can start an email list, and you could start sending them value!

For example, tips, more information inside that niche, and so on. With one goal: to get them to purchase from your dropshipping store (again).

You can read here why email marketing is so important for a dropshipping store. Plus, that article will explain everything you need to know if you're new to email marketing.

5. Upselling is easier

Most people that will visit your dropshipping niche store will like multiple products because it falls in their interest.

For example, if you advertise a dog toy to a person that likes dogs, you're more likely to get them to buy a dog mug as well vs. a fishing rod.

You can learn more about what upselling is in this great article from Oberlo.

Downsides of having a niche dropshipping store

Now that we had the upsides covered, let's move on to the downsides of having a niche dropshipping store.

1. It's hard if you're just beginning

It might not be easy if you're a beginner to dropshipping or ecommerce to convince your target audience to shop at your store.

This might be easier when you have a general store where you don't have to worry about “speaking the right tone of your audience.”

2. It might be hard to stick with your niche when you're just a beginner

You need to stick within a certain niche (you can't just start advertising products outside that niche).

Also, you need to love having a store inside that niche because it will take some time before you start seeing sales.

This might be hard for you if you're just beginning and need to learn a lot of new stuff.

So, should you go for a general or a niche dropshipping store in 2023?

I suggest you start with a niche, but only if you find one that you're interested in – even if it's just a little bit!

This will help you so much with pushing through in the beginning phase of your dropshipping store.

To find a great niche for your dropshipping store, I suggest reading the articles I've linked below:

• Top 10 Dropshipping Niches to Avoid as a Beginner in 2023
• How to Find the Best Niche for Dropshipping? (7 Methods)
• How to Find out If a Dropshipping Niche Could Be Profitable in 2023?

For example, do you have any interests, hobbies, or something like that?

Like gardening or taking care of a baby? You could easily switch this interest into a niche dropshipping store!

One last thing, if you're new to everything, like ecommerce and marketing, I suggest picking a broader niche.

For example, picking pets instead of just dogs or cats. This way you will have a bit more “playing ground” to test products, and you've got a bigger chance of staying motivated.

You don't like selling dog products anymore? No problem! Just focus on other pets then, but if you had chosen to go for a dog store, you would have been stuck selling dog products.

Alright, but what if you can't find a dropshipping niche for your store?

If you cannot think of something you like to turn into a dropshipping store, or if you cannot find any niche that you're interested in after researching, I suggest starting with a general dropshipping store.

This way, you can learn so much valuable information. You can then always use this in the future to build a niche dropshipping store!

One last tip, if you're going with a general store, you could also test, test, and test until you find a winning product, and then build a niche store/brand around that product!

You can learn here how to quickly test products without spending a lot of money.

For example, you see that your “Pineapple Bracelet” (I don't know how I came up with that) sells really well.

You could then decide to build a store around that, adding products like a “Pineapple Ring.”

While your main focus will go to that bracelet, you will have an opportunity to build/grow into a full Pineapple brand!

Awesome, right?

For more information about starting a general store, check out this article here!

Plus, you can check out these general dropshipping store examples here for some great inspiration.

Conclusion

So, there you have it! All the upsides and downsides to having a general or a niche dropshipping store in 2023.

I hope, after reading this article, that you have decided what's best for you and your dropshipping store!

If you've got any suggestions for this article or if you have any questions regarding dropshipping, let me know by commenting below or contacting me directly by pressing the “Contact Us” button at the top!

Good luck with your general or niche dropshipping store!

Getting started with dropshipping in 2023

So, are you ready to get started with dropshipping? Or maybe you have already started, but you’re looking to get some inspiration?

If so, I suggest reading my complete Shopify dropshipping guide!

It's a huge article, but it contains everything that you need to know to create your own Shopify dropshipping store in 2023. It's like a dropshipping course, but for free!

Reading this article will help you to get started and stay motivated while beginning and continuing your dropshipping journey!

Just don’t forget that success takes time. Keep improving each and every day!

Shopify Dropshipping: A 20-Step Guide to Starting Your Store

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• AliExpress Dropshipping: A 20-Step Getting Started Guide (2023)
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• 12 Reasons Why Most People Fail With Dropshipping in 2023 | Beat Them!
• 23 Awesome Shopify Dropshipping Store Examples

Also, if you want to get started with Shopify, then you can click here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!