Are you planning to start your online business and looking for some unique and profitable e-commerce business ideas? Do not worry, you have landed on just the right article. Today we are going to talk about more than 40 tried and tested unique yet profitable e-commerce business ideas that you can start with, but before that there are a few things which you must know about the e-commerce industry and e-commerce business so that you can earn the maximum ROI from your online business.
The world is moving towards digitization and with this one can easily witness a lot of changes in the business pattern, especially the online business. These days, users prefer buying their favorite products via online platforms rather than standing in those long queues for payments. The e-commerce industry is booming to win this tribe, you’ll have to offer something beyond the best prices and deals. It has come a long way since the last two and a half decades of its existence. According to Statista, revenue in the e-commerce market is projected to reach US$2,258,801m in 2020. The numbers are predicted to grow to a massive 4.88 trillion dollars by 2021.
Also, gone are those days where customers just look for a product at a lower price instead now consumers will look for brands that offer them a unique shopping experience. Online business types are usually divided into business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C) or consumer-to-business (C2B). Each year we observe an increasing number of startups and investors, who are willing to work and earn online, sharing new business ideas for startups.
There is no perfect time to start your e-commerce business. There is no need to invest huge amounts of money to get started. However, starting a successful e-commerce business can sometimes be a challenging task. There are a few things, which you need to keep in mind to get your business right in the first go.
Before revealing the e-commerce business ideas, let us discuss a few things, which can help you establish a successful online business.
Distribute Your Time
You have to devote your time to the new project you are going to start. Try to devote a certain number of hours a week to your e-commerce business. Make yourself do something constructive regularly.
Set the Budget
Be prepared with the budget, start saving for your new business. You may require this money for research, training, to hire website development company, etc.
Choose a Product or Service
Planning a business idea is the most complicated task. Look out for a business idea that includes your expertise, as well as interest, or something around your own unique experience. Focus on what makes you stand out. All this can be done using a blog, social networks, as an author of podcasts, etc.
Do your Research
Once you are ready with the e-commerce business idea, focus your time on research. Research your competitors. Subscribe to a newsletter or blog, purchase products, or join a community of three competitors to know what they are doing and find ways to do it better. Whether you are looking for Shopify, Magento Integration Services, or any other eCommerce platform, you must research and plan prior to development.
Write a Business Plan
A business plan means a document that brings your entrepreneur ideas and thoughts together and allows the investors to assess the decision’s effectiveness, planned activities, and to answer the question, whether to invest in the project.
Set up Your Business
At this stage you need to start with planning on the domain’s name, getting it registered. Once you are ready with the domain name, it is time to craft a logo. Build your online store and define key performance indicators (KPI).
Launch your business
And finally, the time is to launch the business. Pay attention to the marketing of your product to get serious and focused on the result.
Note: As today’s customers prefer solutions available on handheld devices, hence your ideas must follow a mobile-first approach. When approaching a web development firm, ensure that they also offer mobile app development services to make your business available everywhere and anywhere
Now that we know what all it takes to start a successful online business, let’s explore some of the e-commerce business ideas that are worth your time and investment:
Beauty and Health Products
This is a great idea, especially for people with outstanding e-commerce marketing skills. The more you know the products you are selling in this category, the higher are your chances of success.
Smart Home Products
These days everything is getting smart. From our phones to our house products, people love connecting their home products with their smartphones, so that they can control anything and everything with just a few clicks. With the change in digital transformation trends, everything has changed now. For example, coming home from work and opening the garage door should signal the air conditioner to turn on. At the same time, it should signal the smart speaker to play some relaxing music if you are stressed. This is one of the best online retailing business ideas and has a lot of scope in the coming future.
Sell Handmade Treats to Pet Owners
These days people take care of their pets just like their family members and everyone keeps a check on their health. If you already make treats for your pets or have some healthy recipes, make them and sell online.
Print on Demand Lifestyle Apparel
With print on demand lifestyle apparel, you can easily piggyback on a community or trend that already exists. A plain t-shirt is harder to sell these days, people look for the printed t-shirt on which they can demand their favorite person or their idol’s picture. This can be a great e-commerce business idea to encash on.
Fitness Apparel Store
These days, people are more and more focusing on their health. We can see a tremendous growth in the fitness app development, as people are taking their workout sessions and fitness regime quite seriously. The growing trend of Zumba classes, Yoga sessions have led people to make their move towards gym and sports centers. This has increased in the high demand for various gym accessories and fitness apparel for both men and women.
Fitness Supplements
Talking about sports and fitness, people are going crazy in leading and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. There are many people who prefer taking additional supplements like whey proteins, vitamins, and many others to help them chive the type of body they want. This e-commerce business idea can be quite a profitable one.
Phone Accessories
Phone accessories include covers, cases, decor for phones, cables, chargers, screen protectors, headphones, headsets, accessories for iPhone and iPad, styluses and gloves, car accessories for phones, gadgets for smartphones and tablets, batteries, bags for tablets, etc. With the growing demand for mobiles, laptops, there is a simultaneous increase in the demand for their accessories.
Online Grocery Store and Fresh Meal Delivery
In this busy lifestyle, people prefer getting things online, no matter if it is vegetable fruits or a freshly prepared lunch or dinner. On demand app development services are quite popular these days, especially grocery stores. There are many apps and websites delivering groceries online like Amazon, Big Basket, InstaCart and many more. Especially during this Covid-19 crisis, on-demand grocery apps are quite a profitable business.
Clothing and Accessories Business
This is something very popular among modern people. You can offer some unique and rare clothing items, which are not offered in other clothing stores. Any traditional outfit or youth clothing with a variety of prints are greatly in demand. If the quality and style are liked by the people, this business turns out to be a great opportunity.
Blogging
Today, there is a wide diversity in the type of content like tutorials, blogs, infographics, FAQs, videos, memes, and more. Companies that have blogs see the following advantages: 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links, and 434% more indexed pages. Great content is not only helpful, educational, and entertaining, but also a key marketing strategy and offers a great ROI.
Online Coaching
Online education is quite popular these days. Students who cannot go to school can now avail online classes and learn whatever they want. eLearning software development solutions allow you to add a myriad of learning solutions such as shoot & upload video courses on a variety of topics, conduct online consultations, & much more: people are willing to pay for the knowledge of competent professionals. An increasing number of students have opened a wide space for unconventional ways of accessing educational resources. There has been a lot of technological advancement in the elearning industry, which has increased the opportunities for entrepreneurs to deliver multiple solutions, such as –
- Custom lms development solutions,
- Lcms solutions
- mlearning solutions, and
- LXP solutions
Selling eBooks
Selling books doesn’t require publishers now, one can sell the books directly on websites like Amazon. You can write the books yourself or get someone to ghostwrite them for you. If you are good at writing books, selling books is something you can start as a new business online.
Social Media Consultancy Business
As a social media consultant, you can help your clients to build online media campaigns. The more you will be available for your users, the more secure and satisfied clients will feel, as social media sites are the backbone of any company.
Selling Refurbished Products
Nowadays, people have started looking for second-hand products especially when they get them at comparatively low price. So, for this, all you have to do is start collecting those second-hand items, such as clothes, jewelry, furniture, and posting them on your e-commerce website.
Smart Watches
In 2018, the smartwatch sales figures hit the 141 million unit mark globally. The smartwatch industry almost grew up to an astonishing $19 billion in sales internationally. The prediction for 2021 is that this product will earn up to $53.2 billion in sales across the globe. People wear a smartwatch as an accessory for fitness and planning their entire day. This has also increased the demand for wearable app development in the market.
Face Masks
This pandemic has increased the demand for face masks. More and more people look for trendy and fashionable designs to stand out from the crowd. It is an excellent business idea for now so, don’t miss out on this burgeoning industry.
Cloud Computing Business
Cloud computing is used by everyone from individuals to public and private organizations. Many entrepreneurs prefer using cloud computing solutions to store their data on the internet. This business needs more focus and dedication as you have to be very strict for this e-commerce business.
Dropshipping
This is the most common way to start an online business. If you don’t have enough budget, you can set up an online store, and partner with suppliers who’re ready to store, package, and ship orders to your customers. Dropshipping is an e-commerce business model in which you don’t have to manage any physical products.
Virtual Assistants
Everyone from large enterprises to solopreneurs requires help with the day-to-day management of their business. You can help these entrepreneurs with answering emails, scheduling meetings, and performing other administrative duties. This is a proven business model as people are always looking for efficient virtual assistants.
E-commerce Service Provider
IT professionals hire ecommerce service providers so that they can focus on selling their products and growing their brand. You have to focus on back-office work, IT aspects and this is something trending in the coming days.
Career Coaching
With rising unemployment in countries, people are seeking help with finding jobs. The best thing about this business is that you can make money by conducting 4-5 hourly sessions a month. If you have this talent, where you can educate or help the people with the career option best suited for them or help them with the figure on the traits that define a good candidate, this may be the right option for you.
3D Assets Stores
Today, 3D assets have become a hot commodity, with an increase in the trade of 3D assets for games and AR VR app solutions. You can sell these on a monthly or yearly subscription also. Few of the government officials have also started competitions to make this business more productive and increase the demand for 3D products among people.
Make an Auctions Website
By auction websites, it means to sell or purchase products via online auctions. All you have to start a website and add products for auctions by yourself or allow other vendors to run their auctions.
New Jewelry and accessories business
The fashion of jewelry or accessories has never gone out. In recent times, you can witness the new fashion accessories like chains, brooches, bracelets, and similar trinkets that change the fashion world. You can sell the product online like handmade jewelry from the designers-beginners, unique accessories, and vintage items. Also, you can rent out expensive jewelry for special occasions or festivals.
Virtual Dance Studio
Starting any business online means you don’t need to rent a big space and it’s convenient to record, publish, and share the choreography at your discretion. If you have a passion for creating your unique choreography, you may also find opportunities to partner with dance schools to give their students access to your content on a membership basis. Technologies like AR and VR are transforming every aspect of our lives. From education to travel and tourism, AR VR solutions have completely changed how things work and have increased the demand for virtual studios
Selfie Drones
These days, selfie drones are quite popular. Whether you have an interest in photography or planning to capture the big parties, it allows you to record the program from different angles. If you have some skills in photography, this can turn out as a good e-commerce business idea. Also, you can open an online store of selfie drones so that you can sell them.
App Development
Mobile apps are the need for today. They are one of the main marketing mediums for companies looking to expand their business online, especially among youths. Though initially, the cost of starting this venture has drastically gone down due to the growth of tools and affordable mobile app developers. But now there are several wireframes and mockups you can select to publish the app. Hence, there is an opportunity to earn passive income by creating apps or as a freelancer app developer.
Learn about the complete process of App development
Auto-parts and Accessories
Every year the number of cars has grown, no matter in big cities or small. It’s not just about the car, the maintenance is equally important. One who has invested huge money in the car ensures its functionality. Many car owners want to express their individuality using car parts and accessories. This is a growing business and with a variety of accessories available online, it can make good money.
AI-based Fashion store
Technology and business goes hand in hand and people always love seeing and using new things. You can integrate Artificial Intelligence in your e-commerce business and offer something new and unique to your users. An AI-based fashion store will be a great idea for this.
Green Tea and coffee
During this pandemic, people have become quite conscious about their health. There are various health monitoring apps that they use to keep themselves healthy. The demand for green tea and coffee is widely growing seeing the myriads of benefits which they offer. This is quite a great business to start with, and earn a good amount of money.
Safe and Vaults
These days, people are way too conscious about keeping their personal stuff and money safe. For this, you may sell security safes and vaults, which will help people to keep their belongings protected from theft.
Subscription Boxes
There are many companies that offer a complete subscription box to their users. These boxes can be in any niche starting from fashion to healthcare and food items. All users have to do is to subscribe to these boxes on a monthly or annual basis. This is a huge trend these days and also one of the unique and profitable e-commerce business ideas. Users love subscription boxes because they themselves do not know what will be there inside these boxes when they order them. This is a complete surprise for them.
Video Bells
You can also sell video bells these days, from the fear of theft or any stranger entering into the houses, people like using video bells instead of the traditional ones. This keeps their friends and family safe from any unforeseen situations.
Sell Medicine
Websites and apps like 1mg are quite famous these days. With so much going on these days, people prefer ordering their medicines and other essentials online, rather than going to a store and getting them.
Sell Everything
Also, if you have money to invest, you can go for selling anything and everything on your e-commerce website. You can look for a company that offers enterprise mobility services for creating an app for you that sells everything just like Amazon.
VR Headsets
Technologies like AR and VR are being used in everyday life and there is a huge demand for devices that are compatible with them. You can either go just for selling VR headsets or can sell other AR VR solutions that are compatible with these technologies. Also, AR/VR development services are quite popular among the healthcare sector, so you can go for something related.
Bespoke Tailoring Services
Not everyone likes readymade clothes due to the poor quality of fabrics or the ill-fittings. You can start up your own business offering bespoke clothing and tailoring services online, so that more and more people can reach out to you.
Food Ordering Business
Food and restaurant solutions are one of the highest revenue generating businesses. You can have your own website or mobile app like Uber eats and Zomato that can deliver food online.
Music Instruments and Equipments
People love hearing and playing music. There is music for every mood and person. You can create your own online music store where you can sell various items related to music like music instruments, audios, speakers, etc. If you know how to play any instrument, you can also share your online tutorials with users so that they can learn also.
Travelling Accessories
You can have an online store for selling all the accessories related to traveling. The travel and leisure industry is really growing and people love exploring new places. So, you can have a store selling everything that can be required while traveling like backpacks, tents, bottles, trekking shoes, etc.
Paintings and Artifacts
Selling paintings and ancient artifacts is a great e-commerce business idea. People love decorating their houses and painting and artifacts really attract users who are interested in art. This is not only a profitable business but a long-term business too, as the demand for them will never decrease.
Additional Ecommerce Ideas to look Into Are –
Kitchen Supplies
Among the vital things are kitchen supplies that become inoperative, hence the idea to sell kitchen utensils, cutting boards, knives, pots, spoons, and many interesting gadgets. This eCommerce idea can never run out of fashion and who is better than a product engineering services provider to guide you with the right eCommerce software solution to scale your business.
Purses and Handbags
Among the most treasured items are the accessories that women want to carry to make their outfits look complete. Purses and handbags not just complete the attire but are also a useful sack to store your essentials. Today even men carry purses and handbags to store essential documents. Hence, this is a great concept for anyone to pick as an eCommerce idea.
Candles
The concept of selling candles has been a part of decorative luxury accessories these days. From designer candles to scented ones, there have been many new and myriad ways people have been creating and selling candles. This is also a unique idea for starting an eCommerce store. You can connect with a reliable and experienced IT professional services provider to offer you better assistance.
Yoga Products
After the pandemic, good health became imperative for everyone. Since then, people were more and more drawn towards exercising and yoga to keep themselves fit. Hence, looking for an eCommerce idea for yoga products is exceptional yet substantial.
Coffee
Unlike the old times, today, people can enjoy different flavors of coffee. From hazelnut to mint to classic coffee, there are multiple aromatic coffees to start the day. Since the coffee business is not new yet flourishing, it is a great option to consider for an eCommerce business.
Gluten-free Food
Earlier, people with gluten intolerance did not understand how and why their bodies related to gluten-rich products. Today, with more and more awareness and research, new food types, such as protein-rich food for extra fitness freaks and willing to grow muscles or gluten-free food, food for lactose intolerant, and much more. So, people looking for this type of eCommerce business, you can look at this eCommerce idea.
Kids Toys and Games
With time new and innovative games have emerged, which parents often buy for their kids. Buying online is much easier and convenient than buying it offline. Choosing this as your eCommerce business can be a great start, which you can further extend by integrating adult games as well.
Online Learning Platforms
This is a much growing online eCommerce business. After the pandemic when the exchange of knowledge became arduous. Integration learning content management system can assist those who are looking to systematically spread knowledge and skill through the eCommerce learning system.
Green Business Idea
Another eCommerce unique business idea that you can look into is incorporating products that do not affect the environment. Creating unique items by recycling the old ones is one big step towards protecting the environment. However, integrating technology, such as EDI solutions that are a step towards making transaction paperless will help the environment even more, providing accuracy and scalability to the business.
Personal Safety Equipments
With increased crimes, the need to be alert has become imperative. Looking at the safety measures, savvy people have come up with a unique idea – personal safety equipment. Indeed these pocket-friendly and handy items can be carried away everywhere to protect oneself in any circumstances. Picking this eCommerce product idea is exceptional and would require expert help to develop and market your eCommerce store.
The Future of E-commerce
Social-distancing measures and business closures have disrupted consumer spending habits. While this has created a period of uncertainty for many, e-commerce has instead been trending in a positive direction. Hence, this is a good time to take a step towards e-commerce. Global e-commerce sales amounted to nearly 3.5 trillion dollars worldwide in 2019, proving e-commerce is an increasingly lucrative option for businesses. There’s been an average growth rate of 25.6 percent in e-commerce sales over the years 2014 to 2017. It’s estimated that around a potential 3 billion buyers from emerging markets will have access to the internet by 2022. The future of e-commerce is undoubtedly going to be full of exciting changes and innovations for both businesses and buyers. By making an active investment in e-commerce now, you will be better positioned to achieve successful market results in the future.
Wrapping Up!
I hope this article has helped you in finding your perfect e-commerce business ideas that can earn you good fortune. There are tons of business ideas. If you want to look for more options and want to go through all of them as well, you’ll have more than 100 validated business ideas that you can use to kick start a profitable ecommerce brand. By checking out these ideas you may get a clear picture of the latest inventions, innovations, upward trends, and more importantly, ever-green products that can help you to set and scale your business effectively. You have to take care of what you deliver, focus on product quality, and customer service. Once you have decided with which business idea to go for, all you need to do is hire a good website or mobile app development company and get your work started.