Product diversification is often considered one of the cardinal rules of building a growing, sustainable business. And yet, numerous online and offline companies have gone against this rule and still attained considerable success.
If you think about it, it makes sense. Even businesses with an extensive range of products will often generate the majority of their revenue from just one or two product lines (something consistent with the Pareto Principle).
Before We Begin
There are many successful one-product Shopify stores. In any case, most businesses start off as a single product operation. Each store represents valuable learning points that budding entrepreneurs could pick up on and chart their own wins.
The following one product Shopify stores show less can be more by designing a coherent website focused on selling that one product.
You may notice a few of the stores on the list are not, strictly speaking, one-product stores. However, they fit the model for their disproportionate focus on one item or only selling accessories for their main product.
1. BlendJet
BlendJet is perhaps as big a single product Shopify store as they come. The viral battery-powered portable blender built for on-the-go convenience generates tens of millions of dollars in sales annually.
While it now sells insulated sleeves, jars and ready-to-blend beverages as well, BlendJet is the product the business and website is named after and by far the most responsible for its sales.
From the get-go, one of the first things you notice is the store’s extensive use of photos and videos showing BlendJet in action.
It starts with an above-the-fold video on the home page providing a quick rundown of how the product looks (including the more than a dozen colors available), how it works as well as its usage in diverse situations.
The visual-heavy theme extends to the product page where the features are laid out in vivid detail. To cultivate an emotional connection with users, the home page includes a section on the story of how BlendJet came to being.
The website’s other notable characteristics include ease of navigation, social proof and money-back guarantees.
2. Bokksu
Bokksu is Japanese for ‘box’. The website sells a subscription that entitles customers to receive one box of varied Japanese snacks each month. A different mix of packaged snacks are placed in the box each month but the store still qualifies as a single product enterprise. It sells just one thing – the subscription.
It is an uncommon business model. Ergo, Bokksu makes it obvious from the start through the above-the-fold hero image of a subscription box as well as the prominent call-to-action (CTA) buttons inviting visitors to the subscription page.
A banner just below the hero image lists the major global publications Bokksu has been featured on. There’s a comparison table further down explaining how Bokksu offers more value compared to its competitors.
The well-thought-out color palette seems perfectly suited to represent a combination of Japanese culture and cuisine.
This is complemented by the good copy and the smooth navigation. Eye-catching photos of the different snacks hint at the extent of snack variety subscribers can expect.
A photo of the team behind the business provides a nice human touch, to counteract the impersonal nature of online stores when compared to their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
3. ByHeart
ByHeart is an infant nutrition formula whose benefits range from easier nutrient absorption to enhanced digestion. It started as a direct-to-consumer brand before expanding into store floors such as Target.
The website’s layout stays simple, likely a strategy to keep visitors’ attention focused on what the product is all about. At the top of the page is a banner highlighting free shipping on all orders, a perk that can win over prospective buyers who balk at the prospect of prohibitive fulfillment costs.
A hero video fills the entire background above-the-fold. It shows happy mothers and their kids in the context of the formula.
The video is an immediate statement of who the target buyers and users of the product are. At the center, visitors are invited to click a button to buy the formula. A pop up window announces the website’s latest promotional campaign – a chance to win a year’s worth of supply.
Scrolling down the page, you run into brief bullet points stating the product’s merits and why it is the ideal choice. The more wordy explanations are pushed to the lower half of the page, probably dedicated to visitors who are still on the fence and need a little more convincing.
4. furMe
furMe is an all-in-one pet grooming vacuum kit that comes with a set of five attachments depending on what you want to use it for at any given moment.
The five are a grooming brush, deshedding tool, clippers, cleaning brush and crevice nozzle. furMe is available in a standard build for single-pet homes and a professional build for multi-pet or large breed households.
People keep pets for multiple reasons, not least of which is that pets are simply adorable. So a golden rule of building a website that sells pet-related products is the curation of beautiful pet photos in the context of the product.
The first third of the furMe page has multiple pet photos while the last two thirds of the page contains pictures of the product. In between these two sections as well as at the bottom of the page are glowing testimonials including user-generated content from TikTok and Instagram.
Single product stores often do not include currency conversion even when they intend to sell their product internationally. furMe does not take any chances – you get prices shown in your local currency depending on the country you are visiting the website from.
5. Grouphug Solar
Grouphug makes attractive solar panels on a sleek bamboo frame that can be hung on windows. By eliminating the need to have a roof or yard to install solar panels, the company hopes to make renewable energy both aesthetically pleasing and accessible to the average person.
Grouphug made an appearance on Shark Tank where the company secured an investment from Mark Cuban. The publicity may have triggered an unexpected surge in demand – the product is regularly out of stock.
Aside from inventory and fulfillment difficulties, the website’s visuals and layout is as appealing as you would expect of a product that’s positioned as both functional and fun.
The banner ‘solar is sexy’ right below a photo of a person holding a Grouphug solar panel, is a catchy statement that speaks to the two things the product is designed to do.
While the invitation to sign up to a waitlist is likely to be disappointing to eager buyers, the website itself does a good job of conveying the product’s value proposition. Photos and videos show examples of places the Grouphug solar panels can be hung and the different ways it can be used to power everyday gadgets.
6. Ka’Chava
Ka’Chava is a plant-based meal replacement shake that comes in five flavors – Chocolate, Vanilla, Coconut Acay, Chai and Matcha. It is marketed as a nutritionally complete meal that’s rich in essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and far.
The website’s color theme is predominantly brown or shades of it. Earthy hues are consistent with Ka’Chava’s use of mostly natural ingredients.
The home page starts off with a big statement. One of the first things you see is that it is the official nutrition shake of the USA Triathlon.
Right below that is an image of Shaun White, a three-time Olympic gold medallist snowboarder who’s endorsed Ka’Chava. The association with professional athletes is bound to get the fitness-conscious buyers on board.
On the product page, Ka’Chava goes with vivid imagery. The hero image is a photo of someone taking an overflowing cup of chocolate-colored Ka’Chava. If you are not convinced by the detailed list of ingredients shown on the product page, you may at least be persuaded by how delicious the drink looks.
7. Kulala
Kulala sells a wooden disc-shaped lamp that serves as a babies’ sleep aid. It emits wavelengths of red light that stimulate the production of the sleep-hormone, melatonin. Kulala is pre-assembled and comes ready for use out-of-the-box. An app provides data on the baby’s ideal bedtime and sleep schedule.
Design-wise, the website has a soft color scheme, gentle typography and makes the most of large font sizes.
The copywriting is simple and reassuring but concise and practical. Product photos and videos demonstrate the lamp’s operation giving the reader a quick understanding of what it is used for and how it works. The hero image above-the-fold provides an important summary.
The home page briefly but explicitly mentions the science and scientist(s) behind the product’s design. It enumerates the sleep benefits buyers can expect to enjoy. Social proof comes in the middle and the bottom of the page.
That is, a slider with major publications Kulala has been featured and customer reviews giving visitors a sense that they are purchasing a market-approved product.
8. Palmpress
Palmpress is a portable, reusable coffee press. It’s ‘palm-sized’ hence the name. Users can brew fresh coffee wherever they are as long as they have hot water and ground coffee. This makes it best suited for camping, travel or just routine daily use. It is compact and collapsible ensuring ease of cleaning.
The home page’s above-the-fold section is divided into three columns – a buyer review with a ‘shop now’ button, a short video clip showing the Palmpress in action and a notice of the latest brick-and-mortar locations where you can buy it.
Scrolling further down, visitors are introduced to the different parts of the Palmpress and how they make the product exceptional. These are side by side with a short slide again illustrating how it works.
In fact, video and animated photos are a core characteristic of the website’s design. User-generated videos of both coffee experts and everyday people are included in the lower section of the home page. The end features a series of videos on how to use and clean your Palmpress.
9. SpotOn Fence
SpotOn Fence is an innovative GPS dog fence that neither requires wires nor a monthly subscription. As a product designed for pets, showcasing features is more important than outlining the benefit. It’s something that the design and text on the website speaks to with its unequivocal focus on how the fence meets the customer's needs.
It all starts with a dominating hero image stating exactly what the product is all about. SpotOn does not hold back on making it known that the dog fence is the best rated in the market.
All through the website, visitors run into the collar’s features and how it works described in text, videos, photos and graphics. The copywriting is simple and direct but also comprehensive and relatable.
There is a review page with case study-like narrations of buyer experiences, an important feature for driving conversions. Prospective buyers are invited to try it risk-free thanks to a 90-day money back guarantee.
10. TrimmerBoss
TrimmerBoss is a weed-trimming wire brush that claims to be eco-friendly, durable and 100 times more powerful than conventional string heads.
Built for weed, grass, moss, dirt and rust removal, it comes with a free adapter kit that fits into 99% of weed trimmers on the market. Green would be the natural choice for color theme on a lawn care website and TrimmerBoss does well to conform to this convention.
While the hero image falls short of really showing the product’s function, the website does well in highlighting the five-star ratings TrimmerBoss has received from hundreds of buyers.
This is complemented by a declaration of free worldwide shipping and a 30-day money back guarantee. These elements communicate to prospective customers that there is a relatively low risk of buyer’s regret.
TrimmerBoss’ reliance on social proof does not stop with reviews. Further down the home page are testimonial videos where satisfied customers explain how the product was a game changer in their lawn care regimen.
Recognizing that a lot of people will not have time to read through verbose explanations of a product, the more elaborate narrations of what the product does are relegated to the lower half of the home page.
11. Turned Yellow
Turned Yellow takes your photos, tasks its artists to produce Simpsons-like yellow pictures and sends the illustrations printed on the medium you prefer – t-shirts, mugs, posters, framed/unframed canvas etc.
It’s a print on demand service but with a narrow focus on one type of design – hence its qualification as a one product store. The product’s simplicity is efficiently explained by photos showing examples of past purchases.
Turned Yellow ’s website design is not what many people would deem eye catching. But what it lacks in aesthetics, it makes up for with an uncluttered layout where visitors can quickly understand what the product is about and what they need to do to order.
Glowing reviews do a lot of the heavy lifting too. And this strategy works – more than 330,000 people have bought from the store so far.
Conclusion
Decision paralysis happens when a person is presented with many options that make it difficult for them to choose. It’s the paradox of choice.
One product Shopify stores step away from the gospel of multiple revenue streams by setting out to sell one product really well.
Instead of a scattergun strategy where marketing effort is split across a vast product range, a single product business can achieve an exceptionally deep understanding of customer needs and wants.
The single product Shopify stores covered here demonstrate you can build a successful business selling one thing.
And even if you intend to diversify in future, you have a better shot at long term success if you can apply the broad business lessons learned from specializing in one thing.
As we have seen though, creating a thriving Shopify one-product store is contingent on getting the website’ design, navigability and usability right.
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