You’ve heard about dropshipping and shopify and you want to join on this adventure that can allow you to make recurring revenue online and/or create your own business?
Before you start, you want to know everything about this way of digital marketing? Its pros ? Its cons ? You may also wish to have more concrete information: how to do dropshipping ? How to create a cheap dropshipping website ? How to find dropshipping suppliers?
What is dropshipping?
Before giving you the advantages and disadvantages of dropshipping, I will quickly give you a definition and present the concept to you.
I will also show you that dropshipping is already used by the biggest e-commerce sites, and has been for several years now, without you really being aware of it.
How does dropshipping work?
In order to understand the definition of dropshipping, it is necessary to dissect the different steps step by step.
Three actors enter the dropshipping process:
- The supplier, who offers his range of products to resellers.
- The reseller or drop shipper, who promotes the supplier’s products on his e-commerce site.
- The customer, who buys the products on the reseller’s site and is delivered directly by the supplier.
The 3 steps of dropshipping
To retrace the different steps in the other direction, you will put yourself in the shoes of an Internet user wishing to buy a product on a merchant site.
When you arrive on the online shop, you will find a product you like. You will then proceed with the purchase.
The e-merchant will receive your order. He has no stock at home, so he will place an order with the supplier by indicating your address.
The supplier of the e-merchant will receive your order and will ship the product to your home.
The dropshipper is simply a service provider whose sole mission is to sell the supplier’s product in order to recoup a margin.
The advantage you have in launching a dropshipping e-commerce site is that you will be able to focus on your core business: online sales. At no time will you take care of logistics, stock or shipping.
You surely understood it, the supplier has a very important place in the process. You have to find suppliers you can trust!
To save a lot of time in the choice of products and in the post-purchase order taking, the Dropizi e-commerce solution offers you training modules to find winning products and automated steps to save time.
The dropshipping market and suppliers
Now that you know what dropshipping is, part of the business is still mysterious: how to have a turnkey dropshipping site with a quality supplier to launch your online business?
Dropshipping is, for the most part, supplied by Chinese suppliers and wholesalers, and the number of Chinese companies specializing in this business has been increasing steadily for years.
This growth can be linked to their integration with Western companies.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a SaaS (software as a service) online store creation solution. A monthly fee gives you access to an administration panel where you can enter store data, add products and process orders, and choose from a rich selection of free and pay-per-purchase design templates. These themes are clean and modern, and Shopify provides a variety of editing tools that you can use to tailor the chosen theme to your brand.
In addition, a subscription to Shopify includes secure and reliable hosting for your website. You don’t have to worry about your site getting stuck during traffic spikes or hackers hijacking your transactions. With 99.9% uptime and a free SSL certificate, Shopify is the solution. Finally, your monthly payment entitles you to full 24/7 customer support. You’ll be able to contact support by phone, email and live chat. And you can also use Shopify’s knowledge base to solve less serious problems yourself. Shopify prides itself on being an all-in-one solution. With a Shopify subscription, you should have everything you need to quickly start selling on your own site.
Dropshipping advantages
- No obligation to manage a stock of products
- No delivery management, parcel packing and dispatching
- Possibility to launch into e-commerce without stock
- No risk of unsold goods
- Design of a rich and varied catalogue very quickly
- Continuously positive working capital, as outflows always remain lower than inflows
Dropshipping disadvantages
- Some suppliers require a minimum number of sales while others agree to set up a partnership. Depending on the terms of the contract with the supplier, be sure to consider all the details and ask the right questions before signing.
- Although you are not responsible for stock management, you are at risk of running out of stock at any time.
- Prices cannot always be changed as you wish.
- In terms of delivery, you have no control over delivery times and are therefore dependent on the vendor.
Tips for a successful dropshipping shop!
Diversify your catalogue as much as possible to stand out from the competition. Moreover, you will not be dependent on a single supplier if that supplier leaves you.
Ensure close collaboration with the supplier by implementing sustained practices with them. Establish a relationship of trust so that you can anticipate as much as possible.
Apply your knowledge in SEO; if you are not familiar with the subject, do not hesitate to call upon a service provider who will accompany you for a consequent return on investment.
Ensure unique content for your online store by writing your own product descriptions, for example.