Dangers of expanding a niche e-commerce website.

[SparksCW]

Does anyone have any previous experience in growing niche sites? (direct e-commerce sales, not affiliates or anything)

Are there any dangers to watch out for when adding other relevant products to a niche website?

i.e imagine a site called hottubs.com who then add garden furniture to their range with a top level category and some space on the home page.

It's highly relevant, appropriate and the buyers of Hot Tubs would likely want furniture, and the buyers of furniture could possibly also want a hot tub if they land on the site.

But is there any dangers like diluting the site and affecting sales of the primary niche? Do people looking for a hot tub want to see a site that's solely about hot tubs, and any deviation would potentially lose a sale?

I might just be over-thinking it. I have a niche site that does well but it's a bit limited for my grand ambitions, I am wanting to add two more ranges of highly relevant products to make my niche site a bit broader (I don't sell hot tubs, but it felt like a good example!).

Of course a good answer would be to try it and find out as we can simply hide the categories if it doesn't work but I wanted to get a few opinions first.

 

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[Choate]

Putting myself in the customers' shoes, my take is that it depends on your approach to the customer and how you position your value. If the example of hottubs.com is all about providing THE very best hot tubs, servicing of hot tubs, fastest delivery of hot tubs, most knowledgeable experts on hot tubs, - then yes, your primary focus should be on the hot tubs themselves and not diluting it with furnishings, accessories, etc. In this example, perhaps its better to create a sister site that is dedicated to hot tub accessories and furnishings, because if you try to include these things on your website it may look like a cheap upsell for someone so dedicated to hot tubs - and how can I really trust the craftsmanship or value of your offerings if you are only the hot tub expert?

If Charlie has an e-commerce business, Charlie's Fishing Rods, selling lures and tackle boxes could be beneficial, depending. Is Charlie the expert on fishing rods only, or is Charlie an experienced angler who has expertise across the sport as a whole, and can offer value to his customers by giving them the best rod/lure combinations? Is he offering cheap tackle boxes to make a quick buck through a cross-sale? Or do his tackle boxes have a unique value that align with the value of the fishing rods? Such as being sturdy, space saving tackle boxes that compliment the fishing rods' branding, that a son could get his father for his birthday and have the dad say, "Damn, this fishing rod and tackle box go so well together, both are quality items and I'm not embarassed to bring either around the old boys to go fishin' next Sunday." Or is it, "Wow this is such a quality fishing rod, but what the hell is this cheap tackle box?" Which means you could lose repeat business and referrals.

So the two factors I would look at most is, can you offer quality complimentary goods along with your main product and perhaps even brand them together, or is it a cheap cross sell? And whether your brand's positioning would allow you to offer a cross sell, even if it is a quality one.

 

[CycleGuy]

If you are an authority on one niche you can risk some reputation when venturing off to other things.

Example, you offer excellent sales/finance/service in hot tubs with a solid positive online reputation. You start adding additional niches on to the site. Without proper experience, you can risk bad customer experiences with hurt your excellent hot tub online reputation.

How would it feel to have a perfect 5/5 star rep on the hot tub fb then get a 1/5 star review because of an unhappy furniture customer?
Exploring new niches risks your positive customer rep with your current niche.


I am with @Choate, I personally would setup a different website entirely for the other niche and treat them like separate businesses.

That is unless the niches are closely related(hot tubs/pools/pool supplies).

 

[SparksCW]

Thanks for the replies.

I have decided to start a second site to compliment the initial. Whilst both products are in the same court, they are two different ball games.

The market for this second site is about 10 x the market for my original niche, I'm keen to put everything I've learnt into the new site/niche and then cross sell between the two sites. It's still a niche in it's own right, just a lot more potential for this one. It's also going to be a lot harder!

The original site is going to be expanded slightly but not into a different product. It'll be the same product type but for different uses, there is still quite a lot of growing room in this niche so we will keep working and expanding.

 

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