The advent of technology paves the way for doing business on virtual platforms. This revolution in online marketing makes it possible for sellers to create and expand their business in the global arena. Also, buyers now have more independence and freedom to purchase products online, anywhere, and anytime.
One way of venturing into a profitable business model with minimal to no risk for entrepreneurs or just anyone looking for additional earnings is through dropshipping. As long as you have the time on your hands and the intent to prosper, this business opportunity can and will be a success with the proper knowledge.
In this article, we will learn the basics of dropshipping. Additionally, you will get a basic understanding of transitioning from a striving entrepreneur to becoming a successful dropshipper.
What is Dropshipping?
Before we go further, let us understand the basic concepts of dropshipping.
Dropshipping is a method of carrying out an order without needing a physical store to stock product inventory. Thus, it is a low-risk business model with the need for little working capital.
It is not your usual form of retail business. The process of dropshipping involves a seller fulfilling orders from customers using an online platform.
The seller is in charge of the marketing and selling of the products. However, the seller has no control over the quality, storage, inventory, and delivery of the products to the customers.
So, what exactly do you need to become a dropshipper? The answers lie next.
What are the Requirements for Becoming a Dropshipper?
To begin your dropshipping journey, you must at least have the following:
A computer with a reliable internet connection. To start with your dropshipping business, one of the first resources you need is a computer with a dependable internet connection.
Extra time on your hands. Spending at least two hours a day learning and taking action with your dropshipping business will make the difference between a successful store to a failed attempt.
Knowledge. Entering an unknown territory with no prior knowledge can quickly become risky for your business. Learning from other successful dropshippers will ensure a safe and profitable journey. To gain a substantial understanding of any topics relating to dropshipping, visit our Dropshipping Knowledge Base.
Also, join our Facebook Community, where you can communicate with other dropshippers who love to help each other succeed in this field.
How to Become a Dropshipper
Pick Your Selling Channel
First, we need to select a selling channel. A selling channel, also known as a sales channel, is the platform to list and sell our products to our customers. There are several selling channels to choose from, each with its benefits.
Below are some of the most popular selling channels that you can start selling your products today.
eBay
In this platform, there is enough free organic traffic to get lots of daily sales without having to pay to promote your products, but new seller accounts are limited. You can start slow and gradually build your market here.
Facebook Marketplace
This selling channel also brings free organic traffic to your listings, with low selling fees (Just 5% from every transaction!). However, it only works for US citizens living in the US since you need to enable shipping options, and there is an SSN verification to pass after reaching $599 in sales.
Shopify
This site has no organic traffic, making it more challenging to bring traffic to your store without paying traffic sources. On the other hand, there are no starting seller limits, and you can list thousands of products on the first day.
Therefore, it’s easier to test the market with Shopify. Plus, you can have your own domain address.
Additionally, you can check out other selling channels such as Amazon, Wix, and more.
Product Research: Find Trending Items to Dropship
Now that we have our selling channel, we can start researching for trending products to dropship.
When starting your dropshipping career, one of the biggest questions you’ll find yourself asking is what products will sell. Knowing that consumers have various preferences and needs adds up to this challenge.
This is where one of the most fundamental stages in dropshipping comes in – product research.
Doing product research is a strategic way to ensure that you sell the right products to the appropriate market. This process is crucial to the success of your dropshipping business.
No matter how good our commodities look and regardless of how hard we work on our stores, the wrong products will do no good for our profit and success at all.
To begin researching the right products to sell, it’s wise to know what dropshipping suppliers you can use to find them.
A bunch of dropshipping suppliers are available worldwide. If you want to expand your dropshipping business, check out the list of our supported dropshipping suppliers that will give you a reach to tens of millions of products to sell.
Trending Items To Dropship: Product Research Articles
To learn about the most trending items and strategies to dropship, check out our Products Finding and Best Seller articles. We use our special algorithms and database to cherry-pick the best products to help you start selling.
“Sell These Now” YouTube Playlist – Trending Dropshipping Products
Also, you can watch the videos in this YouTube playlist to discover trending dropshipping products: Sell These Now – The HOTTEST Dropshipping Products 2021.
The Ultimate Guide to 100+ Best Products to Sell (eBook)
If you wish to dig deeper with your product research, this free eBook will guide you to The Ultimate Guide to 100 + Best Products to Sell in 2021.
AutoDS Finder
The AutoDS Finder is a feature in AutoDS that automatically finds the best-selling dropshipping products from the supported suppliers and adds them to your store.
This feature is perfect for people who have little time for product research or who want to combine additional product-research methods to their stores and see what works best.
Here is a brief run-through on how this feature works:
Choose a Supplier. You can pick among the available suppliers, such as Amazon, AliExpress, Walmart, and more.
- Select Products Category. You can choose the Finder category as the source of the products you want to upload. These categories can be the sales in the previous months or based on the Coupons Finder.
- Configure your Upload Settings. Establish your break-even, profit, and quantity. Then, select your business policies. Finally, set up all other settings as needed.
- Set Recurring Uploads. Automate your daily tasks by setting the time, creating your recurring uploads, and just letting the platform do the rest of the task.
- Support for Non-API Stores. Even Non-API stores can utilize the product research tool. All you need is to assign your chosen supplier and the number of products you want to upload. Then, save the configurations and upload them using the AutoDS Chrome extension.
- Sit back and Relax as AutoDS does the job for you. Your trending products will automatically upload so that you can offer your time and effort in flourishing your dropshipping business.
The AutoDS Finder assures you of quality, gives you flexibility, and saves you time.
Import Trending Products to Your Store
After selecting our selling channel and finding trending products to sell, it is time to list them on our store for other people to buy them.
Importing trending products to your store is as simple as listing the products from your suppliers that you want to import to your stores.
Listing products manually can consume a lot of time. The time that you can utilize in investing in growing your business through automating the listing process instead.
Therefore, these guides will show you how to import products quickly and easily with automation:
- eBay. For new sellers on eBay, your first listing should be manual before you can automate the listing process. The article will show you how to implement both methods in the eBay platform.
- Shopify. In the video, you will learn how to save a substantial amount of time importing products in singles or bulk to your Shopify store.
- Facebook Marketplace. This complete tutorial guide will assist you on how you can save time importing products to Facebook. Additionally, you will also learn how to dropship successfully and find the right products on Facebook.
Automatic Order Fulfillment
Once we list items in our store, they will start to sell. Now we need to fulfill our orders and ship them to our buyers.
We can carry out orders in various ways, and one of which is fulfilling the orders manually.
When accomplishing your orders manually, you purchase each product from your supplier and ship it to your buyer. We recommend gift packaging, which most suppliers support, so the buyer will not see your buying price.
However, once we start getting multiple orders a day, we have to add order fulfillment automation which will allow us to invest our time in scaling our dropshipping business while all of our orders are being fulfilled automatically.
For this, we have the ‘Fulfilled by AutoDS‘ service. This feature handles all of our orders for us, along with updating tracking information.
All we need to do is opt into the ‘Fulfilled By AutoDS‘ service, load balance, and watch our orders process automatically, even while we travel or sleep. This feature also enables one-click returns, thus making everything automated and convenient and giving buyers the feeling of assurance.
Customer Service
If we want to be in this business for the long run, we need to offer the best possible customer service.
Answer your customers quickly, and handle any problem or situation they may have. Show them that you are devoted to your business, and not only that will keep them coming back, but their pleasant experience and feedback with your store will also attract other people.
AutoDS dedicates its time and effort to offering its customers the best dropshipping experience. Even when handling multiple stores at once, it is easy to manage customer service. For eBay sellers, AutoDS Customer Support Management System helps you view, reply, and manage all of your customer’s messages all under one screen.
Scale Big with Dropshipping Automation Software
Scaling welcomes the growth and prosperity of your dropshipping venture. One way to support further developments and innovations is by automation of dropshipping.
Automating your dropshipping business is by utilizing technology to carry out tasks instead of humans doing them. The goal is to lessen, if not eliminate, repetitive tasks. This move allows the seller to give more focus to marketing and customer service instead.
Adding automation software into your dropshipping business can yield a bunch of advantages. This action allows a thorough business overview of your sales and profits, on-time price or stock monitoring, fast order fulfillment automation, easy product importing, active customer service, supports adding virtual assistants, and in-depth product research like the AutoDS Finder.
Without business automation, it is impossible to scale and earn substantial profits as we limit ourselves to what we can do and how high we can grow.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the dropshipping model is an innovative, low-risk enterprise to start and run. However, without adequate knowledge, you can easily find yourself on the path towards failure.
That’s why having the proper knowledge through research and choosing the right platform for your dropshipping business makes all the difference.
Now that you have the basic knowledge of how to dropship and what it takes to become a successful dropshipper, you can start researching your preferred niche and looking for your target market.
To further educate and guide you on your dropshipping business, check out these related contents such as eBay eBooks and a free Shopify course to guide you towards success in your dropshipping career:
