6 Great Examples Of Unique Selling Propositions in eCommerce

You know that stand­ing out in the world of eCom­merce is tough. Not only must you wor­ry about local com­peti­tors, but nation­al brands and mul­ti-nation­al mar­ket­places are giv­ing con­sumers an unlim­it­ed choice of prod­ucts to pur­chase and where to pur­chase them from. But do you know that some­thing as sim­ple as a unique sell­ing propo­si­tion can help you to stand out, com­pete, and con­vert customers?

We do, which is why we’re shar­ing these X great exam­ples of unique sell­ing propo­si­tions in eCom­merce. But first, what is a unique sell­ing proposition?

What is a unique selling proposition?

A unique sell­ing propo­si­tion, also referred to as a USP, is the one thing that makes your eCom­merce store bet­ter than your com­peti­tors. It’s what makes you stand out and it’s why cus­tomers should choose you over and above your competitors. 

But, your USP is much more than a slo­gan, a pol­i­cy, or a spe­cif­ic dis­count or offer. 

Your USP is a for­mu­lat­ed posi­tion that your eCom­merce busi­ness takes that’s embod­ied in your brand, prod­ucts, cus­tomer expe­ri­ence, and cus­tomer inter­ac­tion. Accord­ing­ly, it should be:

• Unique, mem­o­rable, and dif­fer­en­tiable from any­one else. 
• Val­ued and appeal­ing to your tar­get audience. 
• Some­thing that you can deliv­ery con­sis­ten­cy, time and time again. 

Once for­mu­lat­ed, you can use your USP to focus all of your strate­gies, includ­ing mar­ket­ing, pric­ing, ful­fill­ment, and cus­tomer care. So, where do you begin?

Examples of unique selling propositions in eCommerce

The best way to under­stand what makes a great unique sell­ing propo­si­tion and get you think­ing about your own, it to take a look at some real-life exam­ples. Let’s begin. 

1. Vasanti — inclusive beauty

High-per­form­ing cos­met­ics aren’t unique, but Vasanti’s promise of inclu­sive beau­ty is. Born out of the frus­tra­tions of being unable to find a con­ceal­er suit­able for South Asian skin tones, Vas­an­ti offers a full range of high-end prod­ucts that are suit­able for the fairest, deep­est and every­thing in between skin tones. 

Impor­tant­ly, Vasanti’s dif­fer­en­tia­tor of inclu­siv­i­ty doesn’t stop at cus­tomers with dif­fi­cult to match skin tones. All of Vasanti’s prod­ucts are cru­el­ty-free, mean­ing that cus­tomers don’t have to com­pro­mise on ethics or beau­ty when buy­ing their prod­ucts. And, by offer­ing cus­tomers 2‑day deliv­ery speeds, no one has to miss out because they ran out either. 

This is a great exam­ple of how a USP can help a brand to stand out in a high­ly sat­u­rat­ed indus­try such as cosmetics. 

2. The NorthFace — products that last a lifetime

Whether you’re rock climb­ing, cav­ing, or artic explor­ing, durable prod­ucts and reli­able prod­ucts are essen­tial. But rather than sim­ply telling cus­tomers that their prod­ucts can with­stand the test of the out­doors, The North­Face dif­fer­en­ti­ates itself by promis­ing that its prod­ucts will last a life­time or your mon­ey back. 

The NorthFace’s life­time war­ran­ty guar­an­tees cus­tomers a repair or replace­ment should their prod­uct not stand the test of time. But The NorthFace’s com­mit­ment to prod­ucts last­ing a life­time extends well beyond sim­ply replac­ing faulty prod­ucts. Any items that can­not be repaired are sent to an out­let, donat­ed, recy­cled, down­cy­cled, or repur­posed — ensur­ing that the life­time guar­an­tee means a lifetime. 

This USP stands out while increas­ing con­sumer trust, jus­ti­fy­ing high­er price points, and appeal­ing to any­one pas­sion­ate about pro­tect­ing the plan­et from fast fashion. 

3. Chassis — improving lives

Man care for down there retail­er Chas­sis shows how USPs are impor­tant even when your prod­uct is fair­ly unique in the first place. Chas­sis’ USP is all about improv­ing lives. 

It achieves this USP, pri­mar­i­ly with its per­son­al care prod­ucts that help the com­mon but not often talked about prob­lems of chaf­ing, sweat­ing, and odor down there. But, it solu­tions aren’t the only way that Chas­sis improves lives. All of its prod­ucts are made using pre­mi­um ingre­di­ents to ensure that it works all day long. 10% of its prof­its go to its Team Pre­vail ini­tia­tive, which pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties for dis­ad­van­taged chil­dren. And, it offers 2‑day deliv­er­ies so lives can be improved even sooner. 

4. DeathWish Coffee — the world’s strongest coffee

The cof­fee indus­try is full of brands claim­ing to be the smoothest, fullest, and rich­est. But what about the world’s strongest?

Death­Wish Cof­fee has carved out a niche in a tricky mar­ket by promis­ing its cus­tomers the world’s strongest cof­fee or their mon­ey back. This pow­er­ful claim is print­ed on their pack­ag­ing, referred to on social media, includ­ed in ads, and deliv­ered through a com­bi­na­tion of strong beans and a per­fect­ed roast­ing process.  And it works because it appeals to a spe­cif­ic seg­ment of the cof­fee-drink­ing indus­try whos reg­u­lar caf­feine kick just isn’t enough. 

5. TushBaby — the best for you and your baby

Baby car­ri­er brands typ­i­cal­ly focus on safe­ty and qual­i­ty as their USP, mak­ing their USP not so unique. Tush­Ba­by is dif­fer­ent. The baby hip seat brand instead promis­es “the best for you and your baby”. 

From the ergonom­ic design and handy stor­age pock­ets to the mem­o­ry foam seat and buck­le safe­ty guards, Tush­Ba­by is safe and com­fort­able for both par­ents and chil­dren. This USP of being the best for every­one involved is rein­forced heav­i­ly on social media and across TushBaby’s Shopi­fy web­site, as well as in their ship­ping and returns policy. 

6. Dollar Shave Club — affordable blades to your door

Tra­di­tion­al razor brands have focused their USPs on close shaves, mul­ti­ple blades, and maneu­ver­abil­i­ty. Not Dol­lar Shave Club. They have shift­ed their USP away from the prod­uct and onto afford­able blades that are deliv­ered to your door. 

This sim­ple USP is rein­forced using sim­ple adver­tis­ing that gen­er­ates a smile and gets con­sumers ask­ing “why are razor blades so expen­sive.” They’re not claim­ing to be the best; they’re claim­ing to be dif­fer­ent and it works because their cus­tomers are dif­fer­ent too. 

How to create your own unique selling proposition

Now that you’ve seen what’s out there, how do you go about cre­at­ing your own USP?

1. List every­thing that makes your brand and your prod­ucts different. 
2. Research your com­pe­ti­tion to iden­ti­fy gaps in the market. 
3. Lis­ten to your audience’s unful­filled needs. 
4. Use this data to brain­storm and iden­ti­fy your USP. 
5. Strate­gize how you will embody and weave your USP into your business. 

USP final thoughts

A unique sell­ing propo­si­tion helps you to stand out, gain cus­tomers, and guide your future busi­ness prac­tice. But find a USP that is unique isn’t as easy as it sounds. Use the above exam­ples of dif­fer­ent USPs to help you get cre­ative about your own.