Dropshipping business has been stated as one of the most popular and profitable business models out there in the market. But as much as people love it, there is a population that failed in it and hates it. If this perseverance continues, sooner it will be a good enough economy for those who have patience in the business and are hard workers.
As we move towards a ‘work from home’ culture more and more people are getting attracted towards the module of business. This model of business in eCommerce is relatively new in the segment and people are loving it. Let us support our statement with some hand-proven data digging from Statista.
Taking the example of France, as per Statista “ At the end of 2019, the source had asked French people who already owned or were planning to open a dropshipping business how much money they earned or hoped to earn on a monthly basis. Dropshipping is essentially a reseller platform where the end consumer orders an item on that said platform, which in turn orders it from the original supplier and insures the shipment. Thus, the majority of people who already owned a dropshipping store (73 percent) earned between 100 and 500 euros from their dropshipping business. For people who were planning on starting a dropshipping boutique, the majority were expecting to earn between 1000 and 5000 euros.”
Dropshipping business: Introduction to the business idea
As per Wholesale TED, ” It (dropshipping) first kick-started in the 60s and 70s, where mail-order companies were taking advantage of mail-order catalogs before the internet was born.
Mail-order catalogs were small booklets received in the mail that advertised a range of items. You could order items directly from your catalog via phone, and have the company deliver them to your door.” So before eCommerce was born, the module took off as a new model of business.
Definition: The model of business in which a businessman conducts his daily operations without having an inventory.
Dropshipping business: Tips and tricks to grow rapidly
When it comes to achieving success, there is no shortcut or recipe behind it. You just need smart work to be done across the journey. However, we need some tips and tricks to grow rapidly as the business commences.
- Hire a virtual assistant: To speed up the process hire a virtual assistant or assistant to keep your business running 24*7.
- A delivery partner: Keep your delivery partner in check. Remember, an order placed is not equal to an order delivered. Upon delivery, you need to rejoice at the achievement.
- Credit card: The credit card should be for credit backup 24*7 or for expansion of business. The factor will allow you to expand fast.
- Get traffic: Get traffic at your website through advertisements, blogs, etc.
- Automate: Get automation software for product listing, inventory management, etc. to quick up the process. This brings more time on the same day.
Top 5 product categories: Best niches for growing quickly in 2021
Studying behavioral analysis for a group of people that shop online gonna tell you what you should be selling as your niche in the first place. Mainly situations and conditions decide what is gonna trend in the market.
Today’s condition is due to COVID-19 but a lot of conditions have changed after it. These conditions of the upper-middle class (our target market) suggest the following niches.
Pets supplies
You can not sell pets online but pet supplies can be sold out for profit. These were in demand before the situation changed and are in demand after it.
Kitchenware
Pizza ovens, Japanese knives are good examples of kitchen equipment that can be sold for profit as the world is at “cooking at home”
Electric Bicycles
As the trend of electric bikes is growing, one can make use of the situation in a positive manner. This niche is gonna make you money through dropshipping and that too in remarkable profit margins.
Home game room pieces of equipment
As more and more people are home and wanna play. Game rooms gonna fulfill their quests of gaming. In such scenarios, one can sell popcorn-making machines, pool tables, and other direct or indirect machinery.
Kids workspace pieces of equipment
This quarantine has forced a lot of students to learn online. While they learn we as parents need to facilitate them with the right quantity of equipment. Here too you as a seller get an opportunity to sell online.
Social media: How and what to advertise on it?
Social media is the voice of people. People do report almost everything, from basic routine to great achievements. Henceforth, social media contains almost every information a seller needs to have to get a perspective of behavioral analysis of the market. In this way, social media advertisements are a way crucial to the dropshipping businesses of any niche.
Choosing what to advertise, is however a different topic to discuss upon. Choosing advertisements as a portal in social media is in fact a matter of common sense.
For example, choosing to advertise electronic items as LED decoratives in a group of “Earthing electrode manufacturers” will be an act of foolishness.
I mean to say from what we have discussed is stay focussed and watch the patterns changing on social media. Make good use of trends on them, and wisely select groups for advertisements.
Brand marketing strategies: Social media marketing
Social media marketing is an effective tool for starters. For it, firstly you need to make good research about what’s available and what’s not when you have had finalized the product or niche to advertise.
YouTube influencers: Choose work synonyms
The subscriber to view ratio should be high for an influencer channel. This optics of seeing the marketing campaign really fruits into money. More is the engagement for a given channel, the more is the chance of making a profit using the same.
Top 9 mistakes to avoid when dropshipping
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Mindset
Keep a fresh mindset. The one who says, “dropshipping is an easy module of doing business”. Correct him/her and say, ‘you’re wrong. Keeping things too lurking might prove a manmade disaster for your business.
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Product selection
Product selection becomes a tough task especially if you are a beginner and don’t know where to begin with. Some products might seem to be the best seller but a reality check proves them wrong.
For example, a watch might seem to be a nice product to dropship. But the majority of the buyers want a watch from a trusted selling brand. Only 5-10% of the customers will trust a drop shipped product in such a case.
Thus, product selection becomes one of the major points of dropshipping.
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Product quality
Product quality is the part that most entrepreneurs miss while starting off. Overconfidence in the product quality segment might cause lethal damage to your business. Never feel rest assured of product quality until you have tested it personally.
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Profit calculation
When it comes to profit calculation, be as exact as possible for investment versus profits gained. You must cover each and every micro and macro expense of business while doing so. This gives you the confidence to sell more and revenue more.
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Supplier relations
Finding a supplier is nothing out of the box though. It is just a skill of negotiation. The better you’re at negotiating the better is the supplier relations.
Tip: Keep things real with the supplier and stay with the most trustworthy one. He will give you better deals with time as you are a patent absorber of his products.
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Cash flow
Keep your credit score in check and maintain it for a healthy credit card i.e. one with optimum credit to support your business in need. Therefore as in my opinion, a credit card is a must for a fluent running business.
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Advertisement platforms
Keep your focus on engagements of the platform you are choosing to advertise your online shop portfolio. Some platforms do have subscribers but don’t have engagements as much. Choose wisely if you don’t want your marketing money in vain.
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Facebook policy
Before advertising on Facebook please read the policy for paid advertisements. Gone are the days when Facebook had a liberal policy for ad accounts. Nowadays, Facebook has strict policies for advertisements. Before you start advertising on Facebook, it is very much important to know and understand the policy.
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Experimentation
Do experiments on the product listing, their price, their types, and change between your niches. These experiments fruits wonder as you will know much about the market and explore more of the dropshipping.
Product reviews and the website
Product reviews and a website is a must-have for a dropshipping business of any kind. Let us talk about some necessary necessities of the same.
Text and pictorial review
The product page should consist of text and pictorial reviews of the product. Especially the pictorial reviews make the product more sellable on a scale of business possibilities
Website: Necessary contents
The necessary contents on a website for dropshipping business should consist of the following:
- Persuasive product description
- Trust badges for consumers
- Do keep the “track the order” button
The bottom line: How to become successful while making a profit
As we now have discussed the ways of getting more and more profits, we shall conclude the matter with lines:
“Patience is a virtue”.
I hope this article finds you well and enriches you with a desire to dropship.