To sustain in the highly competitive landscape, retailers have to develop innovative ideas for better customer experience. Drop shipping is one such idea that is aimed to enhance the customer service without spending a substantial amount on the overall inventory and drop shipping business is getting immense importance nowadays.

How does Drop shipping Work?

In a dropshipping business, a retailer works in association with Wholesalers that are responsible for fulfilling the orders of a customer and shipping of the product directly to him. The whole process bypasses the retailer’s need to keep an inventory.

Due to the unique operations of drop shipping, the customer does not come to know as to how the package was shipped. Drop shipping process is carried out by wholesalers who ship the item that has a customized invoice as well as label. Thus, this solves the problem of the retailers of advance ordering of goods and transportation.

Benefits of the Drop shipping Business

• Eliminates inventory maintenance
  The major advantage of drop shipping business is that it eliminates the hassles of maintaining an inventory as the same is done by the wholesalers.
• Reduces capital requirement
  The overall capital required for operating a business is reduced as the onus of maintenance and upgrading the inventory is placed on the suppliers.
• Broad product portfolio
  Wholesalers maintain a large inventory comprising of a wide range of products which becomes available to the retailers. Thus the retailers can then pitch their customers with a wide range of products.
• Increased flexibility
  Drop shipping eliminates the need for a physical location for retailers as they can run their business online from anywhere.

How to Start Drop shipping Business?

The process of starting of a drop shipping business needs to be thorough, precise and pretty well defined.

Here are a few steps that will help you to start a new one.

Step 1: Niche Selection

This selection needs to be in line with your interest, knowledge, and expertise. The selection of a product range that is new to you will only result in trouble. If the niche selected does not interest you, you are bound to get discouraged and face natural elimination as creating a successful dropshipping business requires consistent efforts. Some of the points that need to be considered while selecting a niche are

• • • Introduction of a new product: Identify a niche product which is not easily available locally and then introduce it to the market. Double check if the product is easily available on the streets or not. Introduction of such novel products help in attracting novel customers.
    • Brand creation: This point is valid for almost all the business types. The overall value of a product that you are selling increases if you repackage the entire product and sell it as your own brand. Finding a white label which can be repackaged and can be branded is essential.
    • Find a product which customers are searching: The choice of the product should be such that the product is being constantly and actively searched by the customers. IF this is not the case, the business is bound to experience failure. Usage of tools and software to identify these dimensions will prove helpful.
    • Choose products that appeal impulsive buyers: Impulsive buyers are the best as they increase the overall ROI. Hence, products should be such that they appeal to impulsive buyers in order to gain more revenues.
    • Shipping costs should be low: Ensure that you choose a product that has low shipping cost and also has less risk of transportation. The high cost of shipping discourages customers from buying a particular product.
    • Find a product which provides high profits: Drop shipping model requires focusing on marketing and client acquisition. These parameters remain unchanged irrespective of the cost of the products that you are selling; hence the effort that goes into selling a product no matter the price is the same. SO, it is advisable to put all these efforts into selling a product which will guarantee high profits.

Step 2:- Perform research:

This step is particularly important as research is the basis of all the strategic initiatives and marketing decisions that a company makes. Thorough research has to be carried out to analyse the competition, the market potential, customer buying behaviour, etc.

Step 3:- Find the right supplier:

Entering into a business with a wrong supplier can seriously impact your operations hence this step is very essential. Due diligence is necessary at this step. A right supplier should be on the same page as you and should be swift in response and should have the ability to handle orders efficiently.

Step 4:- Launch a website:

The website should be intuitive, interactive, and insightful and should have rich content so as to attract customers. The website should be able to provide customers with a wide range of options and should efficiently address all customer needs.

Step 5:- Create and implement a plan:

Develop a plan to acquire customers, to retain them and to create a communication bridge between them. The sole aim should be the generation of revenue and sales.

Step 6:- Course correct:

Analyze and introspect each and every aspect of the business operations and take corrective actions to avoid any discrepancy. Track and analyze every conversation with customers asas the ongoing marketing campaigns to assess their effectiveness.

How to find Drop shipping Wholesaler & tips to find a right Drop shipper

Prior to finding a drop shipping wholesaler, one has to ensure that he has all the legal documents and has completed all the legal formalities. This is to be done as almost all the drop shippers will ask for these documents. If you have identified the product that you are interested to sell, contacting the manufacturer is a sure shot way to find out genuine wholesalers. One has to note that not all the wholesalers will have an interest in dropshipping but one can get quality leads through this process.

An extensive search has to be carried out for finding the right drop shipper as it has been observed that most of these wholesalers do not have proper marketing strategies as well as online presence. While searching on the internet as well, one has to dig through information to find the right match.

Obtain proper information prior to selection. There are a lot of low-quality information sources and scams operating in the market which may mislead a seeker. Hence, obtain complete information of the supplier from credible sources, and then enter into an agreement with them.

Lots of efforts need to be put while searching online for a drop shipping wholesaler. Usage of different keywords may help to open up new information on search engines. Usage of modified terms can also help on the internet to find the best fit.

In conclusion, it can be safely assumed that in order to succeed, finding the right supplier is imperative. Also, the process of starting a dropshipping business needs to be carefully attended. In this era of great competition, a lot of efforts and time need to be put in order to make one’s business success.

Learn more about dropshipping

• What is Dropshipping? The Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping