How to find a niche market for your online store + 115 niche market ideas
Pot-eh-to, pot-ah-to? Some people pronounce it in its original French pronunciation neesh, while others favor the americanized nitch. Regardless of your pronunciation, what they all have in common is that it’s essential to your online store’s success.
What is a niche?
When we talk about niches, we’re usually referring to a market niche.
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused.
Once you find the products to sell online, you need to adapt them to the specific niche. This means making sure that your product suits the interests, the demographic and the economic status of the target group. For example, if your target audience is youth/students, then chances are they don’t have much extra money to spare, what with just getting started in the work force with likely large student debt. For that reason your product should be reasonably priced.
The sales sweet spot will be when you’ve achieved the perfect product-fit for a specific niche. When you’ve got a specific segment that’s very interested in the specific product you’re offering.
Danger zone: If your answer to the question “who would be interested/would buy your product” is “everyone,” then your niche isn’t defined enough. By making your target so broad, you end up targeting no one as a result, and as a result your sales suffer.
Keyword research
A foolproof way of finding a relevant niche is by using the recently popular method of doing keyword research to identify growing trends. This lets you 1) automatically validate your business idea, because you already see that people are interested, 2) know that you’ve got a good chance at receiving organic traffic, since it’s a popular search, and 3) know that you have targeted Adwords options that you can use to drive sales.
Rather than go into a step-by-step explanation of how to implement keyword research, I’ll point you in the direction of Shopify’s guide on how to choose what product to sell. Chapter 5 is all about keyword research.
Keep in mind that by using keyword popularity as a method to define your target audience, you’re looking more at making quick sales. Since you’re based on growing keywords, you’re basing your business on a fad. And as we all know, fads fade and get replaced with new ones. If you’re ok with that, then proceed. If not, you might want to find a niche more grounded in long-term elements.
Value-based and long-term niches
My personal advice would be to focus your brand on something that has some more staying power than matcha green tea. If you focus on something more global, then your brand can stay intact as fads change, and you can change your products as time goes by.
Think about what’s important to you, that’s sellable, and that people would want on their garments.
Not just a topic
It’s important to understand that a niche is not just a topic you decide on. The more specific you get, the better results you’ll have. For example, rather than targeting “dads,” you can target “stay at home dads” or “dad bods.” For example this store has targeted “bad dads.”
The Bad Dad’s Club
Photo courtesy of thebaddadsclub.com
115 Niche Ideas to Inspire Your Next Online Store
We’ve put together 115 topics that you can use to base your niche upon. You might consider combining two topics to create an ultra-specific niche, or building on one topic. For example, you could combine world travelers with coffee lovers to have a very specific target audience.
Animals
- Photo courtesy of caninecaricatures.com
1. Any dog breed
2. Any cat breed
3. Horses
4. Birds
5. Uncommon house pets (otters, hedgehogs, etc.) that people are proud to have
Fantasy & Mythology
6. Unicorns
7. Nerd Culture
8. Elves
9. Greek & Roman mythology
10. Egyptian mythology
Heritage
Photo courtesy of vainags.com
11. Dying languages
12. Your heritage-based designs
13. Flags
14. Patriotism-based designs
15. National symbols
Occupation
16. Any occupation (ex. positive dentist)
17. Teachers
18. Firefighters
19. Medical workers (family members, etc. my daughter is a nurse)
20. Entrepreneur
21. Large corporation employees (ex. Walmart employees, Meijer employees, Facebook employees, McDonald’s employees)
22. Freelancers
23. Developers/ programmers
24. Designers
25. Startup employees
26. Biologists
27. Ornithologists
28. Sciences
29. Artists
Family Roles
Photo courtesy of www.thepoplyfe.com
30. Mom-boss/ mom-preneurs
31. Single dads
32. Aunts/uncles
33. Godparents
34. Grandparents
35. Sibling love
36. Twins
37. Custom family trees
38. Newlyweds
39. Young mothers/parents
40. Expecting parents
Uncommon Skills
41. Left-handed people
42. Underrepresented sports
43. Male dancer
44. Female programmers
Indulgences
45. Whiskey
46. Craft brews
47. Wine
48. Coffee
Food
Photo courtesy of www.makelovewithfood.com
49. Any type of cuisine
50. Food trends
51. Vegan/gluten-free/vegetarian
52. Junk food
53. Chocolate
54. Cheese
Geography
Photo courtesy of www.grafomap.com
55. Landmarks
56. Maps (city maps, subway maps, favorite route maps)
57. Airports
58. Architecture
59. Climates (tropical, desert, mountain themes)
60. Up and coming districts/neighborhoods
Literature
61. Famous authors
62. Literary quotes
63. Inspiring quotes
64. Uninspiring quotes
Beliefs
65. Political affiliation
66. Presidential candidate support
67. Hipsters
68. Grassroots movements
Awareness
69. Disability
70. Rare illnesses
71. NGO support
72. Environment
73. Recycling
74. Access to clean water
75. LGBTQ+
76. Civil rights
Fitness
77. Any sport
78. Cyclists
79. Wellness trends
80. Fad fitness classes (spinning, crossfit, barre3)
81. Self-help affirmations
82. Body-positive messaging
83. University Spirit
84. Spirit wear
85. Olympics/World Cups
86. Yoga
87. Golf
88. Whole30
Hobbies
89. Tech preferences (ex. Apple, Android, Linux)
90. Any hobby
91. Computer games
92. Programming/coding/math
93. Sci-fi characters
94. TV/Netflix shows/cult series fan art
95. Hiking
96. Photography
97. Hammocking
98. Rock climbing
99. History
100. Fashion
101. Cars
102. Hairstyles: iconic hair cuts, beard cuts
103. Motorcyclists
104. Dancing (ex. ballroom, ballet, hip hop, etc.)
105. Singing
106. Fishing
107. Camping
108. Aviation
109. Slack line
110. Gardening
111. Skiing
112. Astrology
Travel
T-shirt by Icon Speak
113. Wanderlust
114. Travel quotes
115. Local quirks (ex. Riga Black Balsam)
Share your own niche ideas, and together we can build a huge collection of niche market ideas for online stores!
July 24th, 2019
You do an amazing job with this blog! The content is always interesting and relevant. I love this niche article…such great ideas! Thank you!!!
I was so excited to see our brand included in this post! Thank you so much using Make Love With Food as an example.
I definitely fell into the “danger zone” when I first signed up with Printful. I thought I needed to market to every foodie and farmers market fan in the world. This caused a lot of stress on my part because I was spending more time stressing about online marketing and less time creating the art and the fashion that directly promoted the Santa Monica/Los Angeles farmers market/restaurant community that I love. Now that I have re-focused my niche, I am much happier and having more success.
A suggestion of another niche to add to your list is to be region specific i.e. neighborhood, city, state or country. There are many cultures that exist in specific neighborhoods or cities like “Haight and Ashbury” in San Francisco or the “weird” indie culture in Austin, Texas. Printful has many employees who share the tech culture niche in Latvia! I have found combining a niche with a region is very helpful 🙂
I love everything in this comment! What a great idea to combine a niche with a region – that sounds like a recipe for success.
Great article! I found you on Twitter and am very happy I was able to. You have a very unique writing style that just catches our attention. Keep it up! I have a niche idea generator tool your readers may be interested in. Let me know if you’d be willing to check it out!
Sure, drop it in right here 🙂
Great! http://nichewolf.com
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Great post! We use Printful for our map store as well at: https://www.modernmapart.com
#69 is disability. Why is there a line partially crossing it out? Why is there no attempt to get the disabled involved as a niche market? $270 Billion to spend in the US and no one wants our money.
Fine.
We always find someone who does
NOne of these services include the disabled seriously as a niche market to send to sites. Pathetic.
Hey Richard,
The idea with the crossed out “dis” part was to emphasize the opposite – it’s certainly meant as an idea for a niche market, but with a focus on celebrating the things that people with disability can achieve, how they can be inspired and inspiring, etc. instead of focusing on the limitations that they face. It’s about turning DISability into an ability to do good and inspire others.
I’m really sorry for this misunderstanding. I hope that you now see what we had meant here instead.
Breathe and think for a second before you react – then respond instead
115 Niche Market Ideas –
What Number was Religion/Christianity/Judaism? I seem to have missed it.
Hi Jim,
These are just some ideas for niche markets that we’ve listed here – the possibilities are practically endless. And, of course, religions of all kind can also be used as niche markets.
Wow a great list. But I have a question though. For instance do you think selling dog portraits, map arts and abstract paintings on the same shop is a bad idea? Is it too broad?
Art/print niche is not so big. So going for specific subject may not be a good idea? What do you think? As an artist it’s hard to ignore big part of my designs, which I have spent so much time.
What’s wrong having 5-6 different subjects/styles in a art shop? At the and they are all wall art and targets specific group with different interests. (Dogs, travel, pop culture etc.)
Hey Denise! No, I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad idea. You can target different niches and segments and drive them back to the same place. I would set up different collections though. It would be confusing for a customer looking for dog prints to find only abstract prints.
Are you guys accenting guest post? Please inform me about the details of guest post.
Hi! To learn more about guest posting opporunity on Printful’s blog head here.
hi ,
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and research with us its realy very helpful for newbies to get right niche idea from your niche list given above . newbies can get right blog/affiliate site idea to start their own site .
Hi Julia,
Just want to acquire from you, if for e.g. i take netflix shows as my niche and take the photos from their website or from other online sources, do i need to get their permission? Or i can just go ahead with it anytime?
Hi Linda. Just from the sound of this, it doesn’t sound right. You can learn about acceptable content guidelines here.
Is funny t-shirt considered as niche or it is too broad? I have a funny t-shirt website that covers different kinds of topics for example, pets, coffee, tacos, fitness, Wine, Father, Mother etc… everything funny way on t-shirts. Just need your expert opinion…
I’d say that funny t-shirts isn’t exactly a niche market. Remember, if your target audience is everyone then your niche isn’t defined enough. Try narrowing down your audience to, for example, funny t-shirts for pet owners. Or even better – funny t-shirts for pug owners. Hope that answers your question!
Great, I think I got your point. My store name is focused on sassy t-shirts but started to promote t-shirts in different areas. So I believe, instead of promoting funny t-shirts in all area, I should stick to sassy statements. Can you provide your feedback about the idea?
I’m not sure what you mean by sticking to sassy statements. One thing I can say is that your overall store concept should target a specific audience that is not too wide 🙂 Hope I could help!
I meant “sassy sarcastic quotes tees”
Great that helps
Hi, I was wondering if it is possible to have my customers upload their own images to my site, which I then pass on to printful, for them to print on garments, as opposed to having predetermined images in my store…
Thanks
Hey Jamie, It’s possible with our Printful + Shopify product personalization tool. 🙂
You can learn more about it here:
https://www.printful.com/product-personalization-tool
Hi Edward
The personalization tool is applicable also on accessories (ei phone case) or it’s just available for clothing products?
Thanks
Hi Antonio,
As for now, you can use Printful’s tool to personalize DTG products and wall art only.
I’m planning on starting a new clothing printing business . I come up with the name of Star For All Seasons Shop. Is this too long for a name? My niche is for photographers and Vloggers/Youtubers ! Thanks
My store has multiple collections that target different groups: family reunion shirts, bridal t-shirts, etc. do I need to have separate stores for each?
Hey Pat, not at all! You can create separate collections on your store end. But, if you prefer it that way, it’s also possible to have more than one store under the same Printful account. 🙂
Greetings! I have a Shopify web store and I Printfil is my fulfiller.
It is my intent to also provide bulk to dropfillers in need of products. I’m planning to list with Oberlo. My question is how can Printfil assist
me with regular sales and bulk accounts. Thanks!
Hi there! We offer bulk discounts! 🙂 You can learn more about it here:
https://www.printful.com/faq/products/364-are-there-any-discounts-for-bulk-orders-
Is beard a good niche? Is it not to broad? Though on the other hand i don’t find too much of shirts really different designs/sentence. I have a beard shirt design i bought before i thought of what niche i want to choose, and now I’m not sure what to do with it, and what niche should i create my Instagram page.. should i choose an other niche and upload this shirt there first?
Hi Chen! You should pick a niche that you’re interested in and know how to contribute to. There’s no golden rule to follow that will guarantee success, you’ll just have to try. And if I were you, I’d try to narrow the niche you’re thinking of targeting 🙂 Best of luck!
Hello everyone, I’ve been struggling finding a niche for a T-shirt brand that is meant to inspire, uplift and encourage people who are going though a hard time to become empowered and motivated to live their best life. I will truly appreciate any feedback, I’m totally lost on finding a niche
Is a niche for my city and state good?
My niche is Inspirational and motivational Quote Designs, is that a good niche?? can you tell me how to target audience who love inspirational and success quotes?
Hi Adarsh. Before you start marketing your niche products to your audience, you need to define who’s going to buy these products.
Hi Julia…awesome article. I am planning on starting a women’s clothing and accessory boutique. Is that too broad of a niche? How could I narrow it – just sell one type of product?
Hi Debra,
It’s important to understand that niche market isn’t a product, but people who will buy your product. In this case, you need to specify what kind of women will shop in your store.
Thanks for the helpful and informative article. I have a passion for inspirational words and heritage/cultural pride. Do you think having store that targets men, women and kids with these types of messages is still too broad?
I think you’re moving in the right direction. But if I were you, I’d try to narrow down the niche even more.
I’m just getting started and wanted to ask if more than one niche is alright?
Hi Sybil,
Try not to spread yourself thin. By targeting many different audiences you might end up targeting no one.
Hola no se ni por donde empezar a crear mi tienda
¡Hola María!
Si vas a empezar a montar tu tienda desde cero, te recomiendo que te mires estos artículos, en los que te damos los pasos más básicos para montar tu negocio 🙂
Cómo encontrar un nicho de mercado en 4 pasos
Cómo crear una tienda virtual en Printful
Cómo crear una tienda online sin ser autónomo en España
Qué plataforma de ecommerce elegir
Espero que estos artículos puedan guiarte en tus primeros pasos.
¡Un saludo!
This was a dynamic article, very impactful and practical. My brand is focusing on middle to upper- middle class consumers. Both men and women that share the passion for creativity and art but also are hardworking indiduals that may be tested buy the “concrete jungle life”. Or love by the mysterious outdoors. They they’ll know that this brand recognizes who they are. And is evidenced in the designs and the marketing. The brand is “IronMonkee”. Was that focused enough as far as a niche? Please give me any advice.
Hi Rick!
Sounds like you have really figured out who you want to sell your products to and what your customers’ passions would be. You’ve narrowed down the price range, age (you didn’t mention children), and a certain appeal that other brands don’t have. Looks like a good niche!
I think I have my niche, but am I too broad with horses and ponies. I paint pastel drawings of different breeds, Exmoor, Welsh etc. I also paint dog breeds, so far I have Springer Spaniels and planning to do more!
Hi Kayle,
As I mentioned before, a niche market isn’t a product, but people who will buy your product. So in your case, who are the people who will buy your drawings? Answering this question should help you define your niche better 🙂
Hi ~ I unfortunately have a great deal of personal experience in an area that has a huge potential audience. I’ve long thought about creating a blog, but it’s a hard conversation and extrodinariy personal and I’m having difficulty to think of products to sell beyond books, courses and public speaking. I’m hoping you might have some ideas where I can best research beyond the usual suspects like Google Trends, SEMRush, Ubersuggest…
I’m a three time violent crime survivor and activist. I’m presently looking at becoming a certified Health Life Coach which I’d add Advocate. There are several potential audiences including crime survivors, their supportive communities and then there are professional Victim Advocates.
I’d appreciate your thoughts. You can learn more by Googling: #49PlusMore
Hi & thanks for that, I hope this is not to late to get advice
This is my vision even I’m just a beginner
I’m thinking to launch a store on this niche :
Dog fictional movie posters (The movies don’t exist) with design describing the special relationship between the owner & the dog
It will be a kind of “movie of your life with your dog” if I can say like that
I’ve already seeked high quality graphic resources
I lived with a dog (my love for 14 years) myself and I will add a blog based on my experience
My “problems”
– Target Audience :
Do I have to narrow to a specific popular breed to be more accurate ?
As dog owners ages are very different do I have to narrow to a specific group (or gender) ?
– Products :
Do you think I will be able to apply this ideas on several products ? (I think so but an advice will not be too much)
If you can help me a little that would be great
Thanks anyway and see you soon I hope
Hi!
I want to start a store with quotes about kindness, and positive quotes. Would that be considered the muche of “ inspiring quotes” ?
I am wanting to design homemade phone cases. I’m thinking about doing pressed flowers phone cases but also map phone cases for our local area. Do you think these 2 different ideas would be okay? How could I expand my designs further?
Hi Gabrielle,
You need to think about your designs keeping your target audience in mind. Ask yourself who would be interested in buying your product, then adjust your ideas based on the answer 🙂
so Im having a hard time determining if my niche is even a niche at all…. I am a mom of six, all boys but one (plus my so)… so i started with the intentions of scarcastic, fun, witty-type things based on what its like being a boy mom. we are honestly a group of loud mouthed crazy wakkos. im attempting my KraZyThreadZ shop/concept but like i said… im totally unsure of everything really… any advice?
Hi Shana! You’re moving to the right direction 🙂 Since your store is built around sarcastic puns about being a mom, your audience is moms. However, not all moms are the same, so take time to define what kind of moms you’d like to reach and sell your product to.
Hello…….I am interested in selling “horsey” Tee shirts but am sort of lost as to how to and where to get the shirts. Is there a way to actually talk to someone and ask questions? Thank you.
Hey Lynne,
We can provide you with the shirts and fulfillment. 🙂 Check this page to learn how Printful works and feel free to start a chat with us from any page of our website or you can email us at support@printful.com
Hi, I want to start a online store in the Christian niche but somewhat unsure how to narrow down Christianity any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks
I am presently creating my online store through Shopify and I have added your app plugin for my future store. I am interested in joining your affiliate program if you have one available, so is this possible to do even though my store is not published?
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
You don’t have to launch an online store to join our affiliate program: https://www.printful.com/affiliates