Top 3 Successful and Inspiring One Product Shopify Stores

To acquire a broader customer base, stores often choose to offer a wide range of items. This business model is beneficial as it caters to numerous customer needs, thus generating revenue from different products. However, it’s important to be aware that starting a multi-product store entails facing a competitive market, significant expenses, and challenges in establishing your brand. Therefore, while a general store may be suitable for some individuals, others may not prefer it.

On the other hand, selling only one product can be an ideal approach if you’re not interested in a general store. Many people nowadays opt to create single-product stores on platforms like Shopify. In the next part of the article, we’ll introduce you to some inspiring one product Shopify stores, explaining why & how they have achieved success in branding themselves.

Before delving into their success stories, it would be helpful to understand the one-product business model, along with its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s explore this concept further!

What is a One Product Store?

A one product store refers to an e-commerce business model where the store focuses on selling only a single product. Instead of offering a wide range of items, the store revolves around promoting and selling a specific hero product. The concept behind this approach is to put all your efforts into marketing and maximizing the sales potential of a single product, rather than spreading resources across multiple products.

With a one product store, the website is designed to showcase the featured product prominently, highlighting its unique selling points. This business model aims to create a strong brand identity and position the product as a must-have item within its target market. By exclusively focusing on a single product, store owners can tailor their messaging to a specific audience, and build a strong brand around that particular product.

Pros and Cons of One Product Shopify Stores

If you intend to run a one product store, it’s important to understand the advantages this business model brings you and the disadvantages you might experience.

Pros

• Focused Branding: As the store sells only one product, it is much easier to draw up a clear and focused branding strategy. You can create a strong branding message that revolves around that specific product, making it easier to communicate your value proposition and target a specific audience.
• Simplified Operations: Efficient store management is crucial for any online business, and having a single-product store simplifies this process. You can simplify inventory management, shipping processes, and customer support since you have fewer product variations to handle.
• Product Expertise: Focusing on a single product, you can become an expert in that particular niche. This expertise can help you provide better customer support, develop stronger marketing messages, and easily improve customer experience.
• Effective Marketing: Marketing a single product is often easier compared to marketing a store with multiple products. It’s because your marketing efforts are highly targeted. You can allocate your resources towards promoting and advertising the specific product, allowing you to optimize your marketing campaigns to generate higher conversion rates.

Cons

• Limited Product Range: The primary drawback of a one-product store is the limited range of products you offer. This can limit your customer reach and revenue potential compared to stores with a broader product catalog. For sustained growth and increased revenue opportunities, you may need to expand your product line over time.
• Customer Diversity: A one-product store may attract a specific customer segment, but it limits your ability to cater to a broader audience. Diversifying your product range allows you to appeal to different customer preferences and expand your customer base.
• Market Volatility: Relying solely on a single product can make your business more vulnerable to market fluctuations. A decline in demand for your product can negatively impact your sales and overall business performance.
• Scaling Challenges: Scaling a one-product store can be challenging. As you put all your efforts into optimizing and scaling your marketing and operations for a single product, you’ll have limited experience when entering a new market. Besides, diversifying your product offerings may require additional investments and resources.

You should weigh these pros and cons against your specific business goals and circumstances to decide whether a one-product store is the right approach for your Shopify business.

Which Business Models One-Product Stores Best Suit?

Several business models align well with the concept of a one-product store. They include:

• Personal Branding Businesses: Individuals looking to build a personal brand around a specific product can utilize the one-product store model to emphasize their expertise or signature offering.
• Dropshipping Businesses: Managing a one-product store through dropshipping is feasible, especially for testing a new product idea or working with limited money. It helps you simplify inventory management and reduces setup costs.
• Print-on-Demand Businesses: Print on demand offers personalized designs of a single item. T-shirts, shoes, hats, and mugs are some print-on-demand products. You can focus on creating customized items for only one product line instead of selling multiple ones.
• Subscription Box Services: While typically associated with multiple products, subscription box services focused on delivering a single, curated item regularly can align with the one-product store concept. In the next part, we’ll show you an example of this model.
• Limited Edition Releases: Brands that frequently release limited edition or seasonal products can use the one-product store model to highlight and sell each exclusive item individually.

Top 3 Examples of Successful One Product Shopify Stores

1. Goli Nutrition

A typical example of a successful one product Shopify store is Goli Nutrition, which focuses on selling a single product: apple cider vinegar gummies. While they may have additional supplements or variations available, their core offering and branding efforts revolve around the apple cider vinegar gummies. Leveraging the Shopify platform to create a robust single product store, they have gained popularity in the health and wellness industry.

What to learn from Goli Nutrition

Goli Nutrition’s success can be attributed to several factors, including its impactful product messaging, informative educational content, compelling social proof, and effective marketing strategies.

• Trending Product: Goli Nutrition’s flagship product, the Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) gummies, has been a key factor in its success. Consumers are increasingly seeking products that align with a healthy lifestyle, and Goli’s ACV gummies fit into this trend. It creates a favorable environment for Goli Nutrition, whose product addresses a popular health and wellness trend, offering a more delicious and convenient alternative to traditional liquid ACV.
• Compelling brand story: the story revolves around their mission to help people achieve their health and wellness goals in a convenient and enjoyable way. Recognizing the high demand for seeking the potential health benefits of apple cider vinegar, but finding the taste and inconvenience of traditional liquid vinegar unappealing, Goli Nutrition developed a solution that would make apple cider vinegar more accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Their breakthrough came in the form of apple cider vinegar gummies, which combined the health benefits of apple cider vinegar with a delicious and convenient gummy format. Goli’s brand story is compelling enough to create an emotional connection with consumers.
• Influencer Marketing: Goli Nutrition actively collaborates with influencers in the health and wellness space, such as Vitamin Angels and Eden Reforestation Projects, to promote their product and enhance their brand values. These influencers share their personal experiences with Goli’s apple cider vinegar gummies, reaching a wider audience and driving awareness and sales.

• Educational Content: Through Goli Nutrition’s site and social channels, you can find countless articles, infographics, videos, and social media posts that inform and educate their audience about the advantages of incorporating apple cider vinegar into their daily routine. This content marketing strategy positions Goli as an authority in the field and creates customer trust.

• Social Proof: Goli Nutrition leverages social proof to build trust and credibility. They display customer reviews and testimonials on their homepage and product pages, showcasing positive experiences and results. This social proof helps potential customers feel more confident in their purchasing decisions, leading to increased conversions and sales.

Which disadvantages Goli Nutrition may face

• Market Saturation: The health and wellness market can be highly competitive and saturated, especially in supplements and nutritional products. Goli faces competition from other brands offering similar products, requiring them to continuously innovate and differentiate themselves.
• High Price: Goli’s product is relatively expensive compared to other alternatives, while the nutritional market has become more and more competitive. Therefore, it is necessary to create a balance between price and quality to satisfy consumers.

2. Japan Crate

Japan Crate has gained recognition for its unique product offering. Its main product is the subscription box service that delivers a curated selection of Japanese snacks and candies to subscribers monthly. Each box contains a variety of snack items, including sweet and savory treats that are not easily found outside of Japan.

The subscription model allows people to experience various flavors of Japanese snacks without the need to source them individually. People can choose from different subscription plans for various box sizes and delivery frequencies. Japan Crate’s service has gained popularity among snack enthusiasts because it not only provides rare and unique flavors but also conveys Japanese culture.

What makes Japan Crate distinct

• Subscription Box as the Core Product: this business model creates a recurring revenue stream for the company and increases customer engagement. Although subscription models are not unfamiliar in the e-commerce industry, Japan Crate’s focus on Japanese snacks and the monthly delivery of curated boxes distinguishes it within the subscription box market.
• Curated Snack Selection: Offering the monthly subscription box, the company gives customers a chance to experience flavors of a wide range of Japanese snacks. Each delivery often comes with a different theme associated with a Japanese season or festival, such as New Year Celebration, Halloween with Yokai, Spring Cuisine, and Sakura Picnic. This diversity creates surprises and excitement, contributing to enhancing customer experience.

• Cultural Elements: Japan Crate not only delivers snacks but also incorporates Japanese cultural elements into its service. In other words, this is a unique approach when it acquaints individuals with Japanese cuisine and cultural richness through its snack offerings. For each type of snack, the company provides customers with information about the snacks, including their origins and cultural values. Besides, introducing snacks tied to special occasions is an interesting way to connect subscribers to Japanese cultural traditions and celebrations.
• Elements of Manga Style: It’s interesting to find manga elements on the website of Japan Crate through patterns, pictures, stories, and even product packing. This deliberate choice aligns with the cultural theme and provides a visually cohesive and immersive experience. Such design elements evoke a sense of authenticity and resonate with the brand’s focus on Japanese snacks.

• Stunning visuals: Japan Crate is a visually appealing website with captivating photos of delicious snacks. The company often uses vibrant colors, enticing product photography, and engaging layouts to showcase the curated selection of Japanese snacks in a stunning way. Japan Crate’s commitment to offering a thoughtfully curated and aesthetically pleasing experience is clearly reflected in its website design.
• Customer Testimonials: On the subscription page, apart from subscription plans, Japan Crate spends space showing their customers’ ratings and reviews. This showcase is efficient improving its snacks’ worth and credibility to potential customers. They tend to find it nice to hear from real people, then get a box and try those Japanese snacks for themselves.

Any difficulties Japan Crate may deal with?

• Shipping and Logistics: Coordinating the delivery of diverse and sometimes delicate Japanese snacks to customers worldwide involves intricate logistics. Issues such as shipping costs, customs regulations, and potential delays could impact customer experience.
• Curation Challenges: Ensuring a varied and appealing selection of snacks in each box might be challenging due to factors like availability, seasonality, or sourcing unique and authentic products.
• Competitive Subscription Box Market: The competitiveness of the subscription box market may challenge Japan Crate and force the brand to differentiate itself from other snack subscription services on the market.

3. Mike’s Hot Honey

The brand is known for being a successful brand with a primary focus on a specific product, Mike’s Hot Honey. The sauce is a combination of pure honey, chilies, and vinegar, creating a sweet and spicy flavor profile and offering a sophisticated taste experience. For its versatility, Mike’s sauce is used as a topping or ingredient in various dishes such as pizza, fried chicken, cheese and charcuterie, ice cream, and salads.

Despite being a one-product store with the main focus on hot honey originally, Mike has expanded its offerings by adding apparel to the shop to diversify the product range.

Which factors make Mike’s Hot Honey succeed

• Versatility: Thanks to the balanced blend of sweetness from honey and spiciness from chili peppers, Mike’s Hot Honey has the power to enhance a wide variety of dishes, from savory to sweet. The sauce from Mike has become a versatile and sought-after product for culinary enthusiasts. It can be used as a pizza topping, meat glaze, cheese pairing, salad dressing, ice cream topping, bread and biscuit spread, or cocktail ingredient. The sauce’s versatility also encourages home cooks and chefs to experiment with assorted recipes, providing new culinary experiences for foodies.

• Culinary Trend: Mike’s Hot Honey aligns with the current culinary trend where foodies appreciate culinary creativity and are excited to explore the combination of diverse and contrasting flavors. As a gourmet, Mike is successful in understanding the preferences of modern food enthusiasts and creating a powerful mix of sweet and spice to approach them.

• Brand Storytelling: On the About Us page, visitors can read the story of Mike, the company’s founder, and his journey to creating hot honey.

The first time the creative idea of a unique honey flavor profile came into his mind was in 2003.

Experiencing several experiments, he discovered the recipe and shared this sauce with his friends and family before introducing it to a Brooklyn pizzeria.

The Hellboy pie here featuring Mike’s creation became a hit, leading to demand from customers.

The company effectively communicates its story, values, and passion behind the creation of Mike’s Hot Honey, which resonates with consumers and creates a more meaningful connection.

• Creative Usage Encouragement: Mike’s Hot Honey actively encourages customers to experiment with new incorporations of the sauce into numerous dishes. To have such a versatile product, Mike himself has tried many experiments and shared them with his friends and family. His collaboration with the Brooklyn pizzeria further demonstrates the effectiveness of the experimentation, as the perfect pairing of its pizza and Mike’s hot honey swept the taste buds of customers. For this reason, he fosters a culture of experimentation and innovative uses. It is Mike’s commitment to creative usage that has contributed to its widespread popularity and continuous evolution within the culinary landscape.
• Expansion of Offerings: The company strategically sells apparel products like T-shirts, hats, and shoes and offers gift sets adorned with the brand logo. The idea of marketing through fashion helps create a sense of community among consumers, strongly boosting brand visibility. Not to mention, selling branded apparel not only strengthens customer loyalty but also serves as an additional revenue stream.

Some challenges Mike’s Hot Honey may meet

• Dependency on Trends: The brand’s success could be tied to trends in culinary preferences. Shifting consumer tastes or emerging competitors may impact demand.
• Spice Sensitivity: Some consumers may have varying spice preferences, and the “hot” aspect of honey might not appeal to everyone.

Bonus: 4 Tips For A Successful One Product Shopify Store

Looking at the three typical examples of one-product stores – Goli Nutrition, Japan Crate, and Mike’s Hot Honey – we can learn some great lessons about running a business with a single product. Now, we’re here to share some helpful tips for those who are operating or are about to start a single-product store.

Choosing a Winning Product

Not all product lines are suitable for the one-product store model. If you want to select a winning product, it is essential to do careful market research and identify the niche. As you can see, the three store examples we mentioned in the previous part picked up the trending products/services that cater to the demands of modern consumers. It is the first stepping stone to their great success later. Below are some tips for selecting the right product:

• Choose a product that aligns with your passion or interests. You can see Mike’s Hot Honey as an example. He is initially a pizza fan and feels excited when eating it with honey and chili. Finally, through some experiments, he created a unique recipe to build a famous sauce brand himself.
• Focus on a niche market with a specific need or problem your product can solve. A specialized product can attract a targeted audience and face less competition.
• Conduct thorough market research to understand trends, demand, and your target audience. Goli Nutrition excels at identifying health and wellness trends as well as the demand for enjoyable tastes of apple cider vinegar, thus introducing tasty and nutritious apple cider vinegar gummies.
• Determine what makes your product stand out from competitors. Goli Nutrition’s unique selling proposition lies in combining the benefits of apple cider vinegar with a convenient and enjoyable gummy format. Meanwhile, Japan Crate focuses on incorporating Japanese cultural elements into their curated snacks.
• Choose a scalable product that allows your business to grow steadily. You can learn from Goli Nutrition, which primarily focuses on its signature Apple Cider Vinegar gummies. But then, it offers many other gummies such as Ashwa gummies, Superfruits Beauty gummies, and Supergreensgummies to meet different consumers’ needs.

Crafting a Compelling Brand Story

Not only the product’s price or quality but also customers’ emotions affect the customers’ buying decisions. Meanwhile, a true story behind the product, brand, or founder helps humanize the brand, evoking emotions in your customers. With a well-crafted story, customers can understand the journey of the product, its origins, as well as the values that drive its creation. From there, your brand gradually gains a distinct impression, trust, and loyalty from customers.

In the three examples we show in the article, Mike’s Hot Honey seems to create the most impressive brand storytelling. It recounts the whole journey, from year to year, of establishing and developing the brand. The journey started when the founder Mike was a student. With an interest in enjoying pizza with honey, he researched and discovered the recipe for a unique sauce that is made of pure honey combined with chilies. After several experiments, he introduced it to his family, friends, and a pizza shop before launching Mike’s Hot Honey. The story continues with achievements, packing updates, product variations, partners, and expansion of the brand through different periods. Through the story, the audience realizes how much effort the brand has spent to achieve its current success. Such an inspiring story!

Designing a Visually Appealing Store

For a one-product store, the design should focus on showcasing the product in the most engaging and compelling way. A visually appealing store often comes with a clean and intuitive layout, high-quality product images, and a cohesive color scheme. Besides, the design should be user-friendly, making it easy for customers to navigate and explore the features and benefits of the single product.

You can also take advantage of visuals for brand recognition and storytelling. Customers are more likely to remember and identify a brand when visuals are cohesive across various touchpoints. Consistent visual branding, including logos, colors, and design elements, contributes to brand recognition. Visuals are also powerful tools for storytelling. Vivid imagery will help communicate their values, recreate your journey, or highlight the benefits of your products, creating a narrative that resonates with customers.

As we can see, Japan Crate often incorporates vibrant and playful visuals. The use of colorful packaging and imagery related to Japanese culture may be visually appealing to those who appreciate a lively and diverse aesthetic. Meanwhile, the red-gold color scheme is used across Mike’s Hot Honey site, which represents two main ingredients of the sauce, honey and chili.

To have a visually appealing one-product website, you first need a modern Shopify theme like the Neat theme, which allows you to easily find demos matching your brand’s style.

You can look at some demos offered by the Neat Shopify theme.

• White style: used for wearable items

• Brown style: used for personal care products

• Green style: used for outdoor equipment store

• Dark style: used for exercise and fitness equipment

Read more to explore the color theme support, powerful sections, and other interesting features of Neat.

How to Create and Manage Multiple Shopify Stores

Leveraging Customer Testimonials and Social Proof

This is an effective way to convince potential customers to buy your product, especially for one-product stores, because all the reviews will focus on only a single product. For this reason, Goli Nutrition, Japan Crate, and Mike’s Hot Honey all choose to showcase customer reviews on their websites to build trust and credibility for their products.

Customer testimonials on Goli Nutrition’s website highlight the transformative effects of apple cider vinegar gummies. Similarly, Mike’s Hot Honey benefits from social proof by displaying customer reviews that rave about the unique flavor and versatility of its hot honey. Japan Crate employs a similar approach. Through curated customer reviews and unboxing videos shared on YouTube, Japan Crate wants to build trust and generate excitement for their customers.

Are you ready to build a one-product Shopify store?

The stories of Goli Nutrition, Japan Crate, and Mike’s Hot Honey are inspiring examples of the potential of the one-product business model. These brands successfully overcome the challenges of focusing on a single offering, making their unique products gain popularity in the market. Their journeys to success provide valuable insights for businesses looking to ways of creating a single product store.

How about you? If you have already found a winning product and a quality Shopify theme to build a visually stunning site, it is time to get started. While implementing your business plan, you can consider the bonus tips pointed out in the article. Hope that success will find you soon.