Drop-Shipping; The Future Of eCommerce

ECommerce is not a COVID-19 trend, it has been gaining popularity for several years now. According to a study, the global eCommerce market was $2.382 Trillion in 2017 and it is expected to be $6.54 trillion in 2023. Every one in five dollars spent on shopping will come from an online sale. The eCommerce has spurned several trends, which are contributing to its increasing popularity in several ways. Dropshipping is one such trend, which many eCommerce marketers are taking interest in. Would you be intrigued to know what dropshipping is? And why it is an integral part of eCommerce.

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is an order fulfillment method wherein a retailer passes the order to a third-party supplier for fulfillment. In this type of model, the retailer doesn’t own the inventory rather purchases it whenever needed or may even direct the third-party supplier to ship it on his/her behalf.

A Few Impressive Numbers Regarding Dropshipping

• According to Grand View Research, Inc, the global dropshipping market will reach $557.9 billion by 2025.
• Today, nearly 33% online retailers have adopted dropshipping as their key business model.
• A dropshipping retailer can earn a profit of up to 18.33%, which is much higher than what an average traditional retailer earns.
• eCommerce retailers who have successfully dropshipping are likely to earn 50% more profits than traditional retailers. With eCommerce market growing at a rate of 17% annually, the dropshipping fulfillment model will grow simultaneously.

Although these numbers indicate a positive future for dropshipping, there are several retailers who are skeptical about its chances of success. The next section offers 5 reasons how retailers can benefit by dropshipping.

Top 5 Benefits of Dropshipping

There are main five benefits of dropshipping that almost every eCommerce retailer should start considering dropshipping.

1) Dropshipping is a Risk-free Option for Startups

Dropshipping is a best option for start-ups that work on shoestring budget. You don’t have to invest on inventory or stock rather you only need to focus on the website development and marketing. Dropshipping also saves you the worries of:

• Inventory tracking
• Packing and shipping
• Managing stock level
• Managing warehouse and caring for the stock

2) Dropshipping means less work for merchants

It simply means that you have to only take care of your website the rest thing will be taken care of by the third party that ships the product.

3) Dropshipping lowers storage and logistics costs

As you do not stock the inventory or ship the product directly, so, it helps save on storage and logistics costs. Traditional retailers often have to make huge investments in storage and logistics to succeed. In many cases, it may take years to build a well-equipped storage facility and logistics chain.

4) Dropshipping offers product flexibility

As a dropshipping retailer, you can experiment with different popular products without being concerned about the failure. As you do not stock the product by own, so, there is no risk of inventory piling, and you can list the product for sale, as soon as it is available with the retailer.

5) Dropshipping is a Perfect Choice for Checking the Market Demand

It is a perfect choice for retailers who may want to understand the market demand and test the attitude over customers towards certain product categories. One of the key advantages of dropshipping is the ability to list the products and start selling immediately without buying a big inventory.

How to Start Dropshipping Business?

1) Identify Your Niche

Choosing a niche is the first step of a traditional retail model and the same goes true for a dropshipping business, too. So you should take some time and think about the product and services you are going to sell. You must conduct a detailed research about the product, its variants, market demand, profitability, and so on. It is always advisable to choose a product based on your interests and passion. This is because it will allow you to learn and improve your perception through the way. Always choose a business niche that balances your passion and profit.

2) Competitors analysis

After choosing the niche you should focus on your immediate competitors. The following pointers will be helpful in this case.

• Identify your competitors like what they do?
• How do they position their product?
• What kind of strategies they implement to boost their sales?
• What marketing medium do they use to attract customers?
• How do they position their products across different digital platforms?

3) Partner with a Reliable Dropshipping Supplier

Finding a reliable supplier is one of the most common challenges faced by eCommerce retailers who may be planning to adopt dropshipping. You can check on the following points before making the decision:

• Conduct a research on suppliers in your niche.
• Talk to them to understand their experience and seek answers for all questions that you have in mind regarding sourcing the material, shipping times, their fees, dispute resolution ability, and so on.
• Next, order the samples from the supplier to check if they are capable of offering what they claim. This will also help you to test the quality of their product, service times, packaging, and above all –get firsthand experience of how your customer will be treated.
• Check if your supplier can offer custom labeling, which helps you stand apart in the competition.

4) Build your eCommerce platform

After selecting the product and supplier the next step will be to build your eCommerce platform to sell your selected product. The fastest way to launch a website that supports dropshipping business model is to use a simple and convenient eCommerce platform like Futurism Diginyze.

5) Focus on customer acquisition strategies

As you have started your eCommerce platform, now it’s the time to attract your prospective customers. Here is how you can proceed.

1. Social Media Marketing

You can use different social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to promote your products for free or through paid advertisements. As these platforms are used by thousands of people every day, you can easily target people from specific demographics.

2. Social Media Influencer Marketing

You can use influencer marketing to promote your product on different social media platforms. Like you have a niche in beauty products so you can approach the models or having a high no of followers on the social media to promote your beauty product.

3. Google Paid Advertisements

Google is one of the most popular search engine and you can buy paid advertisements to appear on the top search results of the keywords related to your niche.

4. Organic SEO and Content Marketing

You can invest in content marketing like blogging – text and video blogging, emailers, infographics, and articles to attract the right traffic to your website.

Conclusion

In this post, we have covered what is dropshipping, how it works and what are the important things you should consider while setting up a dropshipping business. As said before, setting up a good eCommerce platform is necessary to start a dropshipping business and Futurism Diginyze can be a best choice. This is a next-generation digital business automation platform that has helped several start-ups to launch their successful eCommerce business. Feel free to get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.