7 Ways to Stand Out Amongst the Sea of Competing Products

Selling common products online in this age of Amazon can prove difficult for sellers such as candles, chocolates, and coffee.

You can make your online store stand out by dedicating some time and continuous planning to your audience, marketing, and product lines.

Here are seven ways you can increase your sales without being overshadowed by mass-produced products.

1. Create Niche Products

Sugar cubes can be sold by anyone. A pound of sugar cubes is sold by a big box store for $1.25. This is less than one cent per cube.

You’ll lose if you try to compete with major retailers for a product similar to this.

What about the horse sugar cube niche? Horses are loved by people. People love their horses.

However, they might be able to purchase sugar cubes specifically made for horses.

These products are often flavored with fruits and apples, which can make them more expensive than the standard sugar cubes at big-box retailers. People who are passionate about horses will pay more for these products.

If your product is in high demand, finding a niche audience will help you stand out. You can create a brand and messaging that appeals specifically to this audience and dedicate your marketing budget to reach them.

2. Raise Your Prices

Let’s face facts: It’s impossible to price your product at the same level as major retailers. You can make your product unique and people will pay more for it.

Let’s return to the sugar cube illustration:

For $1.25, big box retailers sell 126 sugar cubes from the mill. A $9.99 bag of sugar cubes are also available from another retailer. It doesn’t stop there. Some retailers will sell 28 sugar cube packs for as low as $11.95 if they make fairly common products, such as sugar cubes, with minor modifications.

You did read it correctly. There are more than 20 individual cubes that sell for more than a 5-pound bag of sugar cubes. This is 42 times more than the price of a big-box package. What is the difference?

Each cube has a unique image hand-crafted. These cubes are 42 times more expensive to make. Not even close. However, if a 6-year-old girl wanted a princess-themed party for her birthday, would her parents be willing to pay $11.95? They would.

Increase your prices by creating unique and creative versions of standard products. This will help you stand out from the crowd and distinguish your eCommerce store and products. This can often be accomplished by changing your packaging.

For a different example, consider pens. Pens are simple enough to use. National office supply shops currently sell 60-pen boxes for $6.49, or about 11 cents each.

Another seller offers 100 pens for $99, almost 10 times as much as the 60-piece box.

These gel pens have a stylus around the ink dispenser and can be customized printed. They look great! Which pen would a business owner buy if they wanted to use pens in their client engagement process? It’s not a contest, the most expensive pen wins every time.

You’ll find creative ways to think about your products and see what is possible. While you are still selling the product, you’re selling an improved version. This is a strong combination with the niches that you choose to concentrate on. A strong eCommerce marketing strategy requires niching and higher prices.

3. Increase Service Quality and Inject it into Your Marketing

It is easy to stand out in the online world by providing excellent customer service. Most online services leave much to be desired.

Companies won’t call back, don’t reply to emails, package incorrect items, list unavailable items for sale, fail to meet delivery deadlines, or create websites that don’t work. There are a lot of frustrations with service that you can come up with if you feel the need. You might be able to – continue reading for more reasons.

Make customer service a priority if you want your eCommerce store to stand out. Make sure you are specific about what your customer service looks like. This will allow you to describe it in marketing. Service guarantees will show that you are serious.

A service guarantee is free. Customers would be interested in eCommerce stores that list every way they offer exceptional service or give away their purchase for free.

You just need to take the time to gather stories about bad online customer service experiences and figure out how to avoid them. Then, you can guarantee excellent service to your customers.

It’s simple: No one has to sign up to purchase from your store. This extra step is not only annoying and cumbersome but also makes people go through a process that they might not be ready for. Your club may not be the right fit for a first-time buyer. They’ll be more inclined to purchase again if they have great customer service.

A great way to deliver exceptional service is by surprising gifts.

These are just two examples of situations where this could be done:

• Your online store receives a customer who spends more than a certain amount.

• They purchase more than one item.

You could use this to give your customers a bonus with every delivery.

It’s easy to put together, but they’ll be surprised. They’ll remember you and, more importantly, they will tell their friends about your company.

4. Bundle products to create creative or useful combinations

You can use this extension to create pre-packaged bundles of items you can sell at different prices. It can also be used to create optional bundles that allow customers to choose which items they wish to combine.

A package of products could be created by the horse sugar cube vendor we mentioned earlier. If the company sells horse-related products, it could offer a package with other food items or tools, such as grooming supplies, and a service-oriented product.

A pen seller might create a package that includes sticky notes, notepads, staplers, and USB drives. You can create different bundles to appeal to different sub-niches of your main products.

This is possible because it’s an example of customer service. You’re making their lives easier. They don’t have to shop separately for these items – they can all be purchased at once. Convenience is what people pay for.

You’ll be noticed and remembered if you can sell convenience online using product bundles.

5. Limited Leverage Availability

You can create unique product bundles. Also, you can include an exclusive item that you won’t be able to sell again. They’re gone when they’re gone. You can do it repeatedly.

Brick-and-mortar shops thrive on offering a constantly changing range of products. Their success is large because you might never find a product again in their store.

This is a great deal for the deal-seekers and treasure hunters. It is of limited availability.

This strategy can be used in conjunction with other strategies to achieve the same result in your eCommerce business. Limit production and then shut it down to increase demand. You can link the product to a local or national event such as a team winning a title or a local contest.

Limited availability enhances the power of upsell offers.

You don’t need to have an endless supply of products if you are selling eCommerce items with limited availability or closeout deadlines.

6. Tell a story about your products

Horse sugar cubes could help them to grow their market position.

What is the origin of this product? Why is it preferred by horses over regular sugar? It was created by who and what motivated that person?

You can create a story around many products if you have imagination and are willing to search for them. Even pens.

This improves the buyer’s perception of value. They feel something. It’s special. You can do a lot to achieve this goal by changing the packaging.

7. Create specialized versions of the same product

Let’s say you are selling candles. This is a highly commoditized product.

What would happen if the scent names were changed? Instead of using standard descriptions, use pop culture references. This is what restaurants do; you might hear of a burger named after a cultural phenomenon.

What can stop a candlemaker from doing the same thing again?

Better yet, pick a name that will not go out of fashion in the next two years. Avoid events and fads that are too flashy or irreverent. What about the “George Washington Cherry” scent? Sounds exciting!

A whole range of products could be offered by the candle-selling eCommerce store. This is just one example. Repackaging existing products is just one of many creative ways to get your creativity flowing.

Creativity breeds awareness, and attention leads to sales.

It’s all about getting noticed in the eCommerce and online worlds. There are seven ways you can pursue it.