Many people wish they could quit their boring 9-to-5 jobs and work in eCommerce instead. But a large number of them never do. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as not having enough money, time, or space to store and ship products to customers.
Anyone can make a good choice by starting an eCommerce business. But it can cost a lot to get started. If all of these sound like things you’ve done before, dropshipping could be the answer.
With a dropshipping business model, you don’t have to worry about everything that comes with opening an online store. To start your dream business well, all you need is a website and the right Shopify app.
You can reach customers all over the world without leaving your house. This is a big plus in the world we live in now, with the global pandemic and lockdown.
This article will tell you everything you need to know to start a dropshipping business with Shopify right away. But first, let’s talk more about what dropshipping means.
Dropshipping: What Does It Mean?
To start a dropshipping business, you need to know what it means. Dropshipping takes away a lot of the stress that comes with eCommerce in general.
For example, you don’t have to open a store that people can walk into. You don’t have to keep products in stock or send them to customers. You also don’t need a warehouse.
How to use Shopify to dropship
You serve as a link between customers and the final products. The best part is that you get paid to do this. This means you don’t have to touch the product and only pay for the ones you sell.
To do this, you only need a website, a supplier with products, and a place to store them. Some of the products you buy will come from popular online stores like Alibaba or AliExpress. On the other hand, you may sometimes buy from other nearby dropshipping suppliers or companies that you know and trust.
It’s important to make sure you choose the right supplier. This can have a big effect on how well your business does. The right supplier will have the high-quality goods you need and make sure your customers are happy. You don’t want a supplier who takes too long to send you products and makes your customers angry.
So what does Shopify have to do with any of this? Let’s find out how dropshipping works on Shopify.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is a platform that lets you start an online store where you can sell things and get paid. It’s easy to use, even if you’ve never done it before, and it comes with a lot of help and tutorials.
Shopify is a great place to start if you want to start an online business but don’t know how.
There are many more reasons to use Shopify besides the ones listed above, which leads to:
Why Dropship on Shopify?
It Works Seamlessly with Dropshipping
Dropshipping is supported by Shopify, and there are many ways to make it work on the platform. This can make things easier if you want to get into eCommerce.
Tons of Design Features
You want your online store to be appealing to people who might buy from you, and Shopify lets you do this. There are a lot of easy-to-use features that can make your eCommerce store a reality.
It has an online store builder that you can use to set up and design your store. There are free templates you can use if you want to save money. But if you don’t mind spending money on your online store, Shopify has affordable paid design templates.
There are also a number of other features that make other important parts of your store easier. For example, you can sign up more than one person for an account. This is very important if you work as part of a team and need everyone to be able to handle things from where they are.
It Is Easy to Use
The Shopify platform is easy to use, so anyone can do it with little trouble. It does all of these things without giving up any of the things it offers. If you get stuck, there are tutorials that are easy for anyone to read and understand.
What Can You Sell on Shopify?
On Shopify, you can sell anything that is legal. This could be either digital or physical goods and services. But because there are so many options, you need to choose your niche first.
If you choose a niche, it will be easier to narrow your focus to a small number of products. It can also make it easier for you to promote your products and set you up as an expert in that niche. This means that when people want something like what you sell, they come to you first. This can help improve your reputation, make customers more likely to trust you, and boost sales.
Choosing a Niche
It can be tempting to choose a niche where there is a lot of demand. This is not bad, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you think about. Instead, choose a niche that you are really interested in. This will keep you going. If you don’t care about what you do, it’s hard to keep up, especially when sales go down a little.
Also, you need to choose a market niche that people want so you can be sure to make money. You can find a profitable niche by doing keyword research and looking at product trends. Make sure it’s a niche you can keep going with and that will keep you interested for a long time. If you don’t do this, it might be hard for you to do well.
For example, if you love video games, you could sell video games and their parts. If you like to work out, you might be interested in certain fitness products.
If you love phones, it can help to stick to one brand. There are a lot of options, but you should make sure it’s something you’re passionate about.
After you decide on your niche, you can use Shopify to set up your online store. Let’s look at how to set up your Shopify store so that you can drop-ship.
Setting up Your Shopify Dropshipping Store
Set up your online store to start selling on Shopify. This page has all the information you need to do this. But before we move on, let’s look at the pricing plans for the platform.
Shopify Pricing
Shopify has three different pricing plans that make it possible for businesses of all sizes to benefit. The plans offer unlimited product uploads and file storage, as well as online and phone support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are no set-up fees for any of the plans, and you can add templates and apps from the Shopify store. You can choose apps that are free or ones that cost money.
There are the following types of Shopify plans.
Shopify Basic costs $29 a month, and every online sale costs 2.9% plus 30.
The main Shopify plan costs $79 a month, and every online sale costs 2.6% plus 30.
Advanced Shopify plan costs $299 a month, and every online sale costs 2.4% + 30.
Price of Shopify
After learning about the plans, you can set up your store by following the steps below.
Sign up
Shopify has a 14-day free trial that you should use first. Before you spend any money, this will help you figure out if it’s the right platform for you. You can find this choice on the website’s main page.
Go to the menu bar and click the “free trial” button. Then, enter your email, password, and the name you want for your store. Your store’s URL will include the name you choose.
So, you’ll want to pick something easy to remember, like Marco.myshopify.com.
If you use too many words, like Marco Angel Black, your store name would be Marco-Angel-Black.myshopify.com. This can make it harder for people to find your store, so you should choose something easy to remember.
After you set up your Shopify account, you’ll need to add the following:
Name, Address, and Phone Number
What you’re selling
When you’re done, a pop-up will take you to the admin dashboard. Here is where you will start making your store, starting with the design.
Change your Design
Next, give your Shopify store a design that you made yourself. This is not a required step, but having a store that looks nice has some benefits. It’s a great way to make your store stand out and give it a personality. This will also make sure that customers keep coming back.
To add a theme, you can choose one from the many that are available in the Shopify theme store. There are both free and paid options, so choose the one that fits your budget.
Theme for Shopify
You can make things even more your own by editing your theme. This is possible with Shopify’s template editor or theme settings.
When you’re done, make sure to check it out on both your computer and your phone. A theme might look good on a PC, but it might not be the same on a mobile device.
So, before you do anything else, make sure everything is as it should be.
Create your Domain Name
As you know, Shopify gives you a default store name, like Black.myshopify.com, which you can change if you want to. But if you already have a domain, you can link it to it, or you can buy a custom domain.
Shopify lets you choose either a subdomain or a root domain as the main domain for your store. You can only choose one primary domain, though.
If you want a different name, you can make that happen. The Shopify online manual has all the information and dates you need to do this.
You can buy a domain from Bluehost or GoDaddy if you don’t already have one. These are well-known places where domain names are bought and sold.
But it would be helpful if you made sure that any domain name you picked had these things:
It’s short and easy to remember.
Simple to spell
Has words that relate to your products
Add Your Products
Now that you’ve done the steps above, you can add your products. This will need your full attention, because if you make mistakes, you won’t be able to convert customers and make sales.
Go to the Shopify admin panel and pick out the things you want to sell. In this category, you can choose from the following:
Add products by hand
If you have a few things to sell, this could be a good choice. Here, you’ll type in the product’s name, description, size, and other details by hand. With this choice, you will also have to upload the pictures of the products yourself.
But if you have a lot of products, this might not be the best option because it might take too long.
To bring in Products, use a CSV file.
This is perfect for uploading a lot of products at once. Go to the Shopify admin to upload your CSV file. But keep in mind that CSV files can only be 15mb in size.
Use apps for drop shipping
This is the easiest way to solve the problem. There are a lot of apps that make it easy to find products and add them directly to your Shopify store. This saves you money and time, which you can put toward other parts of your store. Oberlo, Printify, Spocket, and CJDropshipping are some of the most popular services that integrate with Shopify.
Apps for Shopify Dropshipping
These apps can also handle the order and delivery process when you make a sale. They also have many customization options that make it easy to change things like images, product names, and product descriptions.
There are different price plans for these apps, so do some research and pick one that fits your budget.
Choose Apps to Promote Your Store
Getting the word out about your store is important because it helps you reach more customers. There are many Shopify apps that can help you do this and improve the way your store works. They will also help you sell more and grow more quickly.
Reporting, sales, analytics, marketing, and other things can be done with both free and paid apps. All you have to do is choose a choice that meets all your needs.
Increase Your Rates
It’s important to set up your payment, tax, and shipping rates. First, add your shipping costs and taxes to each item. Shopify will also know that these rates are part of your prices.
Now, you need to set up ways for people to pay. Credit cards and other common payment methods can be used to pay through Shopify.
Paying with Shopify
You can also get help from a number of payment providers, such as
PayPal
Amazon Pay
Google Pay
If you want to learn more about other ways to pay, you can visit the Shopify FAQ page.
Provide Public Access on Your Store
All of the steps you’ve taken so far have helped you get ready for this moment: opening your store to the public. Before you take this big step, you need to give your store a thorough test. This will make it less likely that customers will complain once the store opens.
Before letting the public in, the store will be locked with a password. You won’t be able to go to the store until you do this.
Once you’ve set up and opened your store, you’ll need to find ways to get the word out about it.
Final Thoughts: Are You Set for Dropshipping?
The unique thing about the dropshipping model is that you give part of the process to someone else. You can let this party send out the orders while you collect the money. This model has a lot of good points.
One is that you have more time to do other things, like work on your website. You can try out new things like deals and pop-ups and see how they make customers’ time on your site better.
You can also try other methods, such as email marketing, which can be hard if you have to fulfill orders and keep track of shipping times on your own.
A successful website is the key to a good dropshipping business. In this case, a successful website is one that can be found through a search engine.
You can track and improve your website’s organic ranking with the time you save by giving tasks to other people. This means optimizing your keywords and other things like that.
Having a good relationship with a dropshipping agent makes running an online business easier. They help you with the difficult parts so you can focus on what you’re good at.
