It’s been growing within eCommerce over the last few years, entrepreneurs and established stores are doing it, and is expected to be worth over $550 billion by the year 2025… but what exactly is Dropshipping?
According to Website Builder Expert, Dropshipping is defined as:
‘…a business model where you, the retailer, don’t have to store or even handle any stock. Customers order products through your online store, and you alert your supplier. They in turn process, package, and ship the product directly to the customer.’
A retailer’s job within Dropshipping – by setting up an e-store and advertising selected products – is essentially to be a promotor for a supplier’s products to consumers. It’s an appealing business model due to not needing to store or even handle inventory, meaning lower setup costs. And if gotten right – by appropriately marketing in-demand products within receptive regions – sales can be generated rapidly. This is why so many have entrepreneurs have turned to it, as well as traditional brick and mortar stores that often use it to trial new products.
While this sounds simple to start and run, Dropshipping can be challenging. Often, initial sales can be hard to generate. Easy-to-sell products (favorites include mobile phone accessories, fashionable clothing and toys) are sold by a variety of official and non-official merchants, meaning marketplaces can be congested with similar products of varying prices. As well as this, the marketing of selected products from an e-store has to be done precisely and efficiently. Otherwise, this can become an area where budgets are quickly spent and costs can spiral out of control.
For an overview on how to set up a Dropshipping store, check out Website Builder Expert’s new infographic about it below: