High street stores and supermarkets alike have been diversifying their product ranges for years, it’s all part of traditional commercial growth, and it’s clear that ecommerce web design companies will follow a similar ethos. The prime example, as usual, is Amazon’s diverse selection of products which differ greatly from the bookshop the store first set out to be.

The first and most obvious movement was made towards media and entertainment, which made sense to a degree as there was already a range of audiobooks available from the seller in CD format. Audiobook CDs soon became music CDs, then video, DVD and Videogames seemed to naturally evolve Amazon’s suddenly booming product list.

We are now at a stage where almost anything is possible. Digging spades, excercise bikes, shoes, facewash and food piping bags are among the many examples of how much Amazon has diversified from a bookseller.

So is it always right to diversify? Due to Amazon’s huge brand awareness and limitless resources they have been able to try selling more obscure products, but as a smaller seller you have to be careful. You don’t want to distract the user’s attention from what your main product which is most likely highest source of income. You also don’t want to give the impression that you are ‘less specialist’ than the site says you are. I think most sites can get away with selling related items whilst not diversifying too much from the site’s original product range.