So you’ve created a great brand, you have strong products and you’re ready to crush the competition! Wait – maybe you don’t want to crush the competition so much as profit from being the competition. Wouldn’t you rather expand your reach in the market and profit from opening multiple stores while competing with yourself?
Best of all, you can now target niche markets, increase your sales and create competition in the market without spending a ton of money. You can do all of this without adding too much administrative time (except maybe filling more orders…).
It’s time to Send in the Clones! We’re not talking about a science fiction plot here. These are store clones – the inexpensive way to expand your business and create a niche in the market by copying your current Yahoo! Store. By cloning your store, you can modify the design of your store to give the cloned store its own look and feel. This is a great way to create multiple brands while cornering your market.
Expanding your business to include a clone can have many benefits including:
• Savings
• In most cases the cost to make an exact copy of your site can be as little as a third of the cost as your original store development investment.
• Most features clone over into your secondary stores so you don’t need to purchase and reinstall vital features.
• Redesigning the clone is not always required. A new header, color scheme or other stylistic changes make the cost and burden of reprogramming a whole new site unnecessary.
• Product Management
• You can use the product stock of one site and sell it on your cloned site. This is the same as opening two brick-and-mortar stores and sharing the stock.
• Own the Market Niche
• Consumers like to comparison shop. It’s good to have choices in the market but even better if you are “competing” with yourself. This can be a profitable way of owning the market niche while giving your customers choices.
A Clone Success Story
DreamlandJewelry.com sells high-end jewelry for men and women and the brand properly reflects the value of the diverse products. However, the management team at DreamlandJewelry.com quickly realized it could increase revenue by further segmenting some of the niche products.
DreamlandJewelry.com cloned the store into two niche sites to create more reach in the market. The first clone, BadAssJewelry.com targets a very defined niche of bikers, Goth and tattoo enthusiasts. The second, MensJewelryClub.com, targets jewelry specifically for men.
DreamlandJewelry.com now has an opportunity to market its products to multiple audiences and can tap that same inventory for all sales.
This is only one example of how having multiple clones has allowed a company to diversify its market interest without losing focus on the flagship store. Imagine what you could be doing to expand your business.
Below are a few of many options you may consider when cloning your store:
1. Cloning without re-branding. There are no design variations from your original store. These types of clones are great for password protecting in that you now have a wholesale site where you can give out the username and password for “wholesale only” clients.
2. Clone your store with minor design changes that will allow you to create subtle differences from your flagship site.
3. Clone your site using more
significant changes to the shell and body of your site. This allows you more freedom to re-brand your products with the greatest contrast from your flagship site.
Whether you plan to compete with yourself, corner the market or branch into other products and services, cloning your store will give you an advantage. You can increase your share in the market, easily implement your current inventory into multiple stores and save money on store development. So, what are you waiting for? SEND IN THE CLONES!!!
By Joseph Domkowski
& Gregory Davis
joseph.domkowski@ebizinsider.com
gregory.davis@ebizinsider.com
