By 2024, more than 2.14 billion people around the world will have bought something online. With such a big market, your business needs to get into Shopify Drop shipping right away and do it professionally and well.
How do you begin?
You already know a lot about web commerce, build storefronts, and are usually the only person in charge of customer service. Now you have to keep track of inventory and learn how to ship?
If you want to start a Shopify drop shipping empire, you need to know what it is, how it works, and what you can do to make your life easier. Keep reading for more.
What is Shopify Dropshipping? How Does It Work?
Dropshipping is a way to fulfil orders in which you buy goods from a wholesaler and have them sent straight to your customers. With this method, you don’t have to keep any stock, so you don’t need big warehouses or complicated shipping maths. You put the supplier’s items up for sale in your Shopify storefront, market them, and then send order information to the supplier so they can ship.
The products that your customer ordered are then sent from your supplier’s warehouse using their own shipping process. With Shopify dropshipping, you don’t buy or handle the product. Instead, you manage and curate the Shopify storefronts and leave delivery to the experts. You make money by putting the buyer in touch with the manufacturer. You can spend your time getting to know your customer instead of worrying about how to get things to them.
Dropshipping’s Pros and Cons
Have you ever wished you could run your business from a beach? With Shopify’s dropshipping service, you don’t have to worry about renting a warehouse or a real store.
You can run your business from anywhere as long as your computer has power and a fast internet connection. You can grow your business quickly and with little risk if you don’t keep a physical inventory. Add as many products as you want from as many different companies to your e-commerce site to get more customers.
There are no losses from inventory that isn’t sold. Since you don’t keep any stock, you don’t need much money.
Focus on getting along with customers.
Your job is to market the products you choose, collect sales orders, and send them to the manufacturer so they can be filled. You don’t have to become an expert in product development, inventory forecasting, product packaging, or shipping logistics.
This means you don’t have to worry about anything from making the product to selling it to shipping it.
What a dropshipping business needs
Here are the most important things you’ll need to start your dropshipping business.
Watch out for the tax man You need an employer identification number if you are in the US (EIN). US suppliers need your EIN to make sure you are running your business legally. You also need a state-issued sales tax ID or resale certificate. Professional and trustworthy suppliers won’t work with you if you don’t have these things.
A Shopify website or another one You need a storefront, a website, or, at the very least, an active social media account to get the word out about the products you sell. You need a simple place where you can add pictures, descriptions, and prices of your products.
Products With Profit Potential Do a lot of research before choosing Shopify dropshipping items. How well your dropshipping business does can depend on how popular a product is. What about demand if the product is already in style? Lastly, look into price and availability. You want to find something unique that not every site has, and it should be affordable.
Choose your friends
You know what you want to sell, and now you need to find a manufacturer or wholesaler who will work with you. Your shop can’t open without products, but why buy everything from the same place? You can get products for Shopify and other e-commerce sites from AliExpress, AliBaba, ShineOn, and many other sites.
Use multiple sources to give your customers prime choices. You may have to pay some money up front. Most Shopify dropshippers charge a small pre-order fee, usually between $2 and $5, depending on how complicated the order is and how big the items are. This price is the norm. Compared to how much it would cost you to get the goods and repackage them for final delivery, this is a good deal.
Find out what the minimum order size is (MOS).
MOS is the minimum amount you have to order when you place your first order. This is how wholesalers get rid of Shopify stores that don’t sell enough. Before working with a certain wholesaler or manufacturer, think about the minimum order sizes and choose a wholesaler with a MOS that fits your operating capital.
Set up your shop
You’ve done a lot of research on suppliers and market trends, and you’ve chosen an e-commerce platform. Now, add pictures, descriptions, and prices for your products. Remember that you will need to keep your store’s prices, out-of-stock items, and customer orders up to date.
Besides taking care of your store, you will send orders directly to the manufacturer or wholesaler, bank payments, and talk to your customers. Some of these things may seem like a waste of time and energy.
It is perfectly fine to automate them so you can focus on the parts of your business that you like. Many successful Shopify stores use social media, email, and word-of-mouth to promote each other. As the link between the customer and the manufacturer, it’s up to you to build a relationship with frequent contact, incentives to buy, and accurate order information.
Do what you are good at.
In the end, dropshipping takes away the need to keep an inventory and manage shipments. This gives you time to grow your business and focus on marketing and building relationships with your customers. You don’t have to worry about logistics or money, so you can fill an online store with hundreds of products in a short amount of time. You can then use the store to do market research.
You can choose the most successful products based on which ones sell well and which wholesalers give the best service. If you want to ask our team a question about Shopify dropshipping, you can chat with us or give us a call.
