Once a business model is selected, narrowing down to a focused niche—or “micro-niche”—can increase success in ecommerce. Patrick Rauland highlights examples like Uncle Goose (wooden toys made in the U.S.), Colorado Glasses (eco-friendly wooden sunglasses), and Button Shy (pocket-sized games) as businesses that found clarity through niche markets.
Smaller niches reduce competition, lower advertising costs, and improve referral marketing. Broad product offerings often lack identity and cannot compete with giants like Amazon. A small, targeted niche offers better engagement and profitability with fewer resources.
Building a customer persona helps tailor branding and messaging. Rauland explains this through the example of Outlery, which focused on environmentalists to position their portable cutlery as a sustainable alternative. They used terms like “eco-friendly” and featured sea turtles to speak directly to a green-conscious audience.
Personas like “Emily the Environmentalist” or “Tim the Traveler” allow marketers to target copy, product pages, and emails effectively. While others may still purchase, focusing on one persona improves brand clarity and conversion rates.
As included in the course exercise file, consider these questions when building your customer persona:
Use these attributes to shape your voice, messaging, and customer engagement across your ecommerce site.
Understanding your persona means identifying their pain points—obstacles that hinder them from reaching their goals. For eco-conscious consumers like those targeted by Outlery, pain points include forgetting reusable utensils, inconvenient storage, TSA issues, or products that are difficult to clean.
Rauland recommends transforming these into value statements on your product pages. For example: “Keep your cutlery in your bag at all times” or “Dishwasher-safe stainless steel makes cleanup easy.” Not every pain point must be solved immediately, but listing them out provides clarity for future product development. He also suggests engaging in forums and social media communities to discover what truly matters to your customers.
