Slurping on her bubble tea, Alicia veers through the mid-morning rush to work.
Slinging the messenger bag on her shoulder, she braces herself for the 653 steps that lead her from the underground station to her office workstations.
Of course, she has to thank her new Fitbit for the accurate calculations of the total calories burned and consumed and steps taken in a day.
Be it bubble tea or the Fitbit, products that Alicia – a marketing professional in her mid-twenties – uses are mostly sourced from the Internet.
With Instagram and Facebook gradually hogging up advertisement spaces on the web, the wave of e-commerce is about to hit us hard.
If you are looking for new e-commerce business ideas, then read on to find the most amazing ideas that are guaranteed to rake in profits in 2019.
e-Commerce business ideas to spruce up your profits in 2019
1. Staying inside the box: subscription boxes
We’re talking monthly recurring billing. The smartest of the business minds know that it means ceaseless profits along with increased opportunities for cross-selling.
The subscription boxes industry is growing at the pace of 200% annually. So now you know why this should be one of the top business ideas for the new age.
Get bloggers and influencers onboard when marketing your subscription box. Think personalisation at its best when you develop the product.
Be it butter, wine, books, make-up or personal care, subscription boxes go with anything and everything.
Take a cue from brands like Graze and Macaron of the Month Club turning their industries by the head with their oh-so-popular subscription boxes.
2. Dazzling with danglers and more: fashion jewellery
With most of the leading e-commerce websites dedicated to fashion coming up with their own jewellery segments, the industry is all set to be the next big thing in e-retail.
The fashion jewellery industry is tipped at reaching $40,631 million by 2022. Be it a specific kind of jewellery (such as tribal art-inspired designs) or sleek office wear, you cannot go wrong with this business idea.
Robot-managed warehouses and shipment facilities, AI-enabled customer support systems, and drone deliveries can make setting up a fashion jewellery business a cakewalk.
Make the most of the digital advancements when planning your fashion jewellery business online.
3. Stocking up the pantry: groceries and supplies
If you have a relentless drive for increasing the customer base and are committed to providing promptest of services, then online groceries might just be your thing.
A large target market ($632 billion in 2018) awaits when you take up online groceries business.
Of course, sourcing the freshest of produce and shipping them on time may prove to be a tough job, especially if you are new to the domain.
However, the fast-paced technological solutions of the modern age like shipment tracking and geolocation features enable you to provide a seamless door-to-door service through a grocery chain online.
It is time to take the supermarkets to a virtual plane with online groceries for the always-busy millennials, a la Walmart, Target and Amazon.
4. Carving out your own niche: super-niche products
The more niche you get for e-commerce, the better.
With diverse lifestyles panning out on Instagram Dailies and a new diet trend every other week from leading influencers, e-commerce has truly branched out, all thanks to social media.
Super-niche products can include (but are never limited to) matcha powder or tea, paleo diet bars and powder, detox juices and tea, fidget spinners, gluten-free products, shapewear, meal prep apps, table, closet and drawer organisers, and cruelty-free make-up, to name a few.
Try your hand at the market if you have a unique product that caters to a streamlined target audience, and you will bring in more profits than you may have planned for.
5. Prepping for the future: AR and VR headsets and accessories
We live in the age of Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift that are taking education and gaming experiences in the 21st century to a whole new level.
Augmented reality in classrooms for nursing dissertation help and virtual reality in education and entertainment industries are making their presence felt alright.
Studies show that the AR and VR equipment industry will reach the $108 billion sales mark by the end of 2022. This niche offers you an exciting opportunity to be a part of the future as we will know it.
We have officially entered the sci-fi era just as they showed in movies like Wall-E and Bicentennial Man.
Now is the time to make a move with cutting-edge and fascinating technological products for capturing the growing e-commerce market.
6. Joining team fitness: training equipment and apparel
Forbes reports that the health and fitness industry – standing at $30 billion – increases by 3% to 4% annually, and is not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Steadily rising health insurance costs, trending diets plans on social media and the advent of “high-value, low-price” (HVLP) fitness centres are all contributing to the rapid market growth in the modern times.
If you think about it, the rise of the Apple watches, Fitbit, and other wearable digital devices, including Smartphones, all come enabled with fitness apps.
Dedicated to the health-conscious population all over the world, fitness products have a massive array up for grabs.
From fitness and diet tracking apps and keto-friendly (or zero-sugar) products to weight reduction supplements, you can play around with a variety of products in this industry.
7. Catering to customised needs: made-to-order products
Coming up with your own boutique is a fabulous business idea in itself. But when you start offering your merchandise, the chances of raking in profits increases like never before.
Self-made and self-designed clothing is all set to rule the fashion industry in the coming years, with 75% of customers preferring personalised apparel. So make the most of it when you can.
Get in touch with a reliable logistics solutions company, and team up for deliveries across your target market.
Be it F.R.I.E.N.D.S, popular football clubs or Game of Thrones merchandise, customised designs for tee-shirts, badges, Smartphone covers, enamel pins, and backpacks have taken the entire fashion market by storm the world over.
Brands like Custom Ink and Broken Arrow are killing it with their merchandise online, and so can you.
8. e-Commerce business ideas bonus – #Blowing up in smoke: vapes and e-cigarettes
While anti-tobacco activists might not want to come on board with this idea, there is no denying that vapes and electronic cigarettes are the newest kids in the block.
Love it or hate it, vaping and e-cigarettes are all set to take over the smokers’ market. If studies and market survey predictions are anything to go by, the vaping and e-cigarette industry will grow to $61 billion by 2025.
This comes in the wake of more and more countries over the world being set to legalise marijuana, following in the footsteps of Canada, Jamaica and Belize.
A niche that offers you with all price ranges (low, medium and premium), this industry does not look like it is going down anytime soon.
Top that with upselling and cross-selling opportunities, and you have the perfect recipe to make your cash registers go ka-ching.
Summing it up
Coming up with an e-commerce business idea that rings a bell with the pain points of your target audience is the dream of every smart entrepreneur in the modern times.
E-commerce rules the roost in the current age, and if you want outstanding profits, then it is always the way to go.
Take a cue from the e-commerce business ideas listed in this blog to give wings to the budding entrepreneur inside. Godspeed!
