13 Expert Dropshipping Tips to Help You Grow Your Business

Thinking of starting your very own online store? Dropshipping can help you save tons of time, money, and space by completely cutting out the inventory, packaging, and shipping aspects of your business.

In this article, you’ll find out how dropshipping can benefit your online store, along with 13 expert tips and tricks to help you maximize your business:

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a business model that lets you sell products to your customers without actually holding any stock. Your supplier will deliver products directly to customers straight from the warehouse, taking care of packaging, labels, shipping and all other product-related aspects in the process.

All you need to do is create an online store, find a supplier, and virtually import the products you want to sell. You can customize the prices, images, titles, and descriptions of your products, and start promoting them right away.

The Benefits of Dropshipping

There’s a reason around 22-33% of online retailers rely on dropshipping for order fulfilment.

Aside from taking the burden of inventory, packaging, and shipping off your shoulders, dropshipping can help you grow your business effectively in several different ways.

Minimize risk: The biggest advantage of dropshipping is you only have to pay for products that you’ve sold. There’s no need to worry about purchasing bulk inventory or leftover stock.

Save time: When you’re not worrying about storing products or shipping, you have more time to focus on things that actually help you sell more, like marketing.

Reduce costs: Storing products can be expensive. With dropshipping, you eliminate costs of warehouses and packaging. Plus, you can always sell low-cost products from China at market value to make more profit.

Start easily: To run a dropshipping business, all you need to do is create an online store. You can literally design your store, virtually import products, and start promoting them all on the same day.

Increase cash flow: You’re only paying for the products you’re able to sell. This means you always have a consistent cash flow and never have to worry about receivables and payables.

Keep customers engaged: With dropshipping, it’s so much easier to switch up your offerings and bring in new and trendy products every other day. This is a great way to keep your customers engaged and increase their lifetime value.

Explore new markets: Importing products virtually means you can pretty much sell anything you want. This is an excellent way to test out new markets without risking too much. If your product doesn’t sell, you don’t have to pay for it either.

Virtually stock unlimited products: Let’s face it. There’s always a limit to the number of products you can physically store. When you dropship, you don’t have to worry about limiting your stock. You can virtually import hundreds of products in your online store at a time.

Dropshipping Tips

Dropshipping is getting popular by the day. But not everyone knows how to do it right.

In fact, if you’re not taking care of some important factors, chances are you won’t be able to grow your business to its full potential.

Here are 13 expert insights, tips and tricks to help you hack the dropshipping game and take your online store to the next level:

1. Sell What You Love

Just like any other business, your online store is your baby. If you don’t love it, you’ll never be able to nurture it into something worthwhile.

The key to maximizing your dropshipping business is to sell products you’re actually interested in. If your heart’s not in it, it will be very difficult to pay attention to the little details, take customer feedback seriously, and create a thoughtful and wholesome marketing strategy.

It’s also difficult to thoroughly research about things you don’t even care for. And if you’re selling something you love, chances are you already know something about it or are willing to learn.

Moreover, passion-driven entrepreneurs are able to interact and engage with their customers on a much more personal level, because they empathize with their needs and wants.

When customers are able to connect to your brand, they’ll be more likely to be loyal to you and recommend you to their peers.

2. Pick the Right Niche

So, there can be dozens of different products you’d love to sell. The question is: is anyone going to buy it?

It’s very important to pick a niche that’s not only profitable, but also one that has a passionate customer base. That’s because passionate customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and pay higher premiums for products they value.

For example, consider a store that sells all types of clothing and one that only sells fitness apparel for women.

Customers who regularly work out will be more emotionally connected to fitness clothing than every other person is to generic tops and skirts.

Also, it’s better to pick a niche that you already know a bit about or are able to grasp. If you’re clueless about what you’re selling, you won’t be able to promote your business effectively.

If you haven’t picked a niche yet, you can always start a generic store with lots of different types of products, and then find out what kind of stuff tends to sell more. You can then focus on the most profitable niche.

3. Find Quality Suppliers

Without a reliable supplier that sells quality products, your brand will be pretty much hopeless.

After all, people demand value for their money. And if you’re unable to meet their expectations, chances are you won’t make it too far.

Do your research, before you decide to partner with any supplier. Take a good look at the range of products they’re selling and check as many reviews as you can.

A large number of positive reviews is usually a good sign. Lots of negative reviews? Red flag!

Also, see if there are multiple suppliers selling the product you’re eyeing. For example, most AliExpress suppliers sell similar products.

Always compare the prices to check if you’re getting the best rate, and look out for guarantees and shipping options.

Note: ePacket is the most effective shipping option for dropshipping businesses in the US.

4. Develop a Strong Brand

How your customers perceive your business depends entirely on how you present yourself.

If you come across as just another online store selling the same products as everyone else, not many people will want to buy from you.

To stand out in your niche, you need to develop a powerful brand that’s trustworthy, relevant, and has a story to tell.

Start by working on your brand identity.

That doesn’t just mean creating a great logo (although that’s important).

Understand what exactly makes you different from your competitors, and incorporate your unique values into every aspect of your business; from your website design and visuals to your brand voice, copy and content.

Also, instead of trying to sell across multiple niches, try to focus on products that are consistent with your brand. Throw in well-integrated online marketing strategy and excellent customer service, and you have a strong, reliable brand in the making.

5. Master Online Marketing

When you’re in the dropshipping business, focusing on marketing is the best thing you can do.

First of all, you’re selling your products online. To attract customers on the internet, you need to ace the art of online marketing. Why? So you can reach out to the right customers, drive traffic to your store, and make sales!

Invest in search engine optimization to make sure your site is showing up at the top on Google. Also, consider running paid ads to attract more customers. The more traffic you manage to drive to your website, the higher chances you have of converting visitors into customers.

Additionally, there are tons of other online marketing aspects to help you maximize your online business. Teach yourself, don’t be afraid to experiment and learn as you go.

Most of the product-related and transactional aspects of dropshipping are already being managed by suppliers or are automated, which gives you plenty of time to put your marketing skills to good use.

6. Pay Attention to Your Competitors

Don’t forget. You’re probably not the only one dropshipping in your niche. You need to keep track of your competitors and closely monitor their efforts to ensure you don’t fall behind.

No, we aren’t saying you have to COPY everything they do.

But always stay updated with the different strategies your competitors are using. Check out their website. What kind of new products are offering? Are their prices lower than yours?

Another great idea is to like/follow your competitors on social media. This will help you analyze their posts and ads. How do they engage their followers? Which products do they advertise the most?

You can also check out what their customers are talking about. What kind of reviews are they leaving? Do they have any complaints you can use to your advantage?

7. Price Your Products Strategically

Be very careful when pricing your products. If you sell cheap, your brand might come across as cheap too. If you price them too high, no one’s going to bother buying them.

If you’re sourcing your products from suppliers in China, for example, you can easily sell them at market value and make more profit without coming across as a rip-off.

Don’t forget. Your customers will associate lower prices with lower quality, and that’s the last thing you want to do to your brand. Instead, focus on creating value around your products so you can make more money.

8. Ask for a Sample First

Planning to sell only a handful of select products? Ask your supplier if they’ll be willing to send you a sample first.

There are tons of different ways you can benefit from a product sample. For starters, you can actually see for yourself if the product is of good quality and matches customer expectations.

You can also use samples to take photos or record videos of the product.

Upload your own, unique images of the product on your website instead of using the generic images you receive from the supplier.

You can also use samples for product reviews, ads, and video marketing purposes.

Getting acquainted with a product sample also helps you write better, more accurate titles and descriptions.

You’ll be able to actually experience the product yourself and use that to adjust your promotional strategies accordingly.

9. Plan Ahead for Returns and Other Issues

Just like any other business, dropshipping also comes with its own set of issues and challenges.

For one, you don’t have direct control over the products you’re selling. This means handling returns, delays, and lost shipments can be a bit more complicated.

But don’t worry. You can always plan ahead for any potential issues that can arise in the future.

Communicate with your supplier and make sure you both reach an agreement before creating your store’s policies and procedures.

It’s necessary you’re both on the same page to avoid future conflicts and ensure everything runs smoothly.

10. Offer Free Shipping

You have two options:

• Charge the shipping cost separately to your customer
• Add the shipping cost in your product’s price and offer free shipping

Experts say go for the second option.

Why?

Because no one wants to pay for shipping.

Even if your product is slightly more expensive with the shipping cost added to it, customers will still find value in “Free Shipping”. That’s just how the human brain works.

11. Establish Great Relationships with Suppliers

Dropshipping is all about relationships between suppliers and retailers – it requires efficient communication, collaboration, and organization between the two parties to ensure the relationship is lucrative for both.

Plus, if you’re on good terms with your suppliers, you can ask them to help you out in multiple ways.

Suppliers aren’t just good for products. They can also send you customized images and selected customer reviews you can use on your website.

You can also discuss return policies and effectively reach an agreement if you have a good relationship with your supplier.

12. Say Yes to Automation

Automation can save you loads of time so you can focus more on actually growing your brand.

There are various dropshipping automation tools you can use to make your business more efficient.

For example, Oberlo lets you automate most of your repetitive tasks. Like sourcing products and fulfilling orders.

You can also use marketing automation to put an end to routine marketing tasks.

This includes email marketing automation, like sending out transactional emails to your customers every time they make a purchase. Or following up with cart abandonment emails to woo potential customers back.

There are also tons of social media marketing tools, like Buffer, to help you schedule and automatically post social media posts.

13. Focus on Excellent Customer Service

Customers might not always remember what they brought from you. But they’ll probably remember how you treated them.

One of the best ways to stand out from your competition is to offer exceptional customer service to the people who actually make your business a success.

Don’t just stick to thank you emails and responding to inquiries. Go out of your way to make your customers feel valuable and satisfied with their purchase.

The Bottom Line

Dropshipping is a great way to run an online store without worrying about shipping, packaging, and storing products. If you do it right, you can even make tons of money!

The tips above will help you get started and maximize your business in no time. If you’re ready to begin dropshipping, check out this other article with even more tips to help you get started and the course we recommend that will teach you step-by-step on how to set up your store using Shopify.

Did you find this article helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

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