A lot of people think about starting a drop-shipping business, but many of them don’t know much about it. They have no idea how to jump in. In this article, we try to explain everything for people who don’t know how to keep this process going.
A lot of people think about starting a drop-shipping business, but many of them don’t know much about it. They have no idea how to jump in. In this article, we try to explain everything for people who don’t know how to keep this process going.
First, let’s talk about what drop shipping is in case you don’t understand this model. With this method of retail fulfillment, the store doesn’t have to spend money on stocking products. You just need to find a supplier that has a service for retailers called “drop shipping.”
Drop shipping: how it works
This way of getting products to customers involves the customer, the supplier, and the online retailer. The customer orders items from a store that doesn’t really have any of those items in stock. The retailer then orders those products from the supplier. The customer gives money to the store, and then the store gives money to the supplier. The supplier sends the item straight to the customer.
Since the store doesn’t have real stock, it doesn’t have to pay for the products it wants to sell in advance, and it also doesn’t have to pay for a warehouse. So, the owner of the online store never sees or touches the product, and they can’t even check how good it is. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on the business, and new virtual stores can also have a wide range of items.
Customers usually have to wait a long time for their products because the supplier is far away. When they buy more things from your online store and you get them from different places, they will get more packages at different times.
When stores use drop shipping, they usually bring in items from places like AliExpress or eBay. But in this way, most of the time the product quality isn’t the best, and neither is the delivery time. But they can also place orders with real wholesalers.
People should buy goods from local stores, but they should keep their inventory to a minimum. We call this newer version of drop shipping “remote warehousing.” Also, in this case, the goods come to you, not directly to the customers. This is helpful because you can see how good the products are. Also, if you work with more suppliers and the customer orders more products, they won’t get as many packages as they paid for. The solution is to let each product come to your place (your garage or living room) so that the items can “wait for each other” and you can repackage them into one box.
Please note that we won’t tell the difference between the two models in what follows. We only use the term “drop shipping” because it is simple.
What you need to do
If you own an online store, this guide may help you get started with your drop shipping business. We’ve put together everything you need to know, and if that seems helpful to you, we’ll give you links to other related articles. Now that you know what you need to do, you’ll see that it’s not as hard as you thought; it just takes time.
The official things to do
If you are serious about your business, you should probably think a lot about business steps, taxes, and money. We’re not lawyers, so we can’t give you full legal advice on this topic, but we don’t stop here.
You need to set up tax and other necessary numbers and accounts, and you need to think about what kind of business structure would work best for you. For example, you can have an EIN (Employer Identification Number) in the United States. It won’t work in any other country, though. You need to talk to accountants in your own country about setting up an online store and taking the necessary legal steps. We say this because each state is different.
Find a target market and a product.
After learning about the business’s official parts, it’s time to take the fun steps. You need to come up with something to sell. Don’t worry if the product idea wasn’t the first thing that came to mind when you thought about opening an online store. There are many ways to find a product niche and a product that sells well. This will depend on two things. One is that you should choose a field you’re interested in, but that’s not enough. It has to be a business that makes money and makes people happy. If you fill a certain market niche, you can do well.
What do you do? In another article, we give you a list of 12 important steps you should take if you want to find a sure-fire winner. Check it out.
People have to really want or need the product, and it has to be something that makes your business stand out.
Find a provider
You need to find a good supplier now that you know what you want to sell. You can look for them in a lot of different ways. Also, if you want to make the best choice, there are a few things you should keep in mind.
In general, you can ask people in person, in forums, or on Facebook. Another way to find out where the competitor gets their products is to order from them and try them out. The other way is to choose a supplier from Dropship-Empire Marketplace, where you can find millions of products from reliable suppliers from all over the world.
If you don’t find a company through a directory, you have to ask the supplier you found somewhere else for a data feed file and ask if they do drop shipping. If you want to run a remote warehouse business, you can tell the supplier to always drop off the products at your place.
Set a domain
The next step is to think of a store name that people will like and that describes what you do. In another article, we put together all the information you need to know when choosing a name. Scroll down to the “Name your online store” paragraph to read it.
After you choose a cool name, you have to set a domain. You need to do this so that you can have a unique URL, like one that ends in.com. Find out in your country what the best company to work with is.
Sign up for Shopify and open a shop
Time to start building your store. You can do it on Shopify’s official website. Click the blue button that says “Get started” in the upper right corner. There, you just need to fill out a short form to sign up for the 14-day free trial. When you want to sign up for a plan, you can choose between 3+2 plans: Basic Shopify, Shopify, Advanced, Shopify Plus, and Shopify Lite.
Planning the way to ship
The remote warehouse model, on the other hand. After the supplier sends the packages to you, it is your job to figure out how you want the products to be sent to the customers. You can work with many different courier services, like DHL, all over the world. Find out what the best option is for you where you are.
Run efficient marketing
A good marketing plan is very important to keep up. You need to be seen. Building a strong social media presence makes it more likely that your online Shopify store will help you reach your goals.
Which social media sites can you choose to use? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblr. You have to put up new content often.
What other ways can you use to advertise? There are marketing apps for Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Google Ads, newsletters, blogs, and more on Shopify.
Don’t forget to have a good design, make it look good, and stay away from typos.