The dropshipping business concept enables eCommerce merchants to sell goods without carrying inventories. Establishing a Shopify dropship venture is a terrific approach for entrepreneurs to enter the eCommerce sector. New business owners can keep expenses low and focus on promoting their products by outsourcing production, packaging, and delivery through a third-party vendor.
What is dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a savvy model that enables entrepreneurs to sell manufactured items through a third-party, from an online store. All the business owner needs to do is contact the supplier when a customer submits an order. Dropshippers ship the merchandise directly to the doorstep of your customer – This is a beneficial model for new entrepreneurs for the following reasons:
– It is convenient and secure when combined with the Print on Demand (POD) model.
– It’s simple to initiate and administer.
– It does not need significant investment.
– It frees up resources to focus on marketing.
– It gives a low-risk option for small businesses to test new product concepts without needing to purchase the items upfront and maintain inventory.
Why Dropship on Shopify?
Shopify is the uncontested leader of e-commerce dropshipping. It is also a company forecast to generate a higher Return on Assets (4.7%) than the US Software – Application industry average (4.56%). Millions of users across the world utilize it to establish a dropshipping shop. With website options at a cost as low as $29 per month, it’s a value-saving option for startups and small companies. Shopify even provides a free 14-day trial, making it a risk-free method to start a fresh brand or sample a brand strategy. Find out how to sell on Shopify to start your online store.
How to Successfully Dropship on Shopify:
To start making money on Shopify all you have to do is set up your store. Read our ultimate guide to Shopify dropshipping to set up and design your online store. Once you’ve done that, we can move forward to find success in your new venture of dropshipping. Here are a few important tips:
1. Figure out your USP
Finding a distinctive selling proposition is an important part of developing a lucrative business. Once you’ve established your business, determine your target demographic or niche, and figure out your unique selling proposition (USP) and strategies to build a brand around it. Your USP will answer the following questions:
What makes your customer buy products from you more than someone else?
What does your brand offer customers that other brands cannot?
Here is a method to determine your USP:
– Note the unique characteristics of your products and brand that will benefit the buyers.
– How will your brand make an emotional connection with the customers? Draft a sales proposition that outlines ways in which your goods meet the emotional demands of consumers.
– Market your brand using that emotional connection with appealing taglines and content.
2. KISS – Keep it simple, smart!
Adopt the mentality of keeping things simple. It goes exceptionally well with the dropshipping model. Dropshipping can get complex since it allows numerous suppliers, items ship from different locations, requires channeling orders to the supplier, and so on. You may feel you must configure a plan to manage your expenses and inventories correctly all the time. However, it’ll probably drive you insane, spend thousands of dollars on bespoke development, and never open a business. Starting with the easiest options, even if they aren’t outstanding, is often a preferable option, especially when you’re new.
3. Find an easy-to-work supplier (Talk about the POD business model)
Dropshippers rely significantly on suppliers to fulfill the purchasing orders and experience. While you are in charge of promoting your Shopify store and encouraging people to make purchases, it is up to your suppliers to assemble and deliver a satisfactory experience to your customers.
Your buyers believe the goods they receive are from you. As a result, consumers will link the service provided by your dropshipping provider with your brand. So, you do not want your client to have a positive website experience only to feel unsatisfied when things arrive late or damaged. Find various dropshipping suppliers who supply the items you wish to sell and evaluate their potential as your partner with the following characteristics:
– A positive reputation for timely deliveries.
– A diverse range of high-quality items in your selected specialty.
– Availability of innovative solutions for making and tracking transactions, such as comprehensive product descriptions, good quality photos, inventory tracking tools, and configurable analytics tools.
– Easy integration with Shopify.
– Budget-friendly membership pricing and minimum order requirements.
– Great customer service.
– Well-informed about your niche.
Read how Printify can be your trusted POD supplier on Shopify.
4. User-friendly store design
Online customer expectations are high! If your website appears congested or amateurish, making significant progress in dropshipping is going to be difficult.
Customers should be able to simply discover what they’re looking for and buy quickly without facing problems. Take the time to create a visually appealing Shopify store that provides a user-friendly experience and makes a remarkable first impression.
If you want to learn more about setting up a user-friendly store and visually appealing Shopify store, read our article on Shopify dropshipping article.
5. Set up settings for payment and store policies
Access Shopify’s Settings page and configure payments so that your dropshipping store can accept payments from clients. You can receive money by connecting your PayPal or other payment channels to your account.
Provide several payment alternatives to your customers for their convenience and sense of security. Customers will be more likely to purchase from you if they believe their payment information is completely safe.
You can integrate the following payment methods with Shopify:
– Credit Cards
– PayPal
– Shopify Payments in the US Clients
– Stripe Atlas for International Clients
– Amazon Pay
– Apple Pay
Some of these businesses levy a small fee to handle transactions. Include it in your product pricing model. All transactions flow through Shopify regardless of the payment method. They will be monitored and securely remitted to your bank account.
You can also personalize store policies when you launch a Shopify dropshipping store. Shopify provides several useful tools that will develop a standardized privacy policy, refund policy, and terms and conditions for your business. Access these tools in Shopify’s settings. Access a step-by-step guide on optimizing your settings here.
6. Research correct prices for your products
Pricing your items is an important aspect of having a successful dropshipping shop. You want to earn a profit, but you can’t if you overcharge. New dropshippers must research market prices for similar products.
Calculate the right price by including all expenditures, not simply the wholesale supplier’s cost for the goods. Aside from product expenditures, you will also need to consider marketing charges, website hosting, shipping fees, graphic design costs, etc. A good selling price gives you a reasonable profit margin, all expenses considered. When running a dropshipping business, you must think like a buyer and what the buyer would want to see. Whether they are custom hoodies or shirts, give discounts and promo offers constantly on specific products and let your potential buyers know that you are offering discounts.
7. Automate processes as much as you can
When you have a Shopify store, you have access to a plethora of applications that allows automation in your online venture. You can automate various functions of dropshipping such as:
– Pricing
– Product and market research
– Tracking sales
– Tracking orders and inventory
– Marketing campaigns
If you’re interested in learning more about automating dropshipping, read this article.
8. Provide good customer service and handle messy situations with grace
Great customer service is at the center of a successful venture as it retains your customers. Prepare to answer product concerns and deal with order difficulties since even top suppliers make mistakes, and fulfillment faults are unavoidable.
You can enhance your customer service operations with a strong social media presence. You can further add an FAQ page, set up real-time chatting features, and display clear return policies for clear communication between the brand and customers.
In case your supplier muddles an order, take the following steps own the mistake to the customer, apologize, and make it up to them. Then contact the supplier and ask them to take responsibility for fixing the errors and bearing the cost.
To sum it up
Dropshipping is a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs to start a business risk-free.
This model is used by many online companies, including big merchants, such as Macy’s, to provide a broader assortment of items to their consumers without having to deal with increasing inventory difficulties.
Take in our insider tips to dropship on Shopify and start making sales with confidence.
About the Author
Filip Nikoloski is Partnership Specialist at Printify. Printify is a transparent print-on-demand and dropshipping platform designed to help online merchants make more money in a simple and easy way.
