Starting a dropshipping business can seem like a frightening thing to do. You are not sure how to start, what to pay attention to. It all seems so hard. But don’t worry all beginnings look like that. Here are some advice dropshippers wish to have known before starting their business.
It’s not easy
You have probably seen many dropshipping success stories. Although they are true, they portray the wrong picture of dropshipping. You can succeed, but it won’t happen on its own. You have to do it. In dropshipping almost always you solely run your business, which means that you have to take care of everything, from making the shop, choosing products to customer service and marketing. In the beginning it will be the hardest but over time you will get better at it, and it will become easier.
Reviews are important
In eCommerce world trust is everything. You have to prove to your customers that your product is worth buying, but also that it is not a scam. Best way to do that is to build strong social proof. Reviews can give you just that. Reviify is the best AliExpress reviews importer for Shopify that can do more than just import reviews. You can translate them, fit their style to your shop, skip unwanted reviews with keywords blacklist and much more.
Work smart not hard
This phrase applies to any business not just dropshipping, but what does it truly mean? Just putting many hours into your business won’t bring success. You have to know where to focus and put more effort for the best results. For example, you don’t have to worry about inventory and placing an order, it’s all done for you so you can put more of your time into activities that add some extra value to your shop, like marketing and good customer service.
You can’t sell everything
There are online businesses that sell everything under the sun and they are, well, Amazon, AliExpress and Ebay. Your shop is not that, so you should stick to dropshipping a niche. Niches help you focus on certain types of products, therefore have a much more detailed customer profile which leads to easier ads targeting. You yourself will overtime increase your expertise in your niche so you’ll be able to help your customers even more and to understand them better which will definitely benefit your store.
Choosing a supplier is important
As a dropshipper you are not making your own products, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot control its quality. By choosing your supplier you are choosing the product and the service they offer. You have to do research to find the best supplier for your shop. Before starting a collaboration contact them. Use this opportunity to ask questions about their product and services. Try to set a good relationship with your supplier from the very beginning of your collaboration. Before ordering for the first customer, buy a few samples to test important factors such as shipping time, packaging and product quality.
Follow up email
What dropshipping has as an added value is devotion to the customers. While a lot of tasks in dropshipping can be automated, that does not mean that dropshipper has nothing to do. You have more time to dedicate to other aspects of your business like marketing and customer service. Email marketing is a bridge between these two. It can both be used as a marketing tool and a way to bond with customers. Follow up email after a purchase can confirm the customer order and remind them of important information like expected shipping duration, tracking number etc. preventing many of their questions even before they have them, making that trust towards your brand even greater.
Have money on side to cut dispatch time
When you are just starting you do need some extra money on the side. When your customers place an order their money does not reach you for at least one week. That is a too long period of time for a customer to wait for a product to be dispatched. To cut this time, have some money on the side to pay to your supplier even before the customers money has reached you.
Be prepared to invest
Although you can start a dropshipping business on a tight budget, it would be better if you did have some money to invest in marketing and apps. TikTok is currently the cheapest way to advertise if you don’t hire any influencers. Instagram comes in second place, with Facebook being the most expensive, but very effective in targeting your audience.
You don’t have to be marketing expert to start
A lot of beginners think that they need to be experts in marketing, especially Facebook Ads. This is far from the truth. Of course marketing is very important but figuring out how Facebook Ads and Instagram promotion work is very simple. The most important part of your marketing is targeting. It is easy to set it on your marketing tools, but the crucial part is figuring your target audience. To achieve this you should make customer profiles.
Be transparent
Many beginners tend to hide some information thinking it will turn the customers around. Such information is shipping duration, for example, which is a classical mistake. Very small number of customers will walk away from your shop, metaphorically, if the shipping time is long. Most of them just want to know how long it takes, to know what to expect. On the contrary, they may not buy your product because they can’t see the shipping time. If they do they will probably contact you to ask about it, so by stating it you are also saving your time. Another neglected information is refund policy. Here you need to be very precise and clear to prevent customers abusing your refund policy.
Now we have covered some of the most common misunderstanding and mistakes one beginner can have in dropshipping. Open your shop and put this knowledge into use!
