Since the onset of the global pandemic, nearly 27% of traditional retail outlets have brought their business online. In 2021 alone, ~1.85 billion people bought something or the other online. With online retail (or, e-retail) growing exponentially across the world, the time is just about perfect for business owners to get on the digital space, seamlessly connect with target customers, and usher in high revenues and profits. Broadly speaking, two key decisions can make or break a business on the World Wide Web. The first is the line of products/services that a seller should specialise in (and offer to buyers), while the second is all about finding a user-friendly platform that allows users to create a custom online store in a few clicks. In what follows, we will deal with the first point, and share some interesting online business ideas that you can consider, without having to spend big:

Electrical Goods

With global online sales well in excess of $950 billion, electronic goods (consumer electrical goods in particular) is an excellent category to get started with online business. From household electrical appliances and heavy electronic goods, to close-circuit cameras & more – a truly vast range of electronic gadgets and accessories are regularly being bought and sold on various popular eCommerce platforms. If you are new to online business, you are not likely to go wrong with electronics.

Apparels & Accessories

The trend of people buying clothes online is strong, and growing stronger every quarter. You can easily create a custom online store in a few clicks, list fashion apparels & accessories, promote the store through different channels (say, social media), and start getting orders from buyers. Of course, you need to have an adequate inventory in place – to handle demand surges and bulk orders. By the end of this year, the value of the worldwide apparel market will go beyond $1860 billion – and if you are smart enough, you can definitely flourish in this category.

Home Decor Items

Investing in an online home decor business is a smart option too, particularly given that this sector is projected to touch $350 billion by the end of 2027. With the proliferation of urban lifestyle, people are increasingly looking for customised, modern and affordable furniture items on the World Wide Web. Elegant showpieces, carpets, curtains, bulbs & lighting fixtures are some of the home decor accessories that enjoy high demand as well. Home maintenance services – like cleaning, plumbing and repairs – can be offered online as well.

Cosmetics

Beauty and personal care is definitely a niche that can kickstart your online business journey. Once you have sorted out the types and range of cosmetics you wish to sell, look for a reliable store builder platform and easy eCommerce development tools. To survive and thrive as a seller in this category, you need to keep track of the latest beauty and wellness trends – and stock up your online inventories accordingly. The storage of the grooming products and related items also has to be done with due care.

Custom Jewelry

Everyone wishes to look good, there are no two ways about it. As personal accessories, jewelry products are an all-time favourite – and many people buy customised jewelry pieces (from costume jewelry to even precious-metal items) from different online portals. To stand out from the crowd and grab maximum eyeballs, you can easily start an online jewelry business with customised offerings. Fine jewelry with personalised designs and motifs are immensely popular – and if your online store gets the right amount of exposure, revenues and profit figures can well and truly skyrocket.

Fitness Products

As awareness over health concerns are growing, buyers are looking out for exercise and fitness products that they can use on an everyday basis. These include basic home fitness products (i.e., treadmills), to more specialised gym equipment. Health & fitness has well and truly become a million-dollar business sector – and the onus is on you to identify the specific sub-sector you wish to get into, select a good seller portal, and launch your products. If your fitness products come with quality assurance and easy usability, the influx of orders should steadily increase.

Footwear

A ~34% growth in eCommerce sales between 2018 and 2021 is indicative of the robust rate at which the online footwear business is growing worldwide. The key for success here lies in offering buyers plenty of options – as well as ensuring that shoes are available in all the standard sizes (if a customer chooses a shoe, only to find that it is not available in his/her size, that is a major turn-off). To build credibility and value, offering easy exchange options (and/or return policies) is also a good idea.

Toys and Games

While traditional, brick-and-mortar toy stores have their own charms, online buying and selling of toys is a trend that is gaining in momentum. A key driver behind this is the surging popularity of branded toys. On Sales Klik, the best eCommerce platform to sell products, you can easily list toys and games for children belonging to different age groups. The fact that selling toys online helps buyers do away with the need to travel and visit crowded physical stores is a major advantage.The more variety you have in your custom online toy store, the better are your chances of success.

Video Gaming Accessories

Gaming consoles, monitors and related accessories are heavily sought after by buyers on the online space. The growing popularity of live streaming on platforms like YouTube is driving things further. In addition to gaming software & hardware – the demand for gaming furniture (chairs, tables & more) is growing too. The video gaming contingent in India is expanding at a rapid clip – and while the investments can be on the higher side, the ‘right’ inventory of tools, consoles, headsets, furniture and accessories can attract buyers in large numbers.

Books

For true book-lovers, the limited stock at even the best of bookstores can be really frustrating. There is a definite demand-supply mismatch – and you can cash in on this, by opening your very own online bookshop. Like most other eCommerce domains, discounts and special deals are major draws in the bookselling space. Make it a point to ensure that your store has all the popular readable material. Categorise the books systematically, to make things easy for buyers. Books are a popular eCommerce category – and getting into this line of business can be rewarding indeed.

One word of caution though: the very best of online business is likely to fail – if sellers do not have easy eCommerce development tools at their disposal. Once the product/service category is finalised, a seller has to look for a low-code platform for building a fully customised online store. With the right business idea(s) in place, and by using a reliable online eCommerce platform, sellers can drive their revenue figures to the next level.