This article is designed for those who are currently dropshipping products or want to create their own products for eCommerce.
Before we get into the details, it is important to be aware of the benefits and drawbacks of each type of business model. Let’s talk about the pros and cons to dropshipping over branded eCommerce.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a great way for small-business owners and entrepreneurs to get into eCommerce.
Pros
Dropshipping can be a great way to start a low-risk company. Dropshipping is a great way to start a business and save money.
- Low Risk: You don’t need to buy or stock products. This means that you won’t have to worry about inventory staleness. This allows you to easily pivot your business and modify your product line as needed.
- You can avoid one of the biggest barriers to entry for young entrepreneurs by having low startup costs
- Simple processes: You can now market and sell your products without worrying about the fulfillment. Dropshipping suppliers take care of picking, packing and shipping so you can manage your business from anywhere. Dropshipping partners may offer automated back-end integration. This allows orders to be shipped directly from the supplier, rather than you having to manually import them. This allows you to focus on your own zone of genius, even if you’re a small team.
- Dropshipping established and well-known products will position your brand. This will also help to reduce the amount that a customer needs before making a purchase.
Cons
Dropshipping offers many benefits, but it also has significant disadvantages such as low margins and high competition.
- Dropship products generally have very low margins. Although you may have lower costs, it will be difficult to make significant profits on each item. To make a dropshipping business profitable, you will need to have a large volume of recurring customers.
- Huge competition: Lower barriers to entry mean more players in this field. Dropshipping is a popular way to quickly start a business. Dropshipping is a competitive business model. You will be competing with many other entrepreneurs selling similar products. This means you need to develop unique marketing strategies to distinguish your business from others.
- Inventory flow Because you don’t have control over inventory, advertised products may become out of stock or backordered without any advance notice. Your website could accept orders for items that are not in stock if it isn’t in sync with current inventory levels. This situation may not be within your control but you can see how it can negatively impact your business and cause headaches for your customer support team.
eCommerce
Branded eCommerce products can be a great way to differentiate your business and give you more control over your brand.
Pros
Businesses can have greater control over their brand, product pricing and quality control.
- Brand control You have complete creative freedom when creating your own brand products. You have complete control over your brand.
- Price control Manufacturing your own products gives you the ability to set your product’s price.
- Higher margins: You can have greater control over the pricing and lower unit costs, which will allow you to create higher profit margins for your products.
- Quality control You will have greater control over the quality and design of the products that you sell, regardless of whether you outsource manufacturing.
Cons
Branding and creating your own products can lead to high startup costs, reduced agility, longer product creation times, and potential fraud.
- High startup cost: To ensure a low unit price, you’ll likely have large MOQs. Your initial inventory orders can cost you thousands of dollars if the products you create have high manufacturing costs.
- You lose agility. It is more difficult to pivot quickly if you have a lot of branded inventory. You may end up with an inordinate amount of inventory that you are unable to sell. It is important to validate your product before making large-scale inventory purchases.
- It takes longer to create branded products The prototypes are first, followed by the testing of the manufactured samples. Next, you will need to refine and finalize the product before it is finally ready to go to market. You may encounter additional delays or obstacles if you use an overseas manufacturer. These include language barriers, transit delays, cultural differences, and other nuances. Many factories in China, for example, take several weeks off to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This can cause inventory production to stop completely and product restocking delays.
- Fraud potential: Many stories have been told about business owners being conned by foreign manufacturers. Manufacturers may make cuts to reduce their costs. You might also find overseas suppliers producing more inventory than your order and then selling your products fraudulently for a lower price. These stories shouldn’t discourage you from making your own products. However, it is important that you are aware of possible scams and other obstacles.
Are you ready to move from dropshipping to selling branded eCommerce products instead? Let’s get started!
How to Move from Dropshipping to Branded eCommerce
This project flow will help you to move from dropshipping into branded products.
Create an initial design for your product and do market research.
Market research can help you to understand your target audience. This audience may be different from the one you expect or want. To understand the supply and demand for similar products and how they are perceived by customers, conduct a competitive analysis. This will help you identify what makes your product unique and better. You should have an idea of the buyer expectations if you have ever dropshipped similar items to the one that you want to brand.
Potential manufacturers.
Is your product going to be made locally or imported? Domestic manufacturing will typically have higher costs than overseas manufacturers (for example in China, India or Taiwan). Fortunately, large B2B (business-to-business) marketplaces, such as Alibaba and IndiaMart, allow you to connect easily with manufacturers in foreign markets. Do your research to find the best manufacturers. You can establish lines of communication to determine the manufacturer’s responsiveness. Learn about the import logistics involved and the associated costs. Prices will vary depending on which manufacturer you are dealing with.
Create your business plan.
It will take more capital and organization to transition from dropshipper into branded eCommerce business. The U.S. can help you create a business plan. The Small Business Administration offers a wealth of resources.
Create your products and packaging.
Develop the design and feel of your product packaging and products strategically. To ensure quality control, always obtain multiple samples during manufacturing. Although it may increase startup costs, samples can be an investment. This is a critical step in building a successful brand. Packaging is also important! The customer experience goes beyond the product itself. The customer experience should be seamless from the moment of delivery to the moment of use.
Establish product distribution channels and fulfillment logistics.
Is your product available for sale anywhere, other than your website? You can make your product search easier and more convenient by listing it on Amazon, Jet or Walmart.
How will you handle product returns, order fulfillment and inventory storage? Are you planning to rent space, hire warehouse workers, or set up shipping accounts? A fulfillment company can help you manage inventory, shipping, and multichannel eCommerce fulfillment.
Create your brand.
Your differentiators are what make you stand out: Why would a potential client choose your brand over another?
Your message is important. Your brand’s ability and potential to win loyal customers is enhanced if you can tell why your are in this industry. Tell your customers a story that they can relate to. You can refine your messaging if your message is difficult to comprehend and repetitive.
Your brand’s look and feel. What do you want your customers to think about your brand? Are you looking for an exclusive VIP experience? Or do you want to be seen as a friendly, grassroots organization? Are you looking for customers to feel unique and special when they buy your products? Or do they want to feel responsible and conscientious by purchasing your products? You must ensure that your brand’s promises are fulfilled by your products.
Your brand language should be developed. Your brand must be reflected in the visual and messaging aspects of your website, marketing materials, and advertisements. Use words and phrases that are relatable to your target audience.
Create a marketing strategy for your new products.
To launch your product, you need to review your market research. How you will promote your brand and the new products. Engage influential people in your industry and offer incentives to early adopters.
Make your website and social media more attractive
Your customers should experience seamless and consistent experiences wherever they come across your brand. Your website, social media and other distribution channels should be updated regularly. This helps to show the ongoing vitality of your brand.
Provide superior customer service.
To learn more about your customers’ experiences with your brand, talk to them as soon as possible. Your brand’s reputation will be maintained and your customers’ loyalty will continue to grow. Engage your customers to create brand advocates from loyal consumers.
These steps may not lead you to the next Nike or Nestle or Rolex, but they will get you there. It will take you on a path to potential fantastic returns and exciting personal product choices.
The Investment
Dropship Bundles prides itself on being a high-quality delivery solution for your hair industry. We do everything possible to ensure that your order arrives on time and is received in a timely manner. These things build trust and rapport with customers.
There are other things you can do to make your brand stand out among the rest.
Customers often ask us if it’s worth investing in our branding products such as customized hang tags, silk bags, lash, or edge control labels when they first start their business. It all depends on how much you have to spend upfront and your current budget.
However, there are significant differences between the custom branding hair extensions, lashes and edge control we ship and those that we do not. Continue reading to learn more about these differences and how they could affect your business.
Non-Branded Orders
We want your business to be successful. Even if you don’t buy branding products immediately, you can enjoy the perks of being a Dropship Member.
Your hair extensions are placed in a plain, black silk bag before being shipped out to you for free! It doesn’t look right on us as a company to ship your hair in the same cellophane wrap that our vendors use.
The black silk bag will be clean and unprinted with no label. There will also not be any Dropship Bundles, Private Label Extensions indicators or hair extensions.
This is how each hair type will look outside of its packaging before it is placed in a silk bag.
The Malaysian Hair bundle will come with a silver cord around the top.
The Brazilian Hair bundle will include a purple-gold bundle wrapped around its top.
Edge controls and the lashes will arrive at your customer’s door in a completely clean and blank state.
The edge control will come in a black or white container with a bare lid, where a label would normally go. The color of your customer’s color edge control will determine the color of the jar. An ingredients label will also be placed around the base. This applies to both the 2oz jar and the 4oz.
All Mink eyelashes we send, both thick and thin, will come with the standard silver glitter background. If you haven’t purchased any lash labels, all lashes will be sent to your customers in clear cases.
We offer top-quality products to ship to customers. You are not able to send the products without branding.
Branding: The Benefits
You may think that going unbranded is fine. It is important to spend time deciding on brand colors and logos, as well as how to approach your packaging strategy.
There are some things that you need to consider when looking long-term and focusing on the growth of your company. Quality product is important, but brand packaging is an advertising tool that communicates to customers and is something you can’t afford to ignore.
Branding has two great benefits. It communicates what your product can do to your customer and your company’s values, before your customer installs their hair or applies their mascara!
Psychology of Color
As we mentioned, packaging and branding materials can help you differentiate your products from other hair business owners. It can also help you to get your customers to buy your product.
Although it may sound absurd, certain colors can influence a customer to make a purchase. Colors can also help you create a brand personality that will be purchased by your customers if it matches theirs.
This is why customized silk bags are often chosen by beauty brands in purple or with glitter backgrounds in magenta or rose colors.
These colors are often associated with beauty, fashion and looking good.
Another brand might choose a Tiffany Blue color scheme to their logo or their hair extension branding. Tiffany blue is attractive because it reminds of the same high-end, iconic jewelry brand that many women long to own.
These psychological factors are key to why people gravitate towards certain branding colors and strategies.
Brand recognition
A built-in marketing tool is also available for brand products.
A brand’s colors and logos can make it stand out from the sea of ordinary products and forgettable packaging. If your customers receive a customized bundle that includes your logo and the logo of your hair company, they will remember you and your company.
Dropship Bundles are a great way to ensure that your customers associate excellence with your company.
This characteristic will make people know your business from the first time they see it. That is brand recognition that builds customer base.
Remember that once you have established a customer base, you shouldn’t change the look of the brand. It can lead to confusion and a loss of customer recognition.
McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, for example, have made very few to no changes in their history. This mindset is important. While subtle changes are fine, customers need to feel comfortable with the overall look of your hair salon.
Branded Orders
Now that you’re aware of the two significant benefits of branding, let’s look at how Dropship Bundles executes your branded orders.
After you have purchased one of our branding options please allow the materials sufficient time to be printed before they are sent in-house. (Please see the time frames below.
Drop Ship Bundles Branding Options
Logo Creation – 3 to 5 Business Days Customized Silk Bags – 3 to 4 Weeks
Customized Bundle tags: 2 to 3-weeks
Customized Printed Labels ( Lach or Control), 2 to 3 weeks
Hang Strings: In stock
Lash Glitter Backgrounds: In stock
We can create a logo for you if you don’t already have one. You can customize your brand packaging by printing your logo.
After we receive your order and they have been printed, we will call you to ask you if it is possible to either send some products to you or keep them in house to ship your orders.
We will give you a reference code if you choose to keep your branding products with us. This reference number will be used to inform us which products you wish to use every time you place an online order.
We separate hair extensions bundles from the original packaging when shipping them. The bundle is wrapped with your custom bundle tag and placed in your personalized silk ba g.
