What does dropshipping mean?

Strictly speaking, dropshipping is not an activity, but rather a sales technique. Indeed, it is a method of selling products without buying and storing them. It is very popular with e-tailers, as it offers many advantages. This practice is completely legal. 

Dropshipping: what is it?

The definition of dropshipping is a sales concept in which the supplier takes care of product delivery. The seller therefore has no need to buy stock upstream. As a result, he's relieved of operating costs and can reduce his investment while earning a profit on sales. He'll be paid by making margins justified by his work and the creation of a purchasing site. Dropshipping is therefore the fastest way to make money. 

In today's world, dropshipping is booming thanks to e-commerce. Of course, dropshipping allows you to create a sales site where buyers order products from a pre-established selection. The order is transferred directly to the supplier, who takes care of delivery. As for the retailer, he simply receives the profit margin. But behind this convenience lies a great deal of work. Suppliers can be domiciled anywhere in the world, such as Aliexpress or Alibaba, as long as delivery is respected. 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of dropshipping?

Now that you know what dropshipping means, it's time to discover the advantages and disadvantages of this sales technique. The main advantage of dropshipping is that there is no stock of goods to manage. This is the main reason why merchants turn to this type of business. Indeed, dematerialisation allows the seller to have a wide selection of items, as he can easily call upon different wholesalers from different backgrounds. In contrast to other forms of trade, the investments are less important. You pocket the profits without having to buy the product. 

However, the ease of dropshipping e-commerce also has some drawbacks. You have to comply with certain comprehensive legal formalities to prevent potential failures of the platform, the supplier or even the customer's payment. You also have to consider costs such as tax and customs handling, especially if the supplying wholesaler is outside the European Union. Your business depends entirely on the supplier. This is why you should choose your supplier carefully. Since the supplier makes the deliveries, you will find it difficult to control the customer experience. This can reduce your chances of retaining a customer. 

Despite the ease of setting up an e-commerce dropshipping business, generating profits is not just about creating a dropshipping platform with a database of suppliers. Opening a visible and attractive website is a business in its own right. This is why it is imperative to do a market study beforehand. This is what dropshipping is really about.  

Which platform should I use to create a dropshipping site?

After choosing the product you want to sell and the supplier, dropshipping also involves creating an e-commerce site in order to have customers and offer the products. To do this, you must choose platforms that accept dropshipping. The main solutions that exist are subscription-based. 

• Shopify for a turnkey solution

Shopify is a turnkey solution that hosts the entire structure. It offers you your e-commerce shop for a monthly rental fee. All you have to do is buy your domain name. This solution is used in parallel with applications such as Oberlo. Free of charge, the latter makes it easier to import and sell dropshipped products. It is probably the most popular platform for dropshoppers.      

• Dropizi

This solution comes from Wizishop, a 100% French platform that is constantly evolving. Dropizi is specially designed for dropshipping e-commerce. It offers 400 all-inclusive features. It is easy to use, as everything is in French. What's more, the platform has business coaches at your disposal. It also has a small free application compatible with your Chrome to source your products and automatically integrate them into your shop.  

Dropizi works with 4 suppliers, 3 of them in Europe. This gives you unlimited choice to find the winning products. These partners are automatically included in the Dropizi solution:

- product import,

- stock synchronization,

- order in just a few clicks,

- delivery management, etc.

• Woocommerce

Woocommerce is an open source plugin for WordPress that allows you to open an online shop. It is to be installed in WordPress. This solution is very affordable, as it will only cost you the hosting and the domain name. All you need is time for the eventual installations. However, to automate the whole dropshipping process of your site, it is recommended to use the Alidropship plugin. This plug-in is quite well listed in Google, but it is a paid solution. 

Conclusion

Dropshipping is a very simple principle. That said, if you want to succeed in dropshipping, it's a good idea to learn a little about the concept. Understanding the system is the best way to master how it works and to succeed. You can also count on Minea to help you keep up with market trends.

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