Business Opportunities Weblog

June 11, 2007 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

DMNews:

When NBC’s Saturday Night Live ran a sketch titled “The Scotch Boutique� about a specialty store that sold only scotch tape, it was just a joke. But e-commerce specialists at yesterday’s Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition may have had the last laugh.

“The Internet has turned this skit on its head, “ said Doug Nielsen, president/CEO of NetShops.com. “I think it’s pretty amazing that a company online selling light bulbs can do $11.5 million in sales. What has the Internet done to make niche marketing buyable? The fact that you can be open 24 hours a day and open for everyone around the world changes everything.�

NetShops.com owns and operates 150 stores online including dartboards.com, benches.com, jewelryboxes.com hammocks.com, barstools.com and porchswings.com. NetShops’ stores include product reviews and feature specialty products that focus on very niche markets. The firm chooses what stores to run based on attributes of specific categories.

“We are constantly looking for niches,� Mr. Lerner said. “Our plans are to find new niche products, brands and markets and to grow organically and to continue our growth through acquisitions.�

Photo by MSDesigns.

In Internet, Niche, Success | 1 Comment