Drop Shipping 101：2021 年建立 Drop Shipping 業務的權威指南

“代發貨。” 任何曾經研究過在線業務如何運作的人都可能遇到過這個詞。

然而，真正了解它是如何工作的人就更少了。

對於剛接觸在線商業世界並希望進入電子商務領域的人來說，直銷過程似乎有點令人生畏，因為很難找到一個可靠的來源來告訴您需要知道的一切。

所以這裡是：直銷的權威指南。 它涵蓋了該術語的基本含義、這種特定商業模式的運作方式以及如何找到合適的產品和供應商以實際運營成功、蓬勃發展的電子商務直銷業務的所有內容。 所以讓我們直接進入它！

了解直銷

什麼是直銷？

Dropshipping 是一種商業模式，它使公司無需維護庫存、擁有倉庫來存儲產品，甚至不必自己將產品運送給客戶即可運營。 它的工作原理是，零售商與代銷商合作製造和/或倉儲產品、包裝產品並代表零售商將產品直接運送給零售商的客戶。

簡單來說，這就是直銷的工作原理：

• 客戶在零售商的在線商店上訂購產品。
• 零售商自動或手動將訂單和客戶詳細信息轉發給直銷供應商。
• 代發貨供應商以零售商的名義將訂單直接打包並運送給客戶。

這種商業模式極具吸引力，因為它消除了店主擁有辦公空間或倉庫等實體營業地點的需要——相反，他們只需要一台筆記本電腦和互聯網連接。

Drop Shipping 的視頻概述

直銷的優點

作為一種商業模式，直銷有幾個不同的方面被證明是有益的，例如：

• 設置簡單：不需要整個村莊的設置，因為它基本上只涉及 3 個步驟 - 找到供應商，設置您的網站並開始銷售商品！ 對於電子商務行業的新手來說，這種商業模式相對容易理解和實施。
• 建立 Dropship 業務的成本幾乎為零：在傳統的商業模式中，大部分成本與建立和運行零售業務有關，例如購買庫存。 由於直銷消除了這一步，因此消除了它的成本，您需要支付的只是運行您的網站（託管、主題、應用程序等）的相關成本。
• 您不必擔心高昂的管理費用：如前所述，企業主無需購買庫存，因此無需支付租賃或購買倉庫/辦公空間的成本以及與之相關的其他較小但相當大的成本（電/電話）賬單、文具等）不是問題。 管理網站的固定成本是企業主唯一需要擔心的。
• Dropshipping 作為一種商業模式的風險顯著降低：如果企業不銷售產品，它仍然不會損失任何東西，因此不得不出售庫存幾乎沒有壓力。
• 業務可以從任何地方運行且位置獨立：沒有辦公室，沒有倉庫，沒有員工，沒有麻煩。 幾乎沒有對物理空間的承諾意味著您可以坐在海灘上，啜飲莫吉托，同時還能盈利。 您所需要的只是您的筆記本電腦和互聯網。
• 您想出售的產品種類繁多：幾乎所有您想出售的產品都有一個代發貨供應商！ 您可以依靠一種出色的產品，同時銷售多種產品或混合使用； 這一切都取決於你。 找到你的利基市場，一定會有一個供應商迎合它。
• 更多的時間和資源來擴展您的業務：在傳統的零售業務模式中，如果您想要更多的利潤，您必須做更多的工作並投資更多的資源池。 通過直銷，您所要做的就是向您的直銷供應商發送更多訂單，然後讓他們處理其他所有事情，同時您賺取利潤，並有更多時間來製定您的業務計劃和規模！
• 減少損壞貨物的損失：由於貨物直接從供應商運送到客戶，因此涉及的運輸步驟更少，這大大降低了從一個物理空間轉移到另一個物理空間時損壞物品的風險。

直銷的缺點

就像生活中的一切一樣，直銷的許多優點也伴隨著一些缺點。 以下是直銷業務模式的一些缺點：

• 與批發或製造相比，利潤率略低：根據您的利基、位置或要求，供應商和供應商會向您收取更高的直銷產品價格，這確實會侵蝕您的利潤率。
• 出現問題時的完全責任：由於客戶是從零售商的網站上購買產品，如果供應商出現問題，仍然是零售商的錯，因為品牌是零售過程的門面。 這就是為什麼選擇合適的供應商非常重要的原因之一。
• 品牌的控制水平顯著降低：客戶滿意度通常與細節相關——發貨產品的個性化包裝和品牌、贈品和訂單隨附的備註——它幾乎總是重要的較小的事情。 不幸的是，直銷模式很少讓零售商有機會控制他們的品牌在交付和履行過程中的展示方式，因為供應商是運送產品的人。 但是，有些供應商可能願意付出更多努力——但請注意，這可能會讓您付出代價。
• 由於運輸的複雜性，可能會出現某些問題：銷售多種產品似乎是提高銷售額和賺取可觀利潤的好方法，但如果零售商有多個供應商提供這些產品，這實際上可能與直覺相反。 不同的供應商會根據位置、產品類型等因素收取不同的運費。如果客戶訂購了從不同供應商處發貨的多種產品，零售商將不得不單獨計算並支付運費。 將這些不同的運輸成本轉移給客戶可能會對轉化率產生負面影響，從而影響利潤率。
• 競爭水平相對較高：直銷業務模式的吸引力和受歡迎程度意味著每個細分市場和利基市場都有越來越多的零售商。 除非零售商迎合一個非常特定的細分市場或利基市場，否則競爭可能是有害的。
• 庫存管理可能很棘手：跟踪供應商的庫存幾乎是不可能的。 溝通不暢可能會導致諸如取消和不得不下訂單缺貨等問題。 當然，這方面現在可以通過軟件進行管理，但這些也是有代價的，可能會增加您的管理費用和固定成本

Dropshipping 的可行性和盈利能力如何？

通常，直銷的利潤率可以在 15%-45% 之間。 但是，耐用消費品和奢侈品（例如電子產品、珠寶等）的利潤率最高可達 100%。 這是關於在進入尚未過度飽和的市場時找到合適的利基市場和供應商。 確保更高利潤的一個好方法是直接從製造商而不是供應商/供應商處採購，從而有效地減少中間商。

一旦業務起步並獲得一點牽引力，它就可以迅速變成只需要最少投入的賺錢機器。 成功的直銷業務，例如 Irwin Dominguez，一位會計師轉為電子商務企業家，在推出在線業務的短短 8 個月內就實現了 100 萬美元的銷售額！ 並非每個直銷業務都是這種情況，但潛力是存在的。

直運船製造商、批發商和聚合商不是一樣的嗎？

沒有。 儘管這些術語在電子商務世界中經常互換使用，但它們並不相同。 讓我們澄清一下困惑：

• 製造商是實際自己生產產品的人。 他們可能有也可能沒有直銷計劃，但如果他們這樣做，零售商很幸運，因為它消除了中間人的麻煩和膨脹的成本，為零售商提供了最優惠的價格。 這些降低的成本轉化為更大的利潤率。
• 直銷批發商/供應商是指從製造商處批量購買一種產品並通過零售商的電子商務業務幫助將其打包並在線運送給買家的人。
• 另一方面，dropship 聚合器是從多個製造商處購買不同產品的人，為零售商提供各種產品以供銷售。 使用聚合器可以解決直接運輸的幾個缺點——沒有多個批發商的運輸成本，向多個供應商發送多個訂單的時間更少（因此防止訂單和發貨的混淆和延遲）——但是，請記住聚合商採取更高的削減，這可能會對您的利潤率產生不利影響。

Dropshipping 適合誰？

對於剛剛涉足在線商業世界的初學者來說，Dropshipping 是一種非常棒的商業模式。 它對新手很有吸引力，因為它是一種低風險、低投資的創業方式，因此感覺不像是一場賭博。

由於需要投資於這種商業模式的資金量最少，因此對於已經是有庫存的店主但希望在市場上試用特定產品以了解其之前表現如何的人來說，它也是理想的選擇囤積它。 如果您有興趣了解更多相關信息，請查看我們的如何在不使用 Dropship 時使用 Dropshipping 測試產品創意的帖子。

對於期待立即獲得驚人利潤的人來說，這種商業模式可能令人失望。 如果利潤是您的主要興趣，那麼您最好直接尋找來源（例如製造商），但製造商並不總是促進直銷。 由於與製造和批發等其他商業模式相比，直銷的利潤率也低得多，直銷對於一個新創品牌來說可能不是好兆頭，因為在涉及客戶時，該企業沒有最終控制權通過品牌推廣和品牌體驗獲得滿意度。

有幾種類型的企業家可以很好地使用直銷模式。 讓我們來看看其中的一些：

• 驗證企業家： Dropshipping 可以成為測試新產品甚至新創業公司的好方法，然後再對可能無法銷售的庫存進行大量投資，這使其成為需要高水平業務和產品驗證的企業家的完美商業模式投資。
• Budget Entrepreneur：代發貨絕對是最便宜的在線銷售方式，因為您無需預先購買任何庫存。 正因為如此，直接運輸方法適用於預算有限或希望盡可能降低啟動成本的企業家。
• 首次創業者：對於剛開始在線銷售的人來說，在線銷售的代發貨模式也是一種很好的商業模式。 事實上，在線銷售並不容易。 為普通營銷人員驅動流量並轉換流量可能需要很長時間才能弄清楚和優化。 由於與開展代銷業務相關的成本較低，因此它允許新企業家在投資數千（或更多）可能會陷入困境的庫存之前，開始學習開設商店、推動流量和轉化優化的訣竅。
• 沃爾瑪企業家：直接運輸也適用於想要銷售各種產品和型號的人。 根據您打算銷售的產品的價格範圍，或者如果您想銷售成百上千種不同的產品，如果沒有大量資金購買所有庫存幾乎是不可能的。 在這種情況下，dropshipping 將是合適的模型，因為同樣，您不需要預先購買庫存。
  

誰不適合直接送貨？

還有幾種類型的企業家不適合直銷：

• 以品牌為中心的企業家：建立一個長期可持續的品牌很困難，但回報是非常值得的。 然而，在利用一件代發業務模式的同時建立品牌的難度成倍增加，因為整個客戶體驗中有很多元素是您無法控制的。 例如，很多時候您可能會發現，在客戶從您那裡購買商品後，您的代銷商會將其售罄。 這讓您在嘗試協調您的客戶和您的托運人之間感到不舒服和令人沮喪，並且可能成為您的客戶的一種非常糟糕的體驗。 要記住的另一點是，因為您不是自己運送產品，所以您無法控制客戶收到包裹的體驗。 幾乎 100% 的時間它都會是裝在一個裝有花生的大棕色盒子裡的產品。 您需要問問自己，這是否是您希望客戶擁有的體驗。 最後，因為您自己不運送產品，所以您不擁有與運輸公司的關係。 當出現問題並且您的客戶沒有收到包裹時，您不能簡單地致電 UPS 並糾正問題。 您需要與忙碌的客戶代表協調這件事，這可能需要幾天時間才能解決，再次讓您的客戶口中苦澀。
• 以利潤為中心的企業家：直銷業務模式的最大問題可能是利潤微薄。 通常，對於傳統的一件代發產品和公司，您的毛利率（您的銷售價格減去您支付給代銷商的成本）約為 10-20%。 最終，當您支付信用卡交易費、送貨車費、電子郵件服務費和其他應用程序費用時，您只會看到百分之幾。 有相當一部分在線企業家每年收入 100 萬美元的代運業務，最終賺取 40-50k 的利潤。
• 非創意營銷人員：大多數製造商（也可以是自己產品的代銷商）的銷售目標是，30% 的銷售額需要來自直接面向消費者的銷售，通常是通過他們自己的電子商務網站。 這意味著，如果您銷售他們的產品，您將直接與您自己的供應商競爭，該供應商在相同產品上的利潤率比您高得多。 任何與他們正面交鋒的機會都是毫無意義的。 他們幾乎總是會贏，因為他們負擔得起。 如果您要擊敗自己的供應商，您需要發揮創造力，找到並利用他們不用於獲取客戶的渠道。 如果您唯一的想法是使用 Google Ads 和 Facebook Ads，那麼您可能就不走運了。
  

尋找完美的直銷產品來銷售

選擇最佳直銷產品的標準

為了有一個成功的電子商務企業，你必須要找到合適的產品來賣，但是當涉及到直銷業務尋找合適的產品可能是您的企業的最重要的方面。

幾乎沒有辦法確定哪些產品對於直銷業務模式來說是完全“完美的”，但是，擁有一份您確定會出售的產品創意的候選清單（基於確鑿的事實、數據和研究）是一個很好的方法開始確定您最終將銷售的產品。

以下是一組標準，可以幫助確定產品是否適合代發貨：

• 零售價：說到直銷，零售價和批發價至關重要。 這完全是關於通過為產品定價的方式達到最佳點：低價可能會鼓勵更多的銷售，但每個產品的利潤率會更小，而高價商品可能會賣得更少，但您將能夠使每件商品獲得更多利潤。 找到適合您和客戶期望的平衡點。 正如我們之前提到的，dropshipping 的利潤率可以在 15%-45% 之間，這就是您作為零售商應該瞄準的目標。 這通常意味著 50 美元到 100 美元之間的定價項目是最佳的，具體取決於產品。
• 尺寸和重量：不同產品的包裝和運輸成本因需要多少包裝材料以及運輸產品所需的工作量（人工或機器工作量）而異。 從這個意義上說，擁有更小、更輕的物品是最便宜的運輸方式，並為您提供最大的利潤率。 較大的產品也可以以相對較大的利潤率直接發貨，但從較小的開始是最好的方法。
• 交叉銷售產品：銷售成套相關產品是為您的客戶提供更多價值並鼓勵他們每次下訂單時購買更多產品的好方法。 考慮可以一起銷售哪些產品來服務於相關的利基市場。 例如，如果您放下畫架，那麼您也可以放下畫布、畫筆和其他藝術用品。 如果您選擇走這條路線，請考慮如何對您的產品進行戰略性定價，以使銷售對您和您的客戶而言都具有同等價值。 您可能會選擇以較低的利潤率（例如 10-15%）銷售您的主要產品以鼓勵您的客戶購買它，然後通過交叉銷售主要產品的其他配件和組件以較低的價格來彌補利潤損失更大的標記（例如 100%）。
• 耐用性：如果您銷售的產品和商品是一次性和/或可再生的，您的客戶更有可能再次下訂單，從而提高您的銷售額。 許多零售商為其客戶設置了訂閱選項，以確保始終有重複購買。 您可以通過為訂閱您的服務的用戶提供折扣，使其成為對您的客戶更具吸引力的優惠。
• 周轉率：考慮您所銷售產品的周轉率（產品更改、更新、打折等的速率）。 作為擁有在線商店的零售商，您的很多業務將來自產品攝影和您發布的有關產品的副本/內容。 這些是耗時的，並且可能也會花費您。 因此，如果您銷售的產品在短時間內不斷變化，您將不得不不斷切換內容，這將是對時間和金錢的持續再投資——同時增加了實際更新所有內容的壓力。 詳細了解如何拍攝出色的產品照片、創建精美的產品頁面以及如何撰寫出色的產品說明。

要避免的直銷錯誤

選擇代發貨產品時應避免的常見錯誤：

• 不要根據您的喜好和不喜歡選擇產品：始終根據事實、研究、盡職調查以及評估和驗證市場需求來決定您的產品。
• 請勿出售仿冒品或“真實副本”：這不僅是一種廉價的噱頭，不一定能讓您與客戶取得聯繫，而且在大多數國家/地區也是非法的！ 避免使用這些類型的產品，這樣您就可以避免從可靠的官方銷售商（例如 MXED（MXED Review））購買麻煩或代銷產品。
• 不要隨波逐流： “如果每個人都在銷售它，我也應該”，這並不總是選擇產品的正確理由。 趨勢產品的市場通常非常飽和，因此競爭程度會很高。 如果趨勢產品是你想要追求的東西，那麼一定要對趨勢的興衰進行徹底的研究，這樣你就知道對消費者的興趣會有什麼期望。 查看像 Google Trends 這樣的工具來幫助評估趨勢。

了解您的目標市場和利基

確保您做好市場調查將為您的業務奠定堅實的基礎。 以下是一些提示，可幫助您更好地了解目標市場和細分市場：

• 第一步：第一步也是最重要的一步是衡量您產品的當前需求。 使用 KWFinder 工具了解您的產品關鍵字每月排名情況——這將使您了解每月有多少人在 Google 等搜索引擎中搜索您的產品，並讓您大致了解你的產品的需求是什麼。 理想情況下，如果您打算圍繞它開展業務，您希望找到每月搜索量數以千計的關鍵字，但如果您的產品服務於新興市場，那麼可能還沒有人搜索它。 要了解有關關鍵字研究及其如何幫助您成功建立業務的更多信息，請查看我們的關鍵字研究終極指南，如果您想了解有關 KWFinder 工具的更多信息，請查看我們的 KWFinder 評論。
• 第二步：第二步是了解季節性如何影響客戶的購買模式。 某些產品只是季節性商品，而其他產品則全年都很好，但您如何弄清楚兩者之間的區別？ 當您可以只使用 Google 趨勢時，猜測可能是徒勞且不必要的。 該工具為用戶提供了大量時間內任何給定產品（或關鍵字）的搜索高峰期的圖形分析。 預測趨勢可以幫助您為全年銷售的下降或高峰做好準備，並確保您不會措手不及。
• 第三步：第三步是確定你的競爭對手的範圍並觀察他們如何與市場互動。 搜索競爭對手的網站、社交媒體平台或他們在亞馬遜和 eBay 等市場上的存在，並密切關注他們收到的評分、評論、評論和整體參與度以及他們的客戶所說的話。 看看您是否能在競爭對手沒有達到市場預期的情況下找到任何機會，以便您可以繼續縮小差距。

關於您的目標市場需要考慮的事實

分析目標市場時應考慮的因素包括：

• 人口統計：人口統計數據，例如您的受眾的物理/地理位置、收入範圍等，對於了解您的受眾有多大、他們中的大多數在哪里以及您如何為他們提供直銷產品很重要.
• 性別：從統計數據來看，男性和女性的購物方式不同，在直銷商品或一般產品方面有不同的支出和購買模式。 雖然您的潛在目標市場的性別可能不是最重要的方面，但仍然值得研究。 他們用於購物的設備類型、適合他們的內容類型（推薦、產品描述等）、促進客戶轉化的語言類型——所有這些因素也可能受到性別的影響。
• 年齡範圍：能夠了解不同年齡組的消費模式和購買模式非常有用。 千禧一代（出生於 1980 年至 2000 年之間的人）被證明屬於較低的收入階層，並且在統計上支出較少，因此，直接針對年輕人的年齡範圍的昂貴產品直接發貨可能並不完全可取。 60 歲以上的人群也是如此，因為他們通常不喜歡通過互聯網購買產品，無論是否直接發貨。
• 機構類型：您是否直接向客戶、其他企業或政府組織銷售您的產品？ 無論您是銷售直接運輸的商品，企業對消費者 (B2C)、企業對企業 (B2B) 還是企業對政府 (B2G) 都會影響您業務的許多方面，例如您的客戶到底是誰，他們從你那裡購買了多少產品，他們購買你產品的主要目標，你如何向他們推銷你的產品等等。 通常，當您直接向消費者進行直銷時，最常見的市場是直接銷售給消費者，因此請考慮這將如何影響您的整體業務。

了解你的競爭對手

為了擊敗競爭對手，您需要了解競爭對手。 如果您要銷售的產品已經建立了賣家，這實際上是一個好兆頭。 但是，如果該領域的賣家過多，則您的企業在所有其他企業中脫穎而出可能會造成問題。

為了擴大競爭範圍，您可以使用以下策略：

• 使用在線工具查看競爭對手的網站： SEMrush 等在線站點瀏覽器允許您僅使用 URL 來檢查您選擇的任何網站的排名和域權限。 這有助於您很好地了解他們的流量有多少來自關鍵字和其他鏈接，以及它們的確切來源。 這一點，連同親自檢查他們的網站，應該讓你全面了解他們網站的運作，你可以根據事實和數據。 在我們的 SEMrush 評論中了解有關 SEMrush 的更多信息。
• 從競爭中訂購產品以了解其流程是如何運作的：某些東西在網上出現的方式在現實生活中可能會很明顯不同。 從競爭中訂購可以讓您了解使他們與眾不同的怪癖，他們品牌體驗的負面影響，甚至可能是您自己業務的想法和技巧。 話雖如此，不一定要復制他們的部分或全部購物和運輸過程，只需觀察他們的任何缺陷，以便您可以努力改進它們以獲得您自己的客戶體驗。
• 分析他們的社交媒體渠道：您競爭對手的社交媒體渠道是獲得客戶對其業務的直接反饋的絕佳方式，也為您分析他們的營銷策略提供了良好的基礎。 檢查他們品牌的參與程度以及您可能為您的品牌努力的缺陷。 當您知道他們製作的內容類型和規模時，將您自己的內容與他們的內容進行對比也會變得更容易。

尋找合適的產品進行直銷

一旦你知道你對直銷感興趣的產品，你必須找出該產品的實際來源。

首先創建一個列表，最好是一個包含名稱和來源的電子表格（使用 Google Sheets 或 AirTable），這樣您就不會忘記找到產品的位置。 此電子表格/列表還可作為數據庫以供日後參考。

不要低估一個簡單的谷歌搜索的力量。 在 Google 中搜索您的潛在產品並觀看自動完成功能。 大多數自動完成建議都是基於其他搜索引擎用戶（例如您的潛在客戶或供應商）正在尋找的熱門關鍵字。 您甚至可以深入研究這些自動完成結果，為您的品牌戰略指明方向，因為您可以找到相關術語等。此外，Google 搜索結果還將生成“相關搜索”列表，這些搜索結果本質上是相似的關鍵字，但批量搜索詞組。

另一種根據消費者需求選擇產品的獨特方式是查看產品論壇和評論網站。 尋找正在尋找某些類型的產品或對其贊不絕口的評論，然後提供它們。 評論網站還可以作為排名參數，因為更受歡迎的產品排名更高，這意味著更有可能在該特定商品上獲得更多銷售。 查看這些與產品相關的 Reddit 帖子，以更好地了解消費者的想法和需求，並查看流行的產品評論博客，例如 Uncrate、AcquireMag 和 Bless This Stuff，或趨勢出版物，例如 PSFK、Cool Hunting 和 The Cool Hunter。 在我們在線銷售熱門產品的權威指南中找到這些資源的更完整列表。

以下是一些過去非常受歡迎並且今年特別流行的產品：

• 筆記本、計劃表和日記本
• 定製手機殼
• 定制 T 卹
• 手機配件
• 珠寶
• 露營裝備
• 健康/超級食品
• 健身房和健身器材
• 嬰兒用品
• 護膚品
• 定制馬克杯

A lot of these products can be related to pop culture and trends in the media which influence buyers, so this is not a definitive list of what works and what doesn't—just the most popular selling items over the past year. Once you can understand trends in the media, it may benefit you as a business owner to forecast product trends, too.

Finding the Right Dropshipping Supplier

The entire drop shipping model is based on the supplier doing their job well and fulfilling orders punctually and efficiently. Therefore it goes without saying that choosing the right supplier is one of, if not the most important step towards setting up a successful brand. If your supplier/vendor messes up an order, you and your business are responsible, so the key is to find someone who sticks to the plan and is open with communicating any issues.

Here are a few factors to keep in mind when choosing a dropship supplier:

• Find an Experienced Dropshipper with Helpful Sales Representatives: Nothing beats experience. A drop shipper who knows the pitfalls of drop shipping and how to handle them efficiently, coupled with a sales rep who can answer any queries to put your mind at ease, will make a good team and definitely reflect positively on your business.
• Find a Dropshipper who Provides Top-Notch, High-Quality Products: High-quality products yield a higher level of customer satisfaction which means a lower rate of returned items and dissatisfied customers. Product reviews and testimonials can go a long way to boost business, therefore having a good quality product is imperative.
• Find a Dropshipper who has Technological Abilities: When choosing your drop shipper, make sure that they have the technological capabilities to keep up with the times. If you need to scale your business, it would be a shame if you had to break a great business partnership with your drop shipper just because they wouldn't be able to keep up with your growth.
• Find a Dropshipper who is Punctual & Efficient with the Shipping Process: Drop shippers who ship products within a 24-48 hour period are a great way to ensure happy customers. Due to the competitiveness of the market, long shipping times can be unattractive your customers. It would be advisable to place test orders with your supplier to see how the process works and get a better idea before you make an informed decision.

As simple as it may sound, Google is your best bet when looking for dropship suppliers. Several startup incubators and websites dedicated to ecommerce, that pop up as search results, will have complete directories of drop shippers and their contact information. Once you've obtained contact details for dropshipping suppliers who provide the products you're interested in selling, send them a short but polite email asking some relevant questions. This way you'll be able to gauge how quickly they respond and how helpful their sales reps are.

It's not always possible to know whether you and your suppliers will be a great fit right off the bat, however, it is possible to ask specific questions that will make the vetting process more efficient.

A few of the questions you ask in your first email could include some, but not all, of the following (try to stick to 3 questions in the first email so it's not too overwhelming for the supplier):

• Do you manufacture customized items if required?
• What are your pricing terms and are they negotiable?
• Are there any other additional costs besides the direct costs? (Always make sure there are no other hidden costs)
• Do you have a return policy?
• Are you also a retailer/direct seller?
• What kind of profit margin can I expect?
• Will the prices ever fluctuate?
• Do the products come with a warranty or guarantee?
• Do you have a dedicated rep that will answer any of my questions that may arise?
• Do you have and use a data feed?

The point is to make sure that the supplier doesn't take advantage of you because these questions prove that you have done your homework. The last thing you want is to not be taken seriously because you are considered a newbie. The retailer-supplier relation is a long term one, thus needs a certain amount of commitment to it.

That being said, there are many dropshipping scams out there, too. In order to safeguard yourself and your business from them, you need to keep an eye out for any red flags. For instance, if a dropshipper does not accept checks or credit and asks for only bank transfers, it may be a warning sign.

Scammers will also avoid using an address on their business correspondence, website, etc. Any supplier that is working legally is required to display an address. Furthermore, many scams also involve the age-old “membership fees” and while this may not always be a scam, it's advisable to conduct thorough research and do your own due diligence!

You can obviously take some measures to avoid being the victim of such scams and frauds:

• Use online tools to check the age of a domain: This will help you cross-check the facts with what the supplier claims. A newer domain could indicate a scam, especially if it doesn't match their answers. Besides, as discussed before, checking the domain age can also help establish how experienced the supplier is online.
• Check reviews about the particular supplier online: Chances are if someone has been scammed by the supplier before the victim might have put out a warning message/negative review.
• The supplier's business should be registered and the address of their warehouse/office should ideally be listed as a place of business or commercial space. Getting “residential” space results online may be a bad indicator.
• If you are still unsure, you could always contact the manufacturer directly to cross-check any facts. Just be wary about the fact that if it's a big scam, the supposed “manufacturer” might be in on it too.

Asking the right questions, taking the required precautions and doing your research should help you find the right supplier that fits your business! Once such major aspects are dealt with, you can focus on setting up a system for running your day to day operations as smoothly as possible.

Running Your Drop Shipping Business

So you've done your research, you've managed to settle on the perfect products to dropship and have roped in the best supplier possible. You're all set to start dropshipping goods and making that mullah! However, setting up the business is usually one thing, but running it on a day-to-day basis is a completely different ball game. There are various different aspects of running a business, even if it's a dropshipping business, that you as the retailer have to consider: Marketing, refunds, returns, replacements, inventory, fulfillment, customer support and more. So dive into these various aspects of running a dropshipping business.

Marketing Your Drop Shipping Business

How will you sell your products if no one knows about them or your brand? Why should anyone online trust you—a stranger? That's the magic of marketing; it can make even strangers trust you enough to hand over their hard-earned money to you, willingly.

Marketing is a subjective field and there are a billion tactics that can be used to effectively position your brand while driving your brand's awareness and sales up. If your strategy is well planned, it can help you weed out the rest of the competition too.

Social Media for Your Drop Shipping Business

One of the most effective ways to promote, advertise, acquire customers and distribute content is through social media, so it comes as no surprise when social platforms are also used for digital marketing. Facebook, for example, has over 1.7 billion active users from different walks of life and it is this variety that makes it so attractive to digital marketers.

One thing to remember is that content is key. No matter how big a platform is or how amazing the product that you are selling is, it means nothing without great content backing it up.

Customer Ratings and Reviews of Your Dropshipping Business

In the dropshipping business model, a few bad customer reviews can literally ruin a business. Think about it: When you shop online from websites such as Amazon and eBay, one of the deciding purchasing factors can be the product rating and what other customers have to say about it—it's the same case with drop shipping too. A few great reviews can also give you that edge over the competition and that's what's going to help you successfully convert visitors to your website.

A surefire way to get great customer reviews is by following through on amazing customer experience: Short shipping times, high-quality products, excellent customer service and asking for feedback to improve in the future. You can also use customer feedback as testimonials for your website and social media, which can also help you successfully convert more customers.

Email Marketing for Your Dropshipping Business

This is one of the most underrated tools in a digital marketer's kit. Email marketing can be used to keep your customers in the loop about any major changes in the company: Price changes, sales, discounts, product-related content, and industry-specific content are just some ways that email marketing can be used.

These days, software such as Klaviyo and CM Commerce take the hassle out of sending out emails to your audience by automating some of the processes, creating and saving templates, and producing reports and analytics.

PPC Advertising (Pay Per Click Ads) for Your Dropshipping Business

As mentioned earlier, several social media channels allow pay per click advertising, for example, Facebook Ads. This is a typical digital marketing move that trades money for traffic to the ad buyer's website. Google Ads is another very popular platform for digital advertising and is attractive due to the Google Analytics tool that can help marketers create reports with facts and figures with ease.

Growth Hacking for Your Dropshipping Business

Growth hacking is an inexpensive, yet highly effective way of getting creative marketing campaigns online. A few examples of growth hacking include retargeting old campaigns and appearing as a guest blogger for a popular website in your particular niche. Essentially most of this involves content marketing.

Refunds, Returns & Replacements for Dropshipped Products

As an online business owner, dealing with refunds, returns and replacements is inevitable. Initially, this may seem discouraging however it's just part and parcel of running an online store. 100% customer satisfaction is a myth no matter how hard you try.

The process for refunding dropshipped products is as follows:

• The customer will place an order for the refund with your business, either through email or over the phone.
• You are then required to ask the supplier for a return merchandise authorization number.
• Once the customer mails the product back to the supplier the supplier will refund the wholesale amount to your account, after which you can initiate the refund of the retail price for the product to the customer.

Even though this process may seem tedious, if the customer is returning a product within the time period stated in the supplier's return policy, there should not be a problem. The only minor inconvenience that you may face is if the supplier charges a restocking fee, which you as the retailer will have to bear the cost of. In actuality, this should not be a major loss but rather just a minor inconvenience that comes as a side effect of owning an online business.

Defective Dropshipping Products

Defective items can be slightly trickier: Even if the customer is returning a defective product, someone will still have to incur the cost of returning the product. However, if the cost does land upon you, it would be unwise to transfer the cost onto the customer at the risk of losing or alienating them. It's not your customer's fault if you sold them a defective product, so it seems unfair to expect them to incur the cost of returning the product.

What Do You Do When it's the Supplier's Fault?

If the supplier messes up the order, they are usually willing to either reimburse the customer or replace the product for free. Most of the time it comes down to communicating what you expect from the supplier if they do mess up an order. In most cases, it is best to communicate over email as it also serves as a written record of conversations.

In cases where a mix-up has caused your company a large loss and the supplier refuses to pay you back taking legal action is always a viable option—this should only be kept as the last resort in extreme cases.

Handling Dropshipping Inventory

With the dropshipping business model, even though you don't personally maintain any inventory, as a retailer you may still be required to manage inventory orders if your orders are not forwarded automatically to your dropshipping supplier. This process can be time-consuming and tedious, but there is now inventory management software available online and many drop shippers will have an app you can connect directly to your Shopify store so you can automatically forward your orders.

What to Do When Dropshipping Products are Out of Stock

If a customer has placed an order and the product is out of stock simply put the product on backorder in the supplier's inventory and communicate to the customer that you will not be able to fulfill the order right away. Give them the option of waiting until the product is in stock again or for a full refund. The key is to communicate with your customers clearly on whether the product will be available anytime soon. If you aren't absolutely sure, take a calculated guess and let them know the same. Honesty and communication with your customer is the best policy in this situation.

Drop Shipping & Fulfillment

The dropship fulfillment process is heavily dependent on your level of involvement: Do you want to automate it or not? Certain aspects will be automated such as the receipt of purchase, shipping information, etc.

If you have multiple suppliers, the fulfillment process will include sending all your orders to the appropriate supplier via email. The best supplier for each product and customer will rely on the location, cost of shipping, and availability. These processes can be automated at varying degrees.

Dropshipping Problems to Avoid

Even though we discussed scams on the dropshipping supplier's end, fraudulent activities are not just limited to them. While running an online store, it may be common to come across fraudulent dropship orders from fraudulent customers.

One way of telling these fraudulent orders apart from the genuine ones is when the shipping address and billing address are different. Sometimes even the name on one either address will differ. These could be clear indicators of credit card fraud.

Customer Support for Your Dropshipping Business

Providing good customer support can determine how well your dropshipping business does. Due to how competitive the drop shipping industry is, if a brand has a good customer support system it can do wonders for the company.

Here are the most widely used and popular types of customer support in the ecommerce industry:

• Phone Support: Having a phone customer support system is one of the quickest and most efficient ways of connecting directly with the customer. Not only is it easier to defuse tricky situations, but it is also the fastest way to get feedback from the customer. Google offers tools like Google Voice which lets you set up a free number that routes calls to any number specified by you. A similar alternative is OpenPhone, which is specifically made for ecommerce businesses.
• Email Support: While the telephone is a popular method of customer support, email is more likely to be your primary method of providing support. It is advisable to set up domain emails for your website (example: [email protected]). Not only is this professional but this also establishes your brand as a legitimate entity in the mind of your customers. Help Scout is an excellent email support software as is Gorgias if you're using the Shopify ecommerce platform.
• Social Media Support: Customers turn to social media pages of brands sometimes even before contacting the brand itself. This is because social media is a public forum and more often than not customers will already find the answers to their questions there. A good customer support representative on social media will be sure to engage with the audience even if the feedback is negative. This can help establish good faith between a customer and the brand.
• Live Chat Support: Several brands are incorporating live chats on their websites as part of their customer service and support systems. This method is gaining popularity because it is as quick as a phone call, yet less intimidating then posting queries on a public forum. If you don't want to invest in this yet, you can just use social media such as Facebook Messenger, or the direct message services on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Live chat customer support may not be the best way to go if your business is still limited to one person and can be worth exploring when your business scales. Check out Gorgias as well to launch live chat on your Shopify store.

Growing Your Dropshipping Business

Once you have running a business down to a science it's only a matter of time until your company really starts to take off. Scaling your online store can be exciting, but there are a few things that you should keep in mind. The key point to remember is that scaling does not mean double the hours of work for more profits, but on the contrary, it implies being able to drive the sales number up even more with lesser time invested—through efficiency and allocating resources smartly.

While scaling the business does not necessarily mean to bring on more employees or contractors, it does seem like the most natural progression. It can be a challenging experience to trust others with your brand but once you do find the right people who match your own wavelength, it can be a rewarding step too.

Firstly, draw up a list of tasks that you can probably outsource and another that needs a more specific approach to them. This list will help you identify the tasks that are monotonous and do not necessarily require your direct input. You can redirect your resources to working out better business strategies, creating and strengthen your relationship with your suppliers and work towards making better marketing decisions.

Hire an Assistant

There are two ways you could go about this, depending on how location dependent you want or need to be. You could either hire someone you know and work together with every day at a small office/coworking space or maybe even from home. The alternative to that is to hire a VA, commonly known as a Virtual Assistant.

The most attractive quality of hiring a VA is that the person does not even need to be on the same continent to be able to successfully do the job—as long as they have access to a laptop, phone, and the internet, while speaking at least one of the languages that you conduct business in, you are good to go.

This means if you find that assistants/VAs in your vicinity are charging extortionist rates, you could outsource the work to someone else who is location independent, perhaps somewhere in Asia or Eastern Europe, who will do the same job at a much more reasonable price. A few responsibilities that can be given to the assistant, are:

• Social Media Marketing and Management
• Customer Support and Services
• Graphic Design and Content Writing/Copywriting
• 搜索引擎優化/搜索引擎優化
• Maintaining the Website
• Managing the Inventory Orders

Create a process flow and outline of each job to ensure that anyone you hire can understand how your particular system works for your dropshipping business.

You can list potential openings for VAs on several different remote job sites and on groups for digital nomads. There is almost always someone who knows someone who might be perfect for the job. Most remote working/digital nomad communities are very helpful and often collaborate with each other. Just make sure that the job description is well written so that the person applying can have a comprehensive understanding of what the job entails—use the process flow you created for this part.

Check out these resources to hire virtual assistants:

• 加班
• 五福
• 寫手

There are several templates for job descriptions online but here is one that can be altered per your requirements:

“Hey there,

We're looking for a proactive virtual assistant to help run and manage [insert what you need help with here] at [insert your dropshipping business name here].

Your weekly tasks will include:

– [Task one]
– [Task two]
– [Task three]

You should have in-depth knowledge of [enter skills here], be comfortable using software/s such as [insert tools here] and be fluent in English (verbal and written) [+ any other languages if required].

In the first line of your application, please tell us what your favorite hobby is. If you don't respond to this request, we'll assume that you haven't read the job description and won't consider you.

Looking forward to hearing from you!”

Such templates can be used for job listing websites, forums, social media, and even for print.

In order to pick the right person as your VA, conduct a thorough interview over Skype and in person, if possible. Make sure that you have gone through their application and ensure that they have all the attributes required. Based on how much time you would have to train them, you can tell how well they would fit with your business. Shortlist at least 2-5 people so that you have some reliable backups if your original candidate doesn't cut it.

Training your chosen VA can be a two-way knowledge highway. Not only are you teaching them, but can also stand to learn from their previous experiences, inside and outside the industry.

Supply tools to them (such as this guide) and other video material that is easily available, and then discuss how they can implement what they've learned. This material can also double as a refresher course in case they forget certain aspects of the job. Give constructive feedback on their work and praise them when they do a good job! It's about creating lasting work relationships.

Scaling Through Multi-Channels

As your business grows, it would make sense that you would want to sell through multiple channels, namely Amazon, eBay, Shopify, etc. so that you can access a larger market. The problem with this is that you may list the same product from the same supplier on two different sites and get two different customer orders. It's well and fine if the product is in stock, however, it may be problematic if that isn't the case. Once backorders start piling up and shipments start getting delayed, customers often become unhappy.

This is in no way supposed to discourage anyone who wants to scale their online business through multiple channels, but rather serve as a reminder that it is important to strategically plan these things beforehand. A good way to handle this issue could be to get a virtual assistant as mentioned before and have an inventory management software at hand.

Building Your Own Online Dropshipping Store

While using other online marketplaces can only get you so far, the key to truly growing and scaling your business is to have your own online store. Having your own store ensures but you have the most control over your customer experience and brand positioning. This also means that you will incur lower fees but gain higher profits.

There are several online store builders, such as Shopify, that can help create your web store—it comes with various different templates to choose from and all you have to do is add your products. To learn more about Shopify and the features and services they offer ecommerce entrepreneurs, check out our Shopify Review.

Utilizing Your Email List to the Maximum

Building a good email list is all about having recipients who are highly targeted and constantly engaged. When you do have a strong email list it can end up being one of the single most important marketing assets that you own. Strong email lists are closely related to owning your own store (Shopify) instead of using a marketplace (Amazon, eBay, or Etsy). With an email list, you have direct access to your customers—you don't have to hope that they're online and scrolling down their newsfeeds to see your posts, you don't have to pay to get your emails into their inboxes, and you don't have to compete with other sellers in your emails. Emails are one of the most direct ways to engage with your audience.

Building an email list isn't too complicated. All you have to do is get your site visitors to give their email to you (try tools like Sumo or Privy that offer many different email capture strategies) and then send out email newsletters through a service such as Klaviyo or CM Commerce.

Marketing and Advertising

Merely increasing your marketing spend is not the best way to scale your dropshipping business. It's not how much money you spend but how you spend your money that matters.

Allocating resources to pay per click advertising is a smarter move for the dropshipping business model. You can buy PPC ads on almost every social media platform possible from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter and Pinterest.

While PPC ads might seem straightforward, it can be tricky to know where to invest your money. You don't want to be investing in the wrong kind of ads only to realize that they aren't bringing in the traffic that you need or want. Like with everything else: Do your research, especially when it comes to marketing and advertising online.

Example of a Successful Drop Shipping Business

As mentioned earlier in this guide, Irwin Dominguez, an accountant turned ecommerce entrepreneur, has been one of the greatest success stories for dropshipping in recent times. Within just 8 months of establishing his drop shipping business, Irwin was already earning over 1 million US dollars in sales. Reaching a sales record of up to $30,000, he says, was his goal, and he wasn't aiming to live luxuriously, just to be able to provide for his family.

Here is an excerpt from his interview with Oberlo:

When asked about how he got started and what his top recommendations are for anybody who is interested in drop shipping, he said:

“I literally just opened a Shopify account, created my store, added a few drop shipped products with Oberlo, and that's it. I didn't do a lot of reading or researching because I always try to learn by doing. Dropshipping ecommerce success requires very little capital and allows you to experiment a lot. This is what I love about it the most.

I do have to admit, though, that I Google a lot of questions that come up as I'm learning by doing….
…If I started ecommerce all over again, I would start sooner. I waited a full month-and-a-half after my good friend told me about his ecommerce success. It costs no money to launch a store and it's so “simple” to get started with all the technology available right now — just get started, you literally have nothing to lose.

Opportunity, yes — I wish I started this sooner because if I were doing this even just one year earlier, there would've been a lot less competition; I would've made a lot more money; and I could have established myself in other niches. But overall, there are still plenty of opportunities — you just have to be a little more creative with marketing.”

Additional Drop Shipping Resources

How To Start A Drop Ship Business Video

結論

So this concludes our definitive guide to dropshipping. If you have made it here, you now know how to set up and kick start your own dropshipping business. Just like with any other endeavor in life, setting up your own business also requires a certain degree of commitment, effort, and passion to make it work. It's not just about creating the business but also following through and learning how to run it on a day-to-day basis.

The best part about dropshipping is that you can learn through testing your products and ideas, in real-time and if something doesn't work all you have to do is remove it from your store. This business model is also a great way of testing out product ideas for traditional business models. Dropshipping provides a safe space to experiment and see what works without incurring any major losses which can definitely give business owners the confidence to say that they have a working knowledge of how the industry functions. No upfront cost and very little risk make the dropshipping business model an exciting business model to venture into.

So experiment with dropshipping your way and let us know how it works out! Share this guide with someone who would find it useful. Do you have any tips and tricks or general advice that could help the ecommerce community? Let us know in the comments down below!