DropShipping is the ideal way to pad your pension pot, score a second income stream or completely start a new career from anywhere in the world, all in a way that works for your lifestyle. The DropShipping experts at Armaan Resales provide their top ten tips for ensuring your eCommerce journey is successful.
As is the nature of DropShipping, you won’t directly influence how your products are packaged and delivered to consumers. Following Armaan Resales’ handy tips can help streamline your operations and ensure an exceptional customer experience that’ll grow your brand’s reputation and loyalty.
1. Finding the Right Supplier
Crucial to any DropShipper’s success are the suppliers that package and deliver products. As a DropShipper, you have very little influence in these things, but choosing the right wholesaler can ensure your products are of your desired quality, packaged according to your specifications and delivered when the customer expects them.
2. Pick Up Those Product Samples
Product samples can serve two purposes: ensuring you’ve chosen (or will choose) a trustworthy wholesaler and protecting your brand’s reputation.
Ask your wholesaler for products that you will be selling. Once you’ve received them, you can design a checklist system to ensure they meet your exact specifications for packaging, quality, shipping experience and delivery. Additionally, you can use the product samples you receive to create bespoke videos and images, which are great for marketing your brand.
3. Customer Support and Experience 101
Are you using Amazon to present your products or building a bespoke website through an eCommerce platform like Shopify? In either case, providing excellent customer service is vital to retaining brand reputation and loyalty.
Here are a few ways to keep customers happy and buying from your DropShipping store time and again:
- Be polite and understanding in communication with customers
- Reply promptly to address any queries or issues
- Take responsibility when supplier issues arise and deal with them appropriately
- Ensure any replacement products are the same or of equal quality
4. Price Wisely
A good rule of thumb to remember is that you don’t have to offer the lowest prices to attract customers. A smart pricing strategy is key to the longevity and profitability of your DropShipping business. A few key points to consider when setting prices for your products:
- Always consider your profit margin – take into account any overheads (marketing, supplies and staff costs, if any) as well as pricing creep in the future
- Sell high-quality products at a reasonable price in the marketplace – if you’re selling something niche, do your competitor research
- Take advantage of upselling and cross-selling – Amazon’s feature offering ‘products other users have purchased’ and ‘suggested items’ is ideal for this
5. Evaluate the Competition
You may ask yourself why you should be concerned with your competitor. There are a few reasons you should keep an eye on the competition, primarily to ensure you maintain stay ahead of the marketplace.
Additionally, it could serve to help you in your pursuits to increase engagement with your target buyer. Read their blogs, see what they’re saying on social media and what changes they’re making on their website. Knowing who they’re targeting will eventually help you drill down your target audience and increase engagement. This, in turn, will help grow your market share.
6. Transparent Shipping Matters
One of the most complained about aspects of online shopping, delivery issues can make or break a business. Providing clear delivery times and real-time tracking is the key to an exceptional customer experience. Delivering on your promises will build trust in your brand and encourage repeat shoppers.
7. Free Shipping Foibles
What once was reserved for big brands, free shipping is no longer an idea, but a standard customers expect. With the increase in online shopping, customers want to have the ‘in-store’ experience of trying before they commit to buying, thanks to the pandemic.
Providing free returns allows your customers to shop the way they want with convenience. In many instances, they will order several items in different sizes and colours and expect to be able to return the ones they don’t want. When setting your pricing structure, make allowances for the percentage of returns you typically get. This will offset the cost of returns and allow you to provide this ‘must have’ service to customers.
8. Proactive Communication
Know what questions your customers may ask in their buying journey and answer them with well-thought-out responses on your website’s ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Having an FAQ page will cut down on direct customer contact and provide customers with the peace of mind that you’re the right place for them to be spending their hard-earned money.
9. Make Purchasing Easy
Where will you be doing business? Will your products be available for purchase worldwide? Offering multiple payment options will reduce the instances of basket abandonment.
If you’re working with Amazon for DropShipping, you’ll already have access to a range of payment options. If you’re setting up a bespoke eCommerce store, consider offering payment types that fit both locally and internationally – PayPal is a well-known, trusted brand that can help customers convert on your site.
10. Choose the Right Platform for You
Armaan Resales has researched the best platforms for DropShipping success. If you’re just starting and you’re not sure who to host your products with, consider the following:
- Is their website mobile-friendly? Catering to your customers so that they can shop when and how they want is crucial.
- Are they PCI compliant? Data security is a big deal. If your platform is PCI compliant, make sure you have the badge on your website. This tells customers their data is safe in your hands.
- Can you scale up or down using their platform? If so, how much does it cost? As your business grows, you’ll want a platform that can scale with your growth.
- Taxes, freight and accounting – Can they integrate with your accounting software? Do they offer automated freight calculations, and are legal tax requirements met for origination and destination?
Starting a DropShipping store may seem daunting at first, but if you want to free yourself from the rat race, build wealth with a secondary income or ensure you’re living your best life in your later years, it is worth it.
Armaan Resales helps build long-term success, sustained business growth and financial freedom for its DropShipping clients.
