One Product Store vs General Store [WHICH IS BEST?]

Welcome back to Make Money Bro and another article all about dropshipping! Today we are talking about store types!

What store is more effective and profitable, a one-product store or a general store? While the immediate thing that comes to mind is a general store, making a decision is not as easy as it seems.

Both of these options have pros and cons, and I will dissect these in this review of a one-product store vs general store.

What you will learn today is the following:

• What is a one-product store?
• What is a general store?
• Pros of one-product store
• Pros of general store
• One-product store vs general store: what is the right choice?

In the end, the decision is yours if you want to sell one product online. Just keep in mind that there are no right and wrong choices here—what you need to think about are your current entrepreneurial condition and your personal preferences.

What is a one-product store?

A one-product store is an online store that sells only one item or service, with a few upsells here and there.

Typically, the one-product store is used by companies who have just perfected a new technology. A lot of start-up companies do this—most of them are entrepreneurs who built their product in their garage.

The one-product store does not have to offer a tangible product or a technological one. It could be a service, too—like a tarot card reader or a chiropractor who markets his services online.

One-product stores are easy to spot—they typically do not have a full-blown website like general stores. Instead, they use a sales funnel that starts with a landing page.

Here is the typical one-product store set-up:

• Landing page – contains the features and benefits of the product; this includes testimonials
• Squeeze page – a page where the company tries to capture the email address of the site visitor
• Sales page – the page where the customer buys the item
• Upsell – usually a pop-up where the customer could buy add-ons
• Final checkout – a final page where the customer completes the payment.

A one product dropshipping store can also offer bonuses and upsells. The bonuses are usually eBooks or courses that teach a person how to use a product. Upsells are usually a tangible item that is sold separately at a higher price, but at a lower price if you buy it now. An example is a cool accessory for the technology product you just purchased.

What is a general store?

A general store is like a department store. If we take a department store as an example, we know that a store like this sells all sorts of items in a particular industry.

A general store can also be a niche store, but it still has multiple products to offer.

A good example is an online clothing store. As an entrepreneur, you have to the option to sell products to men, women, children. Or, you can sell items only for women.

The other variant that can happen is you niche down. For example, you only sell sports clothing. With a store like this, you may sell sports clothing only to men, or to both men and women.

Typically, niche stores have a home page, then categories or collections, an add to cart page and a checkout page.

Here is the typical layout and page distribution of a general store:

• Home page – the landing page where you have your hero banners and images of your product collection; this can also include testimonials and highlighted products, such as those on sale.
• Collections pages – these are pages that display specific kinds of products. A shoe collection page only displays shoes. You can go further and break this down, like a dedicated collection for rubber shoes or a dedicated page for stilettos.   

A general store is the most common preference of entrepreneurs. The reason behind this is the concept that if you have a lot of products to offer, you have more people to reach.

Pros of one-product store

Here are the advantages of putting up a one-product store:

• It is easy to manage – since you only have one product, you only have to master the details and components of one item. But if you have a clothing store, you have to answer a ton of inquiries, like whether the clothing is made of polyester or cotton, etc.  
• You are targeting an under-served market – a one-product store is geared towards a specific group of people. These people have the same need or problem that you are trying to solve.
• Ad copywriting is laser-focused – because you only have one product, your ad copy is rich and effective.   If done well, you can achieve excellent conversion rates (rate that you turn viewers into buyers:))

With a one-product store, you will also find it easier to look for an influencer on social media whose audience fits your market. As such, it is easier to convert cold traffic.

Pros of general store

Here are the advantages of putting up a general store:

• Lots of offerings – a general store typically has more than five collections and hundreds of products
• You cast a wide net – you can advertise and target a lot of demographics
• Ride the tide of trends – if one product is no longer trendy, your sales are not too impacted because you have other products that can sustain your store’s revenue
• Possibility of higher spends– with a wider range of products, your customer is more likely to buy multiple items and spend more!

A general store serves a wide market. As a niche or general store, you have something for everybody, and you also have better chances of upselling goods related to what a customer purchased.

One-product store vs general store: what is the right choice?

You do not have to be the creator of a product to build a one-product store. In fact, you can be an affiliate marketer, choose one product and then sell the affiliate product on your landing page. If you have found one ‘killer’ product, you can do well with a super focused one product store 🙂

Here is my guide to help you make the right choice.

Choose a one-product store if:

• It is your first time launching a store
• You want to sell an affiliate product that pays high commissions
• You created a product that targets a specific kind of person
• You do not want to publish a lot of ads for different products
• You want to laser focus on selling and converting a ‘killer’ product

Choose a general store if:

• You like to operate a retail store
• You do not mind answering a ton of customer inquiries
• You want to position yourself as a niche authority for a bunch of products
• You know how to create ads that target multiple types of buyers
• You want to build up a social media presence. For example, it’s way easier to create hundreds of Pinterest pins if you have multiple products in your store 🙂

Your choice depends on your preferences and the amount of effort you want to put in. If you are just starting out, it also makes sense to start with a one-product store, as this will acclimatize you to the world of e-commerce. You will learn how to build a store and determine how your efforts convert into positive results. When you find success, you can start rolling out into bigger multi-product stores 🙂

Summary

A one-product store is easier to manage. You sell one product, and you market that product to a specific market. On the other hand, a general store is like a department store where you sell all sorts of items. You need to deal with different customer types and publish different ads to target different people.

Both types of stores bring revenue, and there is no telling which one can bring more money. It all depends on your profit margin and the quality of the products and your marketing efforts!!

At best, you have to weigh the actions needed to make the store work. If you are willing to exert the effort to market a lot of products, then opt for a general store. On the other hand, run a one-product store if you want a laser-focused online business.