If you are in the world of ecommerce, you must certainly be familiar with Shopify. Being one of the greatest ecommerce platforms, Shopify has millions of merchants globally. The key to their success lies in the fact that there are many options on the platform for store owners to personalize their store pages and benefit from all kinds of applications to boost their CTR (click through rate) and overall SEO (search engine optimization).

Another crucial advantage of Shopify is that it makes it quite easy to set up and launch a new store. With minimum technical expertise, the platform allows you to mainly focus on your selling strategy, which is the reason why entrepreneurs join the ecommerce business in the first place.

One of the starting points for an ecommerce business would be to find a niche market and develop related products in line with the market’s needs. Millions of merchants obviously mean an ocean of different business ideas, products, and/or services. Among these stores, there are a few that stand out in terms of their business model, branding, and innovative approach. In this article, we will cover how these Shopify stores and their specific products successfully target a niche market and how they adapt their strategy in line with their customers’ needs.

Ugmonk.com / The Analog

This store puts minimalism in the center. They sell plain and simple designer clothes, office and home objects, but one of their top-selling products is basically a notepad. “The analog” is a great example of how something so simple can be so effective. It is a wooden box with three different types of notepad cards for your “daily” tasks, “upcoming” tasks,” and “someday” tasks. Ugmonk does a great job promoting the idea of a less complicated way to manage your everyday life. Compared to online planners, “the analog” focuses on the fact that digital devices can often be a distraction. For instance, you may find yourself watching Instagram stories or playing Candy Crush instead of finishing a must-do task.
On the store website, they have suggestions for how to use these task cards in a way that is more fun for customers. Filling in the notecards with different shapes, thus being able to observe your task’s progress, certainly creates a better user experience. For all these reasons, the analog quickly became a customer favorite and managed to place Ugmonk as one of the most influential Shopify stores out there.

Pulppantry.com / Pulp Chips

As more and more people become vegans, the market of plant-based food seems hardly niche anymore. However, surprisingly, some entrepreneurs still manage to come up with different ideas and appeal to a whole new demographic of customers. Pulp Pantry is definitely one of the most innovative brands out there. No surprise that its founder, Kaitlin Mogentale, is a foodie, but how she came up with the idea of the pulp juice is more than just a coincidence. Watching her friend juice a carrot one day and asking herself what can be done with the remaining pulp was the beginning of her journey.

Pulp chips are exactly what they sound like. They are plant-based chips that are made out of the remains of fruits and vegetables. These chips not only help food not to go to waste but also provide a healthy snack option with nourishing properties to people who practice a vegan diet.

Promoting zero-waste and sustainable diets also comes with great responsibility. Pulppantry definitely takes environmentalism seriously. They have blogs dedicated to preserving nature in line with the green movement, which supports the idea that the brand itself is genuinely concerned about sustainability, not to mention that this also helps the brand establish a trustworthy relationship with its customers.

Bebemoss.com / Crochet Toys

Based in Istanbul, Turkey, Bebe Moss is definitely one of the most influential Shopify stores out there. Their crochet toys are shaped as different types of animals, made from organic yarn. They also use recycled water bottles as hypoallergenic fillings, which makes the toys safe for babies and children.

All this seems pretty eco-friendly, but that is not what makes Bebemoss special. While seeking both safe and fun toys for her toddler, its founder, Izabela Szeliga Erşahin, decided to make one on her own. She met other mothers who are also handy with the craft along the way and realized that these toys have good potential to appeal to a significant market: mothers who are looking for non-plastic toys for their children! With this in mind, she decided to sell their designs and handmade toys online.

While some of her employees were local mothers, the others were refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. As the company grew, Izabela employed more women who mostly lived in underprivileged conditions. As time went by, the store and its success allowed more and more women to support their families while improving their craft via Bebe Moss workshops.

The company is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and continues to create job opportunities for women (mostly mothers) who seek flexible work hours that fit their schedule. Their unique crochet toys are being shipped overseas, and they are a true testament to what a women-owned and run company can accomplish.

Satya.ca / Eczema Jar

Speaking of mothers, Satya is another good example of how your maternal instincts can lead to a successful niche store. Satya was founded by a mother whose baby needed a skin-sensitive product since prescribed steroids were ineffective and could not be used on a regular basis due to their health hazards. After thorough investigation, she combined the most organic ingredients she could find and started experimenting in her own kitchen. Once the perfect combination was found and was proven to be effective on her daughter, she decided to turn this into a business venture and started selling her product online for people who are suffering from the same skin disease. This store stands out in a way that it creates an effective solution to a specific problem. People, especially infants who suffer from eczema, do not have a lot of options in terms of cures that actually work.

One of Satya’s best-seller products is Eczema Jar. Like all their products, this one is USDA certified and dermatologically proven to be hypoallergenic. Eczema Jar’s reviews are highly effective in terms of highlighting the product’s impact on its users and how it cured the disease for most of them. With its beautiful branding and stylish design, this is definitely one of the most niche products out there.

Givemetap.com / GiveMeTap Water Bottles

Not all Shopify stores out there are founded merely for profits. GiveMeTap’s main focus is the clean water shortage in Africa. By teaming up with non-governmental organizations and giving them 20% of their revenue, this store contributes to installing pipes in underdeveloped rural parts of Africa so that the community can reach clean water supplies.

Its non-profit business strategy aside, GiveMeTap has a significantly cost-effective and user-friendly service. By downloading its mobile application, you can take your
GiveMeTap water bottle to the places that are participating in their water network and refill your bottles for free. There is also a map within the application that helps you find the nearest water network stations to your location.

They have an eco-friendly business approach, help reduce plastic bottle waste, and prioritize people being able to reach clean water supplies. With a strong message and solid purpose, GiveMeTap gets plenty of press coverage, which helps them build a trustworthy brand image. They also offer custom-made water bottles that are perfect for a gift or for other corporations to co-brand. With their recyclable water bottles, they help offices reduce plastic cup expenses, which eliminates one of the biggest cost items within office supplies, which is always a plus for product efficiency.

Mudwtr.com / Morning Ritual

Shopify has hundreds and thousands of coffee-related stores. Mudwtr is a bit more special because it offers its customers a healthier alternative for their morning coffee routine. Their coffee alternative's main ingredient is organic mushrooms. Some of their products have other tasty herbs such as cinnamon, turmeric, and so forth. This store has the initial idea of reducing the caffeine amount in their product and promises its customers a more energetic, focused, and relaxed morning routine.

Their "Morning Ritual Starter Kit" promotes a healthy lifestyle and aims to be a part of the self-care movement. They managed to align their store branding with this entire concept of wellbeing. As part of their marketing strategy, they team up with athletes, business people, and others who need less stress in their lives and benefit from their testimonials while selling their selection of products.

One of their most impactful partnerships came from a professional surfer, Koa Smith. After a near-death experience and subsequent depression, Smith decided to change his ways and dedicated himself to living with his newfound zest for life. That included ancient rituals and modern science, so Mudwtr coffee became an essential part of this lifestyle. This and other similar partnerships help Mudwtr create a clean start-over image and allow its customers to have a much-needed balanced daily routine by starting off their days with the Morning Ritual Kit.

Backtotheroots.com / Water Garden Duo

This organic plant store manages to make gardening educational and fun. What distinguishes Backtotheroots from other similar plant stores on Shopify is that they aim to sell their products to a variety of customer demographics, including both adults and children. The Backtotheroots co-founders were initially brought together by their passion for planting their organic mushrooms. As their passion began to grow, they decided to become mushroom farmers and moved forward to the next step, which was selling their organically grown seeds online.

One of their best-selling products, the "Water Garden Duo," manages to reach out to the new generation and keep them interested in planting and growing their own seeds. This product is basically a home ecosystem in which you can grow water-based plants such as bamboo, succulents, and many more. However, if you decide to use it as a fish tank, that is also acceptable. While plants grow in your tank, you can also have a self-cleaning fish tank of your own. The most fun part of it all is that you can customize your tank any way you like, and it becomes an authentic home decor.

Backtotheroots makes it easy for its customers to access clear instructions for growing a variety of plant-based products, and the store also guarantees to get you as many seeds as possible until you see tangible results. They manage to stay true to their mission, which is to remind families - especially children - where food initially comes from. They also aim to keep children involved in this magical process of growing their organic seeds, especially for those who do not have access to an actual garden.

Bashandsass.com / Maverick Romper

Bashandsass was founded by Irene Lee, whose inspiration for creating her line of baby and children's clothes was her own two kids. What makes this Shopify store special is that their line of clothes is gender-neutral. They mostly use black, white, and gray for their clothes and aim for minimalism in their products.

They have a special collection of five different monster-like (yet very cute) characters, each of them representing a must-have virtue: optimism, patience, confidence, empathy, and spontaneity. Bashandsass' business approach is to celebrate this new climate and woke culture that we are living in. As a part of their brand values, Bashandsass believes that it is important to teach children how to be self-accepting, loving, and proud human beings, as well as making them understand the importance of helping and including others regardless of their skin color, gender, ethnicity, and so on.

During the manufacturing process, Lee also supports local businesses by using their fabrics and other materials. Their simple yet creative clothing designs distinguish Bashandsass from other children's clothing lines out there. They were able to create a brand that has urban features with a hint of pop. Their monster-like characters are the basis of their unique branding. It makes these characters extra special since they all contribute to Bashandsass' overall brand message, which is to be kind, accepting, and loving to all.