Shopify Dropshipping
Shopify Dropshipping
In recent years, dropshipping has become a heavily used business. It’s essentially a business model for retailers to sell their products by various leading platforms such as Shopify while keeping no goods in stock. Today, we’ll dive deep into the topic of dropshipping and how Shopify dropshipping works.
What is Dropshipping?
The best way to describe dropshipping is to think of it as a eCommerce business model that allows retailers to buy products from a third party at a wholesale price and sell them at retail to a consumer.
Hence, the seller does not handle the products that customers are buying. Dropshipping is a great way for young eCommerce entrepreneurs to start their businesses. It’s easy to set up and operate, and it doesn’t cost a lot of investment.
You don’t have to quit your job to create a successful dropshipping business; you can do it in your spare time. Moreover, you may use several dropshipping strategies to increase traffic to your site. In short, the seller does not have to stock products or have an inventory; instead, it directly ships it to the buyer from the supplier.
How does Shopify Dropshipping work?
Shopify facilitates dropshipping services for entrepreneurs to step into the world of eCommerce without much hassle. In essence, Shopify serves as the framework for your online store.
It’s an eCommerce platform that gives entrepreneurs the foundation they need to establish and design their store, and its backend allows you to run your business without having to pay for hosting. All you will need to do is pay a reasonable Shopify’s monthly fee, and your eCommerce store will be up and running in no time. Shopify as a platform is quite reliable so you don’t need to worry about checking if your store is working in a smooth manner. All you need to focus on is taking your business idea to higher milestones.
These services are also true for Shopify dropshipping stores. There’s only one exception here; installing a dropshipping app (such as Oberlo) to source all of your products.
3 Factors to consider before dropshipping
Find your niche
How do small businesses profit even though they aren’t as big as eBay or Amazon? The reason behind this is these stores have their niche. In simpler terms, the niche is a segment of a big category. For example, female shoes can be classified into many small parts with their audience.
Then it’s a lot easier to identify the target audience interested in your product. You may create a clear and precise marketing plan by narrowing down the types of products you want to offer. Also, having a store that offers multiple products will be difficult to market and manage to scale them.
As a seller, you have to promote your store to reach your target audience; SEO helps us achieve that. However, a general store is not SEO friendly, but a niche based store is easier to set up.
Product quality is key.
The next significant factor has decent product quality. Every shopper browses through the reviews, ratings and comments before buying anything. If you go for a supplier that provides products at a low cost, they are likely to be of bad quality.
This will invite unsatisfied or disappointed customers that will give bad feedback and ruin the store’s reputation. Hence, customer trust and positive feedback will play a major role in making your business a success.
Have multiple sources
Another important thing that drop shippers should know is that they must have more than one source to get wholesale products. If you don’t have many suppliers supporting you, you’ll end up with plenty of unfilled backlogs of orders and refunds from customers due to the delay.
It’s also possible that your merchant account will be closed due to this. Therefore, it’s best to keep at least 3–4 suppliers with which you have good connections as a backup when you are packed with orders.
Another key point you should note is to state that you drop ship (on your store), so customers have a clear idea of your business.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, dropshipping on Shopify is quite simple and easy to manage once you apply key strategies to market your store. However, it may seem challenging since there’s immense competition, but understanding the factors and process can help you understand the concept better.
