According to Startup Nation, “surveys have shown that fewer than 12 percent of all online businesses sell a unique product or service”. Everything else is a commodity with lots of competition.
If you disagree with statement, go to eBay and do a search for a made up product. Let’s make up something right now…how about “dog food knife”. My bet is that you have never heard of such a product — I sure have not. Sure enough, I just went to eBay and found a four piece dog food serving set including a dog food knife, fork, spoon, and can cover made by a maker named Betterware out of the United Kingdom.
Yes, that was a silly example. Yet, in the world of web marketing, there are few true niche products and your competition is just a click away. This means that your offering needs to be different than the rest of the pack. While else would anyone choose your product over another?
Without sounding obvious, it would be best to find a way to differentiate your offering. A competitive advantage can be built on just one attribute or feature such as price, color, delivery lead time, packaging, quality, performance, or brand.
For a pure commodity, this may not be easy. But, without this differentiation, the online market is just an auction.
John Bradley Jackson
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