If you are thinking of starting an online business, you would have considered dropshipping business. If that is the case, you must be wondering if dropshipping is worth the time. How does it work? What can you do by using Shopify? How to find reliable suppliers and many more questions might be in your head. If that is so, you have come to the right place. This Shopify dropshipping guide is all you need to know to get started. It will answer all your questions and more including,

• Understanding dropshipping
• Why use Shopify for dropshipping?
• How to use Shopify for dropshipping?
• Selection of dropshipping suppliers
• Finding profitable products to sell on Shopify dropshipping.
• Step by step Shopify dropshipping procedure.
• How to get your first sale on Shopify dropshipping?
• Things to remember for a successful Shopify Dropshipping business

Understanding dropshipping

Dropshipping is a type of retail business which is run online. The retailer can form an online store and buy products from a supplier. The dropshipping store does not have to worry about the storage and inventory as it is delivered directly to the customers. The dropshippers just have to take the orders from customers, buy the products from suppliers and get them delivered directly to the customer.

All you need to set up your dropshipping business is a computer and an online marketplace. You can buy products from the wholesale suppliers and sell them on your own store website at a higher price and can keep a profit for yourself. This is how you will be earning from your dropshipping business.

Figure 1: Dropshipping model

Now you must be thinking why people would buy from dropshippers rather than the actual suppliers. So, the reason why customers come to dropshippers rather than the manufacturers is that people do not even know who the suppliers are but they know dropshipping platforms. People prefer to buy from someone who has credibility or has followers. The dropshipping websites market the products and provide an opportunity to check the reviews before placing the order.

Setting up a dropshipping business requires effort but it is not very laborious. You can get started easily with minimum investment. Another advantage is that you will not need a business entity or inventory management. You can do some research and see what products are in demand and you can have access to these products easily.  The biggest benefit is that you can set the retail price yourself to whatever you want keeping in view the marketing strategy.

Why use Shopify for dropshipping?

If you want your dropshipping business to run smoothly, Shopify would be a good choice. There are several reasons for that. Firstly, Shopify is a great place to start your business if you do not have much skills. It is very simple to use and you would not need much technical skills to set up your store. Shopify dropshipping is highly suitable as it is user friendly and has many features specially designed for dropshipping.

Figure 2: Integrate your dropshipping to Shopify

Shopify dropshipping offers a number of free and paid designs for your theme and templates that you can choose. The online store builder can make an aesthetic store for you and you can easily start your business. A large range of features are present in Shopify but it is very easy to use. In short, Shopify contains all the things that you could need to set up your online business.

How to use Shopify for dropshipping?

Shopify is well integrated with dropshipping. It is a flourishing ecommerce platform that provides the base to new entrepreneurs. You can start your business by easily designing the store and then run the business without hosting fees. Shopify has a monthly fee. Once you pay the fee you can just focus on making the sales and marketing. Shopify takes care of the store and keeps your business running.

Figure 3: Using Shopify for dropshipping business 

You can also check if Shopify dropshipping is the right choice by starting at a small scale. You can initially limit to a few suppliers or few products to learn how Shopify works and if it suits you or not. Once you are comfortable, you can expand your business and use other features of Shopify as well.

Selection of Dropshipping Suppliers

Selection of the right suppliers is the most important step in setting up a dropshipping business. Now you might be thinking how can you assess if the supplier is reliable or not. The answer is simple, you have to make sure that,

• They have millions in revenue per year
• They have been in business for more than two years

You should also contact multiple suppliers, 3 to 5 at least, instead of just one supplier. In this way you will have a reference point and you will be able to know if the suppliers are charging you the right amount or not.

Figure 4: Contact multiple suppliers

Once you contact the suppliers make sure you inquire about everything before placing orders. For example, you can ask them if they sell your desired product, do they sell goods in bulk, do they have a minimum order quantity etc.

You can also inform them about the payment method you will be using and other information they might be needing. If you have a good first buying experience with them, you can build a long-term relation with the suppliers and be their regular customers. In this way, you can ensure a successful Shopify dropshipping business.

Finding profitable products to sell on Shopify dropshipping

When you are finding products to add to your store keep one thing in mind that it should have a demand. Before adding products, you can decide if you want to keep a general store or you want to target a specific niche. If you keep general use products in your store it will attract people with various interests and the traffic will be good. But it does not mean that choosing a niche will attract less traffic to your store. You can choose a niche and still earn good if the product quality is good. But make sure not to narrow down your niche too much.

You can obtain a single product from various suppliers but you need to keep in view the comparative price and quality of the product to make the right decision. If you have multiple suppliers this will not be a problem. You can check how much you can pay for the product to different suppliers. If you have already bought from a supplier you will also be able to distinguish the quality of product from different suppliers thus these things are kept in mind while finding the products for your Shopify dropshipping business.

Step by step Shopify dropshipping procedure

To make your online store attract customers you must create one that looks good. This step by step guide will help you set up your store at Shopify.

1.Create Shopify account

Shopify has a 14 days free trial. You can go to the website and make an account to activate it.

Go to https://www.Shopify.com/

You can use your personal email ID but if you have decided the name of your store, you can make a separate Gmail account for your store. Use this email address for signing into Shopify. Put your password and store name and start the free trial.

Figure 5: Make Shopify account and start your 14-day trial

Once your store is created you will need to fill out some information about yourself and your business. You will be asked to give your address and contact information. After this you will see the dashboard where you can customize your store.

2.Customize theme

Shopify has a number of free themes and paid themes. The theme depends on how you want your store to look. Go to the Online store and select Themes and go to Shopify theme store. There are several collections and styles. You can choose from them according to your store type. Choosing a good theme is as important as choosing a good logo for your shop so select wisely. If you are on a tight budget you should go for the free themes.

Figure 6: Wide range of Shopify themes 

Once your Shopify dropshipping store is made you need to upload a logo for your store. You can make the logo yourself or you can hire a graphic designer for the task.

3.Add products

The next thing you have to do is to upload the pictures of your products and set description and price of the products. You have to make sure that your pictures are professional and of good quality to present your product in the best possible way.

Figure 7: Add products to your online shop

You can ask your supplier to provide you with a sample with your own logo. You will have to pay for this one and then you can take pictures of that product and upload to your Shopify dropshipping site.

4.Design the store

Even after selecting the theme you can make change to it and design it the way you want. You can customize the colors and images. Apart from this, you can create as many new pages as you want. For example, you can add FAQs, Terms and Conditions, Contact etc. While designing the site you must keep it simple for your customers. This makes it easier for them to shop.

5.Set up the payments 

You can easily set the payments from your dashboard if you go to Payment Provider. There are a lot of payment options that you can choose from such as Shopify Payments, Amazon Pay and PayPal.

Figure 8: Setting up the payment method on Shopify

And that’s it. This is how you set up your online store at Shopify.

How to get your first sale on Shopify dropshipping?

Once you are done setting up the Shopify dropshipping site you need to move to the next step which is marketing. You can not get sales without using marketing strategies or promoting your shop. There are many ways you can run marketing campaigns using various platforms. You can do your research and find the one that works best for you. You can keep testing to find out the marketing strategy that works best for your ecommerce business. You can market your products through any of the following:

• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Facebook ads
• Instagram ads 
• Google ads
• Pinterest 

 Things to remember for a successful Shopify Dropshipping business

1.Are your products not selling?

It is not the end of the world if you are unable to get sales. You can do a number of things to solve the problem. You can see what you lack. See if you need to change your marketing strategy to attract more traffic. Or you can change the pictures of the products on your online shop. Another problem can be due the pricing of your products, so you can try fixing it. If even this does not work, you can always change the products.

2.Don’t give up 

The key to successful dropshipping business is patience. There is no such thing as getting rich overnight. Though it is true that you can earn a big amount from a dropshipping business but this does not mean that it will definitely happen in a week or month. It might even take you 3 months or more to get sales. You just need to be patient and keep making changes to your site.

Figure 9: Keep improvising till you get sales

3.Keep yourself updated

Research is very important when it comes to dropshipping. You should keep yourself updated about the recent trends and customer demand. In this way, you get to make an informed decision about the selection of products. You should also be aware of all the new marketing ways to increase sales.

4.Test and optimize 

As a beginner, you can start your business on a low scale. During this time, you will learn what changes you must make to your online shop. This will help you optimize and expand your business. You can always experiment new things and optimize your store or business accordingly.

5.Customer service

The most important thing about providing services or products is the customer service. A good shopping experience always brings the customers back. You can work on the customer services and keep customer satisfaction your utmost priority. You can also provide a refund policy to the customers to gain their trust.

Figure 10: Good customer services brings your customers back to you

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