General vs. Niche Shopify Stores: Which Should You Start?

If you are launching a new Shopify business, one of the very first decisions you face is a strategic one: Should you start a General Store or a Niche Store?

This decision sets the trajectory for your entire business, yet it is often the step where beginners get stuck.

The Common Advice

The prevailing wisdom in the dropshipping and e-commerce community often leans toward starting a General Store.

The logic typically follows this path:

1. Start a store with a wide catalogue.
2. Test a variety of products to see what gains traction.
3. Once you identify a winner, branch out into a niche store based on that data.

However, after running Shopify stores for over a year and consulting with various clients, I strongly disagree with this line of thinking.

The Primary Objective: Education vs. Sales

When you are building your very first store, your primary objective shouldn't just be immediate revenue. Your main goal is to teach yourself as much as possible about Shopify and the e-commerce ecosystem.

In my experience, general stores are poor teachers for the foundational aspects of e-commerce. They often rely on trend-chasing rather than brand building, audience segmentation, and deep marketing strategies.

The Two Ways to Fail

It is highly probable that your first Shopify store will not be your last. You will likely launch multiple iterations before striking gold. Therefore, you must look at how you approach failure.

There are two distinct ways to fail in this endeavor:

1. Failing and learning nothing: You throw random products at a wall, nothing sticks, and you walk away without understanding why.
2. Failing and learning a lot: You build a brand, attempt specific marketing angles, and even if the store closes, you take valuable knowledge into your next venture.

Starting with a focus on learning—rather than just testing—sets you up for long-term success in the e-commerce world.