There are a few key things you need to know to start dropshipping. The first and fundamental question should be what is dropshipping? It is a business model in which ecommerce entrepreneurs sell products without having to carry any inventory. When a store owner receives an order from a customer, they contact the supplier, who will then ship the products directly to the customer’s doorsteps.
Now that we’ve answered the question: it’s time to give you a step-by-step guide on how dropshipping works.
1) Find a niche
The first step is to find a profitable niche. When brainstorming ideas, it’s crucial to think about what type of products you’d like to sell. It could be products that solve a problem, are unique and exciting or satisfy a hobby or interest. To make things easier, try finding a niche you’re passionate about,making marketing your products much easier.
2) Research your competition
Once you’ve found a couple of good ideas, it’s time to start researching your competition. It is crucial as you need to understand what type of strategies they’re using to be successful and what you can do to differentiate your own business. To research your competition, you can start by typing your niche keywords into Google and looking at the first few results.
3) Find a supplier
The next step is to find a supplier who can manufacture the products you’d like to sell. It’s crucial to find a supplier that offers good quality products at a competitive price. When you find a supplier you’d like to work with, contact them and ask if they provide dropship.
4) Choose your business model
Now that you’ve found a supplier, it’s time to choose your business model. There are two popular business models in dropshipping:
- a) The first business model is to find products already being sold successfully by other stores and offer them in your store. It is also known as the “me too” business model and is a popular choice for first-time store owners as it’s easier to find products that are already selling well.
- b) The second business model is finding unique or hard-to-find products you can offer in your store. It is known as the “blue ocean” business model and can be more profitable as you’ll have less competition. However, it can be more challenging to find suppliers for these products.
5) Create your store
Now it’s time to create your store. You can use Shopify’s platform to create and design your website with just a few clicks. Once you’ve created your account, choose a theme for your store and start adding products.
6) Start marketing your store
Now that your store is set up, it’s time to drive traffic to your website. There are many different ways you can market your store. Popular methods include SEO (search engine optimization), social media, and email marketing.
7) Process orders
Once you start receiving orders, it’s time to start processing them. It involves contacting your supplier and shipping the products directly to your customer. Dropshipping apps will let you automate this entire process so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
Bottom line
Dropshipping is a great way to start an ecommerce business without any upfront investment. It’s also a flexible business model as you can run your store in your spare time and scale it as big as you want.