Dropshipping is no doubt one of the most popular and fast-growing online retailing business models out there- nearly 33% of online shops use the dropshipping fulfilment strategy.
This significant growth has created an opportunity for more dropshipping brands to thrive in an ever-growing ecommerce market. It has also opened the doors for standalone businesses providing services around dropshipping, such as sourcing for suppliers to carve a niche for themselves.
While this is generally a good thing for dropshipping brands, the reality is that it’s a highly competitive industry.
So is it possible to become successful amidst the competition? Absolutely! Here's what you need to know.
What it takes to be successful in the dropshipping game
First up, learning the tools of the trade.
1. Do market research
Before starting your dropshipping business, it's crucial to gather helpful information. Select the best niche, find out about your business's buyer personas, identify your target audience, and study the buying pattern of your potential customers. This research might seem like a lot of preparatory work, but it will save you years of trial and error and help you get started on the right note.
2. Select the right platform
A lot of dropshippers fail because they choose the wrong platform to showcase and market their products. If you genuinely want to build a successful dropshipping business, you'd have to sign up with the best platforms to sell your products. It might cost some investment, but it's worth it, considering that the cost-to-value ROI for this service is usually fantastic.
3. Choose the best suppliers
As a dropshipper, the success of your business depends on your suppliers and the relationship you have with them. You rely on them for product quality, shipping, and customer support, and this is why you should choose your suppliers with care. Here are some things to look out for:
- How long do they take to fulfil an order?
- Do they offer fraud protection?
- How do they handle customer support?
- Do they have good reviews?
4. Focus on Marketing
Let's face it. Dropshipping is still a business like any other business and it's not enough to go through the above steps and then go to sleep hoping to wake up rich. Even though they all play a significant role in positioning your dropshipping business for success, you still need to put in effort to find and attract customers in the first place. How? Marketing. Here are some common and effective marketing methods you can think about:
- Email marketing
- SEO content marketing
- Pay-per-click advertising
- Display advertising
- Social media marketing
How important are branding and social media?
Branding and social media are both as crucial to a dropshipping business as they are to any other business. Although it's pretty challenging to build a brand in dropshipping, we can't deny its role in the sustainability of your business. Branding helps to build trust and customer loyalty as well as sales.
Even though you don't have control over certain aspects of the business, you still have full control over your branding and marketing and you should put as much care into those as if you built your product from scratch.
And as with other businesses, social media is a fantastic tool to help you reach and connect with your audience. If you're serious about building a successful dropshipping business, integrate social media into your marketing strategy right from the get-go.
54% of social browsers use social media to do product research, and 73% of marketers say their social media marketing efforts have been "somewhat" or "very effective" for their company. That's how powerful social media is!
How does dropshipping impact the relationship between brands and consumers?
Customers don’t care where the products they buy are stored or who ships them. They care about how they feel interacting with the brand, how quickly they receive their items, and the quality of the products. Keeping that in mind, dropshipping has the potential to impact your customer relationships positively, negatively, or not at all.
For every dropshipping business, meeting your customer's expectations and building a brand that resonates with your audience are both crucial to long-term success. So there's an absolute need to create that balance that'll keep your customers happy and make them come back for more.
Dropshipping might look easy on the surface, but it involves more than selling products without owning inventory. Every component of the dropshipping supply chain plays a part in keeping customers satisfied.
There you have it. You now know what it takes to become a successful dropshipper. Ready to get your marketing in order to help you hit your dropshipping business goals?