Dropshipping is becoming a massive trend in the e-commerce industry that almost every e-commerce platform aspire to use. And Shopify is a name that almost everyone has already heard of whenever there is a discussion on e-commerce development. It is a big name in the e-commerce industry to implement dropshipping. Today, many leading e-commerce platforms implement Shopify to increase sales and productivity. However, people often fail to realize the true power of dropshipping due to ineffective solutions. But when you implement a strong dropshipping system into your e-commerce, you can easily sky-high your sales and expand your business horizon.
So, If you are also interested in implementing dropshipping into your e-commerce business and want to grow your sales, keep reading. Here, we will discuss everything you need to know about Shopify e-commerce development and how you can implement dropshipping in your e-commerce.
What is dropshipping?
Implementing dropshipping with Shopify development can bring numerous benefits to your e-commerce business. However, before you learn about its benefits or how to implement it, you must learn exactly what it is. Dropshipping is a method of e-commerce selling where you, as a retailer, sell the product without keeping it in inventory.
In traditional e-commerce selling, retailers purchase a stock of products at a discount from the manufacturer, then put them in the inventory and list them for selling. They used to ship the product when anyone purchased it. But in dropshipping process, retailers directly tie-up with the manufacturer and can skip all unnecessary inventory management. They can completely focus on the selling process, and your partner manufacturer ships the product to your customers.
Pros of dropshipping
The dropshipping method of e-commerce helps simplify and streamline the selling process. And you can tie up with the manufacturer instead of managing a hazardous inventory. You can get multiple benefits when you invest in Shopify development to implement drop shipping in your e-commerce business. Below, we will list some essential ones –
- No inventory cost
The most crucial pro of integrating dropshipping method is no need for stocking up on products. This saves you from bearing the cost of products as you do not need to maintain a stock or inventory for your business. Thus, dropshipping is the best option to reduce your business’s overall risk.
That is why risk-averse selling businesses that lack capital or do not want to manage an inventory find this method attractive. If you too have low-risk tolerance, you can easily collaborate with suppliers who can manage the inventory and fulfill shopping orders.
- Flexibility in operation
When you implement dropshipping with Shopify e-commerce development, you get flexibility in operations. You can access and operate your e-commerce platform from anywhere if you are connected to the internet.
Also, you can conduct a successful business when you get flexibility in operating your e-commerce selling and easily communicate with your product supplier and customers.
- Zero logistical cost
Logistics is part and parcel of the selling process. However, handling the logistics, i.e., printing, packaging, and shipping, is also a major concern for the sellers. Also, most customers are very particular about the logistics and do not tolerate the slightest mistake.
But when you choose to dropship with Shopify development, you can bypass the entire logistics to the supplier and save your money and time from logistical tasks.
- Environment-related benefits
Dropshipping helps you get your products directly from the distributor by using large vehicles like Vessels, Airplanes, and trucks that provide huge amounts of greenhouse gas. So, when you use Shopify development to implement drop shipping in your e-commerce, you can easily avoid carbon emissions.
In addition, this approach will help you attract environment-conscious customers.
Cons of Dropshipping
Read here to know the cons of dropshipping.
- Low-profit margins
Entering the market as a drop shipper is easy. You do not have to manage stocks or inventory; rather, you can gain profit by listing products offered by suppliers on your site. But gaining a profit can be less easy and quick than you think. You may not need much capital to start a dropshipping business, which is why so many people are interested in dropshipping. The dropshipping market is competitive, and your site must sell a maximum number of products to survive in the market and gain profit. That is why you must ingenuously promote your dropshipping platform to gain more customers.
- You cannot control the shopping experience
Another drawback of implementing dropshipping is that you do not have control of your customer’s shopping experience. As a dropshipping business, you will only pass the order (what you get from the customers shopping on your platform) to the supplier. And they will handle the entire shipping and logistics. However, if your tie-up supplier makes a packaging mistake or sends the wrong or poor-quality product, your name will be affected as an e-commerce platform.
- Becoming irrelevant
Dropshipping platforms allow manufacturers and suppliers to list products on their sites for a small charge. And when the platform receives an order, it sends a notification to the supplier or manufacturer. The overall transaction on a dropshipping platform is fair. But as manufacturers and suppliers realize the benefits of e-commerce platforms and integrate them into their business, they may not further their collaboration with dropshipping platforms. Thus, dropshipping platforms’ role can be reduced to only as an intermediary if they do not innovate their business strategies with changing times.
How to setup
Learning about the setting up process is essential before implementing drop shipping or Shopify e-commerce development in your business. And here, we will discuss the steps to set up dropshipping for your e-commerce store.
Step one – Select your niche
The first step to setup dropshipping for your e-commerce store is to find your niche depending on your expertise and experience. Remember, many e-commerce stores are working in the market, and if you do not pick the right niche, you will not gain profit from your business. Also, analyze the market demand and ensure your plan makes sense.
Step two – build your dropshipping e-commerce website
Your next step will be building a strong dropshipping website where you will operate your business. Shopify is the world’s largest dropshipping solution that helps you connect with other dropshipping platforms and sell products. With a good Shopify e-commerce development team, you can easily set up your dropshipping website, domain, and Shopify development.
Step three – source your products
Once you finish the technical parts, it is time to source your products. Identify and tie up with reliable suppliers and source your products from them, and they will handle the entire shipping process on your behalf.
Step four- promote your site
You must start to promote your e-commerce store and dropshipping facility across different social platforms through paid and organic SEO-based promotions. Use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., for promotion.
Application intrigation
If you have an e-commerce store and want to implement dropshipping with Shopify development to avoid hazardous inventory management, you may not be able to integrate Shopify directly. However, you can choose an application integration of dropshopping in your e-commerce store.
As an e-commerce retailer, you may not find it very helpful to call, mail, or text the manufacturer every time you get an order from your customer. However, application integration can help you solve the problem. In an application integration, your Shopify development team will help you develop and customize an app that will connect you with your manufacturer and act as a communication channel between you and your supplier (manufacturer or wholesaler). Also, the application must be advanced enough to track records of the stocks and exchange information. If you contact a good developer team, they will help you develop a strong application that can handle communication and records with the capability to change your website information about the products every time a product is sold, shipped, delivered, or ordered.
How does it work
A dropshipping business works slightly differently from the traditional e-commerce business, where the retailer purchases a huge stock, lists them for sale and performs the entire shipping process alone. Dropshipping involves a business tie-up between an e-commerce retailer and a manufacturer. Here, the retailer lists the manufacturer’s product on their website (which they want to sell) with keeps them in inventory. And when a customer makes a purchase, they send a notification to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer completes the shipping process with the help of dropshipping merchant.
The dropshipping merchant receives a fee, and the manufacturer sells the product at the pre-decided price. This way, you can eliminate managing inventory according to the fluctuating market needs, avoid the logistics and focus on your e-commerce store selling.
Conclusion
Once you become fully aware of the pros and cons of implementing drop shipping or incorporating Shopify e-commerce development into your e-commerce business, you can understand there is nothing wrong with the dropshipping system. However, to make the most of it, you must choose the best suppliers to tie up and the best agency to help you set up dropshipping with quality Shopify development. And silent Infotech is one of the leading e-commerce solution providers in the market. They can help you with Shopify e-commerce development, application integration, customization, and maintenance.
