A Beginner’s Guide to Dropshipping
You may have heard the word dropship making the rounds on the internet, and there’s certainly plenty of misinformation going around about what it actually is. This article should give you an idea of what dropship is, and isn’t, and perhaps start you off on your very own dropshipping endeavor!
Dropship What is it?
Dropshipping is a novel supply chain method that’s really come to the fore over the past decade. Simply, dropship involves suppliers shipping products directly to the consumers’ doorstep when they place an order through a retailer, cutting out a large chunk of the supply chain. While it has been around for decades, the advent of e-commerce has really pushed it into the public consciousness as a means of getting products to consumers without worrying about logistics in the process.
Why dropship?
As touched on before, part of the reason dropship has become increasingly popular is that it doesn’t require logistical expertise to get involved! Perhaps you’re keen about selling a certain type of makeup that you’ve realized isn’t particularly available in the market, but you have no knowledge of storage, packaging and shipping products. It’s a world of numbers, regulations and red tape — so it may be clearer now why dropship is so appealing. While your dropship supplier handles the logistical part of how to get the actual product to consumers, you can focus your time on targeting customers and expanding your market.
But that’s not all. Money, as is the case with most things, has its part to play. There are few initial costs involved, and even fewer sunk costs. No need to set up a warehousing contract or buy rolls upon rolls of packaging paper — the only money you spend is when someone buys your product, and of course the marketing you do. And if your business doesn’t do as well as you’d expected, you can stop operations without being out of pocket!
How to choose what product you want to dropship
All of this sounds well and good, you might say, but how does one get involved in dropshipping in the first place? Well, like every good business, it all starts with an idea. Perhaps you were a woodworker and know lots about quality, solid-wood furniture. Or you run a makeup blog and would like to start leveraging that to sell your products to your readers. You could even have a realization that there’s a gap in the market that is begging to be filled, and you want the person to do it! Thus, the initial step is figuring out what your niche is and what sort of product you want to sell. There’s no real point in being one of the 999 mainstream jewelry shops on the internet, but if your jewelry is handmade, comes from a certain culture or is simply completely different, you may be in business.
Choosing a dropshipper
While all decisions regarding starting a dropship business are very important indeed, this may be the first among that set of equals. Your dropshipper is going to be your link to your consumer and their service has to be perfect if you want to start a successful business. The best place to seek out a supplier that fits your business is, of course, the internet.
You’re looking for companies that do not charge you a monthly fee, and have an excellent customer support system. The former would ensure you don’t have high fixed costs, and the latter is helpful in ensuring a smooth experience when problems arise. Further, their catalog should also be the right balance of broad and focussed — a supplier that sells everything from pencils to crystals is unlikely to have the requisite quality in any of them. Do your research online, and don’t forget to ship one of their products to your premises through a retailer to see the quality of their packaging and the efficiency of their service. You never want to start working with a supplier without knowing every important aspect of their model — including their supply chain. It’s always best to work with a company that knows where their products are coming from and that they’re ethically produced.
The other important aspect is the supplier’s technology support. The best suppliers offer you with direct connectivity to their backend, so that orders are automatically processed when they’re placed on your website. This saves you the hassle of manually inputting orders on your supplier’s website and makes for less errors. Indeed, they may even offer you graphic packages for the products such as lifestyle photos, product videos and promotional material to increase sales. These bits elevate a good dropshipper to a truly excellent one.
Finally, getting customers interested and growing the business
With the technical and logistical aspects of the business in your carefully chosen dropshipper’s hands, you’re free to devote your energies to growing your business through a blend of marketing and product research. Traditional marketing is on the wane so we do recommend using social media platforms to attract customers to your website and to generate a positive buzz around your business. This also has the added advantage of being free and giving you the leeway of spending money where you really need it.
This is where product research comes in. The market is constantly evolving and you must vary your offerings depending on what’s in vogue at the moment. To get the pulse of the market, it’s incredibly important to visit trade fairs and frequent industry magazines. Talking to others in the industry is also a simple way of knowing what sort of things are your consumers after.
And there you have it! A simple step-by-step guide to dropship — we hope this will encourage you to start your very own dropship business, or at least come out a little more aware of the advantages this particular supply chain method can bring.
