The winter season and holidays on their own provide a plenty of great opportunities for both beginners and experienced online entrepreneurs. The small retail business ideas are also easier to implement compared to various kinds of services, as the services sector often requires either additional equipment, facilities or skills, like many traditional seasonal businesses, i.e. storage premises, gift wrapping, home winterizing and others.
And when it comes to retailers, the opportunity to provide an online shopping experience allows them to build a decent income, provided that they make the proper use of tools to support their online business. The Shopify platform is one such tool that makes it possible to build an excellent online shopping experience at the minimum cost. Being one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the world, it empowers online entrepreneurs with different budgets, from minor to unlimited, to experiment with their new ideas and support their existing and functioning businesses. On top of the platform, which already includes even more than an average online entrepreneur needs, you will also have access to the Shopify App Store, which offers various apps that will complement your store with extra features like Shopify sales price management, etc., at a very affordable price. The latter has become an essential part of any e-commerce business since mobile shoppers show steady growth yearly.
An interesting fact is that in 2016 there are more shoppers among iOS mobile users in the US, as reported by Custora.
Based on this stats, if you have not built mobile apps for your Shopify store yet, you may want to start your journey to m-commerce world with iOS mobile app first.
Holiday Decoration Business
Actually, this idea may work not only as a seasonal offering, but as a part of your store specialized in interior design, table linen and dining accessories or even tableware. Why? Because related products tailored for each customer always increase the chances of further purchases. And if you create thematic collections, you will also keep the interest of your potential audience alive. Take into consideration that nearly 55 percent of smartphone users research products online before they buy, therefore complementing your web store with iOS mobile app significantly increases your chances to grow your sales.
Cold Weather Apparel
You may specialize in a particular type of clothing or some brands favored by search engines. For this category, you have two ways to arrange your sales: drop shipping or regular retail with your own storage areas. But both of them will need the content management, like providing video reviews of popular items, showing the feedback of other customers and offering discount codes. The last option can be easily implemented through the means that the Shopify platform provides, including having all those features available on mobile.
Winter Baking and Food Baskets
The food-related topics are one of the most popular nowadays, that’s why establishing your business in this field can be efficient not only during the winter season, but all year around. Offer Christmas cookie gift baskets with customizable product list. Yule log cake may also work as an idea for this Christmas.
Food baskets are also trending, so consider trying holiday recipes with local seasonal products.
Handmade Items
Got some skills in crafting? Promote your goods with Pinterest and Instagram by selecting the eye-catching shots and right amount of optimized hashtags. What about rolling pins with holiday patterns or wreaths? The opportunities are limited only by your imagination and particular abilities.
Greeting Cards
Arrange your postcard products by different collections and sell them through Shopify iOS app during this season. And you can go further by offering signing the cards on behalf of customers and their direct delivery.
Knitted Apparel
You may select accessories as your specialty, designs suiting plus size women or items made with angora threads. Dedicate yourself to a particular idea and you'll see the results.
If you have a few ideas, try setting up different targeted stores and mobile apps for them to test each idea and then go with the one that worked best. Thanks Shopify allows such experiments easily and at a very little and affordable pricing.
Winter Sports Equipment
New or used? You will find customers in both cases, especially if you offer free shipping and trial of products. That business may also work as rental.
Mulled Wine Mixes
That's an exceptionally seasonal enterprise, but you may develop it by selling spices and wine. Keep in mind that the latter requires the license trade.
Organic Cosmetics
Lip balms and creams are required invariably, but creating special holiday offers won't hurt your sales. Social networks, advertorials by popular bloggers and video reviews are essential for this field.
Ideas to Choose in Winter 2016 - 2017
The trends constantly change, but there are annually required items going beyond any fashion or temporary phenomena. So you got ten businesses and product ideas for you to consider and launch with the Shopify platform if you want to start up your project smooth and fast.
Already a business owner? Expand your Shopify web store with an opportunity to sell via the mobile channel, as m-commerce market has been noticeably growing, and it’s predicted that the number of users with smartphone subscription will reach 6.1B by 2020, as stated in the Ericsson Mobility Report.
Make the most out of this season and step into the community of online entrepreneurs with your business idea this winter!
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