The “One-Product Store” Strategy: How To Build A Profitable Business With Just One Item
Are you interested in launching an online store that sells just a single product?
The one-product store strategy isn’t new in the world of retail, but thanks to the rise of ecommerce and the online store, companies who specialize in one product can now sell it themselves.
In this post, we unpack what the one-product store strategy is, what advantages it has over traditional retail models, and how to launch one.
What is a one-product store?
A one-product store is a store, typically an online store, that specializes in and only sells one product.
The store might sell variations of that product as well as accessories for it, but at the end of the day, their sales are entirely dependent on a singular product.
A good example of a one-product store is reMarkable, a tablet that’s meant to mimic the feel of writing on paper.
While the company now makes a few different variations of reMarkable, they built their brand off of the success of a singular product, the original reMarkable tablet.
They found a problem in a saturated niche, which was the number of people who complained about how awkward it can be to write and draw on a tablet, and built a solution for it.
Here are popular niches the one-product store works great for:
- Technology
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Fitness
- Health and wellness
- Home goods
- Pets
- Gaming
- Eco-friendly alternatives to popular products
How does a one-product store differ from other retail models?
Other retail models include a general store and a niche store.
A general store is a store that sells multiple products in a lot of different categories. Department stores are great examples of general stores.
A niche store is a store that sells multiple products for one specific niche.
Think of Bass Pro Shops and Tackle Warehouse.
Bass Pro Shops is a general store because they cater to a few different niches in the broader outdoor niche. They offer products for fishing, hunting, boating and camping.
Tackle Warehouse is a niche store because they only offer products for fishing. They offer some boating products, but only as they relate to fishing.
A one-product store differs from both of these retail models because it only sells one product instead of multiple.
It might have product variations and accessories, but it doesn’t have product categories because it only offers the one product.
What benefits does a one-product store offer?
Solves a specific problem
The best thing about offering one product is that it solves a very specific problem in a niche.
While this seems more like a benefit for your customers, it’s actually a benefit for your business because there’s a chance that your product will be the only solution for that problem.
This means your only competition will be similar products that cater to the same niche but don’t solve the specific problem your product targets.
You’ll enjoy a market that’s free of competition, at least until big companies and small companies alike start mimicking your product.
Caters to a specific niche
Not only did reMarkable target a specific problem with their product, they targeted a specific niche within the tablet niche: artists and people who want digital files but would still prefer to write on paper.
When you create a single product, you have the opportunity to find a product that suits a very specific niche.
Allows you to use a laser-focused marketing strategy
This is a secondary benefit of offering only one product. It’s the result of solving a specific problem and catering to a specific niche.
These benefits allow you to use a marketing strategy that’s laser focused on a single target audience.
If you launch a store that’s filled with several products, you need to use a variety of different marketing strategies that market all of the products you have to offer.
But if you only sell one product, you can use a marketing strategy that’s designed to only market that one product.
This is good because consistency is key to succeeding with content marketing.
It’s cheaper
If you manufacture the products you sell in your shop, or you only have one product to stock, you can save on costs.
This is true if you own your factory or commission a manufacturer to make your product for you.
You’ll save on materials, the cost of manufacturing and the cost of having the product shipped to your warehouse.
Makes inventory management easier
If you only sell one product, you only need to worry about managing stock for one SKU.
This makes inventory management easier, both in your warehouse as well as in the dashboard of whatever ecommerce platform you use.
You also only need to manage one product page, and every landing page, coupon and other elements you create can be created for the one product you sell.
Makes for a cleaner store design
Stores that sell multiple products often use complicated homepage designs.
Their hero section features their most popular products, and additional sections promote the other products and product categories they offer.
If you only sell one product, you can use a store design that’s much cleaner and places the focus on one product instead of several.
This makes for a simpler design that doesn’t give customers buyer fatigue, a phenomenon in which a customer ends up leaving an online store after being faced with too many options or a cluttered design.
Makes it easier to build customer loyalty
If you specialize in one product that solves a specific problem in a specific niche, you have a much better chance at receiving loyal customers than stores who offer multiple products.
Stores that offer multiple products often don’t solve a particular problem. They often compete with other stores that sell the same or similar products.
The laser-focused marketing strategy you use to market your one product will also help you attract loyal customers.
Helps build authority
Again, when your entire marketing strategy is focused on a singular product, you have a much easier time getting noticed in a saturated niche and finding customers.
This is especially true if you’re offering a new solution to a common problem.
Brand recognition will come easy to you.
Heck, your customers may even associate your brand name to the solution, like the way “uber” is used as a verb to refer to the action of using an app to get a ride home or “bandaid” is used as a noun for an adhesive bandage.
Even if competitors start making their own versions of your product, the authority you built will help you sustain the loss of any customers who choose to use your competitors’ products instead.
What are the disadvantages of a one-product store?
There are some drawbacks to using a retail model that centers around a single product.
The biggest is the risk involved with relying on a single income stream.
What if one of the materials you use to manufacture your product becomes unavailable? What if your competitors come up with a better or cheaper solution, and the majority of your customers abandon your product for theirs?
If for any reason you aren’t able to generate sales for your one product, your entire business may collapse.
The other issue has to do with innovation.
When you face no competition, you might get too comfortable with your business model.
The steady stream of sales you receive with little to no competition threatening your bottom line may have a negative effect on your ability to innovate.
Think of Blockbuster. While they sold a lot of different products, their primary focus was video rentals.
The first Blockbuster opened in 1985, and the company had over 9,000 locations around the United States during its peak.
But when Netflix came to shake up the video rental industry by offering video rentals by mail and eventually an online streaming service, Blockbuster found it difficult to compete.
They tried offering their own rental by mail service, but when Netflix launched a streaming service in 2007, Blockbuster’s time was up, and the company ceased operations in 2014.
This can happen to any company who fails to innovate and gets too comfortable being consumers’ go-to solution for a problem.
How to build a profitable one-product store
1. Find a niche
Don’t start your journey looking for a problem to solve. Look for a niche you want to be a part of instead.
You’re going to be spending a lot of time on this business researching it, creating content for it and connecting with its target audience.
So, it’s best to choose something you’re interested in.
Choose a niche that’s profitable and has a lot of interest.
Google “[niche] products” to see what comes up, and gauge its interest on Google Trends.
If you can’t settle on one niche, pick a few as you work your way through Steps 2 and 3.
2. Discover your niche’s biggest pain points
The best way to ensure your one-product store is profitable is to come up with a product that solves a problem in your niche.
To discover what problems exist in your niche, use these techniques to find its target market’s biggest pain points:
- Look up reviews for popular products, especially ones that have four or fewer stars.
- Look up reviews that are posted as blog posts and YouTube videos as well, not just reviews posted to online stores and review sites.
- Browse forums related to your niche, including subreddits.
- Survey and interview members of your niche.
- Talk with influencers in your niche, the ones who are most likely to be the ones using your product.
- Become active in your niche. If you struggle with something, chances are your target market struggles with it as well.
3. Research problems in your niche
This one emphasizes a few tips we shared in the previous step.
If you truly want to know what solutions aren’t being solved in a particular niche, you need to become familiar with its products.
Find every popular product in your niche, and test each one yourself thoroughly.
If you notice any faults or that they’re not doing something they should be doing, make note of this.
You can even use these faults as talking points when you interview members and influencers of your niche.
4. Decide on a business model
Before you come up with a product, decide on a business model.
There are three ecommerce business models you can use for a one-product store:
- Self-manufacturing
- Dropshipping
- White labeling
Self-manufacturing involves researching, developing, manufacturing, storing and shipping your own product.
Dropshipping involves paying a dropshipping supplier to store and ship a manufacturer’s products for you.
White labeling involves using your own branded label on a manufacturer’s product. You can then handle storing inventory and shipping orders yourself or have the manufacturer handle it for you.
Each model has their own pros and cons. Choose the one that works best for the resources you have, including your ability to build a prototype yourself.
5. Decide on a product
The ecommerce model you choose should have an impact on the product you decide to sell.
For instance, if you choose the dropshipping or white labeling ecommerce models, you’ll be limited to products you can find from suppliers who offer these services.
Research direct competitors as well, and search for the product on Google Trends to gauge its popularity over time.
You should also consider the product’s ability to scale through innovation.
6. Market your product
There are numerous ways to market your product:
- Online store, such as one built using Sellfy
- Email marketing to capture customers and potential customers as leads
- Emphasizing your product’s unique selling proposition (USP) in marketing messages
- Creating content about and related to your product
- Engaging in influencer marketing to spread the message about your product
7. Expand
As you build your customer base as well as your authority, don’t be afraid to expand into other products.
What would Netflix be if they hadn’t expanded into the streaming industry? Would they have had to cease operations alongside Blockbuster?
Build your business on the one-product retail model, but don’t be afraid to offer additional products in the future.
Final thoughts
The one-product store strategy isn’t going to be right for everyone but there are some clear benefits.
Having a single product to sell makes it far easier when you’re just getting started. You can solve a specific problem, cater to a specific niche, use a laser target marketing strategy, keep costs down, etc.
However, before you launch your first product, it will be a good idea to have a roadmap of other products you can launch when the time is right.
It’s also a good idea to go for a product that others can’t easily replicate.