The majority of us who want to step into the sphere of ecommerce don’t have the time, money, or space to manufacture, store, and deliver wares to customers. It’s great to build your own business, but it can be costly if you have to start everything from scratch.
If you can relate, then dropshipping is the best solution for you. This business model is a great way to eliminate all the headaches associated with managing an online store. Dropshipping allows you to completely eliminate all the hassles that come with setting up an online shop. All you need to start a dropshipping business is a website and the Shopify app. You can then send products cheaply to customers around the globe.
Dropshipping: What does it mean?
First things first, we need to clarify what dropshipping actually is. This is what dropshipping is, as we briefly mentioned in the intro.
You will need to have an online store. Dropshipping is a great way to relieve the stress associated with fulfilling an order for your eCommerce business. Dropshipping means that you do not need to purchase, stock and ship the product to your customer. You can let someone else do all the hard work.
Instead of you handling the order, the customer request goes to your supplier. The supplier will then ship the product directly to your customer.
You don’t even need to touch the product and you only pay what you sell. Dropshipping is a great way to save money on inventory storage and purchase. Sometimes your products will come from a well-known location like Alibaba, and sometimes they’ll be from locations that are a little closer to home.
Choosing the right dropshipping supplier is the key to not only delivering the kind of quality that your customers deserve, but making sure that you have the right selection of products too. You don’t need to worry about customers complaining about not receiving their products in time. It is possible to ensure that suppliers can ship quickly.
Dropshipping with Shopify is not something you should do. Dropshipping is a great way to build your online presence. It’s simple and cost-effective, as well as a good option for building an eCommerce store. Dropshipping is not for everyone. These are pros and cons.
Pros
- Dropshipping lets you sell products in any way you like, build a portfolio, and choose the suppliers you want. If you choose to invest time and money in trending products, or choose products that fit a niche, you can save time and money.
- Many tools and products are available to assist you in your dropshipping journey. Some even come with a multiday free trial. Dropshipping guides are available to help you get started.
- Dropshipping is becoming more popular and all types of businesses are participating. Shopify will ensure that you have all the functionality you need to dropship with Oberlo. However, you can also seek support from other retailers.
- Dropshipping is much cheaper than starting a store. Dropshipping doesn’t require you to purchase storage space or equipment. You only need the inventory that you use when you make a purchase.
- Dropshipping has fewer risks because you can easily adjust your product inventory at any moment. You don’t need to worry about missing out on suppliers or losing inventory.
- Fulfillment is less complicated because you don’t have to do it yourself. It’s possible to choose the supplier that has the best shipping performance and let them do all of the work. They can even handle packaging.
- Dropshipping allows you to spend more time serving customers and creating memorable brands, rather than wasting time in fulfilling fulfillment processes. Dropshipping is also available on Amazon.
- Dropshipping accounts allow you to sell as much as you want. There are suppliers for almost every product type, so you can grow your portfolio in any way you like. If you feel creative, you might consider printing on demand.
Cons
- Dropshipping can make it difficult to establish a brand and gain a reputation in your industry. Shopify may help you stand out by having a beautiful website but you will still be selling the same products that other companies.
- It is not always possible to work with wholesalers via dropshipping services like AliExpress. It is possible to encounter suppliers who don’t deliver a high-quality product. You might also find it difficult to deliver items to your customers in a timely manner.
- Shopify Dropshipping gives you very limited control over your supply chain. You are not responsible for fulfilling orders so it is difficult to control things such as material quality or delivery times.
- Dropshipping can result in low profit margins because you are competing with many other companies. Dropshipping can lead to you being in a price “race to bottom”, which means that you are constantly discounting until it becomes difficult to make money.
- Dropshipping is limited in terms of scale. The suppliers you work with will determine how many products you are able to sell and which countries you can ship the products to. You’ll only be able to do so much if you choose the wrong suppliers.
- Even though you aren’t directly involved in the fulfillment of your business, customers will still hold you accountable if something goes wrong. It can be difficult to get positive reviews from suppliers.
Dropshipping is a great tool for many businesses who want to get into the digital space. Dropshipping allows store owners to import great products and sell them to customers all over the world. Dropshipping has its limitations, especially if you are looking to create a unique brand and stand out among the crowd. Before you jump into this business model, make sure you carefully consider the pros and disadvantages of dropshipping.
What is Shopify Dropshipping? What is Shopify Dropshipping?
If you’ve done any research into dropshipping, you’ll probably have come across the ecommerce giant that is Shopify. This is a popular platform for merchants.
Why?
It’s:
Drop shipper friendly: It integrates seamlessly with tons of dropshipping service providers, including Oberlo and Spocket.
Multiple users can be registered: You don’t have to worry if you have a group. Shopify allows multiple users to use the same account. Your staff is available to assist you with any dropshipping endeavors.
Brimming with easy-to-use tools and features: In addition to its online store builder, Shopify also has tons of features for helping you manage your sales, marketing tasks, and customer payments. This is just one of the many features that Shopify offers that makes it great for newbie ecommerce merchants.
Shopify’s interface is simple and intuitive. You just need to read some Shopify reviews to see how easy this software is to use. Despite its vast array of features, Shopify isn’t a daunting piece of software to use. It does a great job explaining to new users how to get the most from the platform.
Shopify Dropshipping Store allows you to quickly and easily get all the tools you need to send products to customers worldwide. Because you don’t need to store your own products, it’s easier than setting up an eBay store.
You will need a website and an idea of the product you are selling. Oberlo is an example solution from Shopify App Store. You can then connect with merchants to help you serve your customers.
Let’s have a closer look at the actual workings of all this.
How do I start Dropshipping with Shopify
This is enough information. Now, it’s time to explain how to dropship with Shopify step by step. Let’s get started!
Shopify is a strong supporter of dropshipping. Shopify is a strong supporter of dropshipping. Shopify App Store apps allow you to connect with merchants who can fulfill your orders for you. Other ecommerce website builders will let you build your online store and begin dropshipping. Dropshipping with Shopify seems to be the easiest.
Register for a Shopify account
If you haven’t already, you need to set up an account with Shopify. This is easy. Simply visit their website and click on the “Get Started” button.
Top Tip: This is a great time to think about naming your online store. It will be the first thing they look for.
Shopify will then ask you questions about the following:
- No matter if you are already selling product(s).
- Your physical address
- Additional basic information
After you complete the form, you will be automatically redirected back to your store’s admin area. Here’s where you can explore the various free themes and premium themes that Shopify has to offer. Before you begin selling your dropshipping products, we would recommend taking the time to really edit your website and make it into something special.
A well-designed website and a clear theme can help you attract your audience and make your company more successful. What’s more, when you personalize your website with the right ecommerce platform, you can build a reliable brand personality for your company, which keeps your customers coming back for more.
Remember, you can either use Shopify themes that are baked into the free and premium options on the backend, or you can pay for a professional to make you the best Shopify design from scratch.
Add Products
Now you’re in the backend of your Shopify store, there are several things you can do, including:
- Theme selection (also known as design template) is key to the success of your store.
- Registering your web domain
- Adding products
These are just a few.
Our advice? Once you have a Shopify account, start adding products to your store. This makes it much easier to design your online shop. Because products are already in your online shop, you don’t need to imagine how it will look.
How do you source and add products to your store?
The simplest solution is to use one of the many Shopify dropshipping apps we’ll explore later in this article. But for now, let’s just assume you’ve already uploaded a product to sell on your Shopify store.
After you have edited the title, description, and photos you will need to give the item a product label. These tags are crucial for organizing your product catalog. If you sell pet products, for example, you could use the following examples of ‘tags’: pet food, grooming products and dog beds.
You have a few options for adding product tags. You could first add tags to each product. You can also add bulk tags to products on your product list. Select the item you wish to tag and then click on the “Actions” dropdown menu. Next, click on “Add tags”.
Once you have added the tags to your products you can start creating ‘product collection’. These can be described as “product groups” that help customers find the product they are looking for. Take, for example:
- Items on Sale
- Product size
- Color of the product
This is the basic idea.
To create a product assortment, go to the left-hand navigation menu and click “Products.” Next, select “Create Collection” to be taken to a page that allows you to create a name for the collection and a description.
There are two types of collections you can create:
- Manual
- Automatic
Only products that you or your staff have chosen for manual collections are included. This type of collection requires more effort and time to maintain, as you can see. These collections are often more appropriate for smaller product catalogues.
Automated collections are made by you or your team setting conditions that match products to the appropriate “product collection”.
If you host a 50% discount sale, you can set up an automatic collection that includes all products marked “sale”. It’s simple, right?
How to dropship Shopify with Oberlo
Oberlo is a Shopify-owned dropshipping app. It’s an excellent first stop for anyone who is new to dropshipping. It’s easy to integrate and sell products by adding, listing and selling them.
To use Oberlo, head over to the “Products” menu located on Shopify’s backend. Next, select “More actions” and then click on “Find more products for sale”. This will take you to Oberlo’s backend. You can use the search bar to search for suppliers and products. Scroll through the results and click the “select product” button to choose the items you wish to sell.
You will be taken to a product page. Here you can see:
- Supply cost
- Shipping costs
- A pricing field (where your retail price is entered)
If you are satisfied with the item, click “Add product” and Oberlo will add it to your Shopify shop for you.
You can import, list, and sell hundreds of products directly from your Shopify store.
Oberlo will handle all aspects of your order fulfillment when you make a sale. Oberlo will also send you automatic updates about the pricing and quantities of Oberlo products so that you are never left behind!
You can also customize your product by using a variety of features. This makes it easy to edit product names, descriptions and images.
Oberlo has an automatic pricing function. This is a great tool if you need to create pricing rules and manage the prices of your bulk products. This also includes shipment tracking information, which allows both you and your customers keep track of deliveries at all times.
What Does Oberlo Cost You?
Entrepreneurs can upload 500 products (or less) and receive 50 orders per month.
Oberlo is able to help you if you need more.
- $29.99 per month to import 10,000 items and process 500 monthly orders
- Importing 30,000 orders costs $79.90 per month You can import unlimited orders per month.
How do I dropship Shopify using Printful?
Printful is best for entrepreneurs using (or considering) the print-on-demand business model. This is when a third party company prints your artwork and designs onto items like posters, mugs, and t-shirts.
You won’t be surprised to learn that Printful doesn’t charge any monthly fees and has no inventory costs. Printful also boasts a seamless integration with Shopify. This is what permits Shopify to send your customer orders directly to Printful for fulfillment.
Plus, Printful owns its own warehouses and fulfillment facilities, which is partially what makes them so reliable when it comes to storing, shipping, and delivering products. Printful’s mockup generator and photos are another great feature.
Printful’s pricing information can be found on their website. Prices will vary depending on what products you choose to print.
How do I dropship Shopify with Spocket
If you want to dropship products from across the globe, namely from countries and states from the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa, then Spocket is the company to go for. Spocket is a great tool for international reach. It also prices its products (of which there are over a million) so that you can make higher profit margins. Spocket boasts deep discounts on all of its products, anywhere between 30% and 60%!
Your customers will get their goods within five to seven days after placing an order. Local orders take two to five business days. Invoices can be customized with your logo or business colors. This is a great way to strengthen your brand.
It’s also worth mentioning, the order fulfillment process is incredibly simple, with just a simple click you can submit your customer’s requests to your Spocket suppliers. Real-time stock levels updates will also be a benefit so you don’t accidentally sell products you have outgrown.
Best of all, Spocket is free to get started with!
Dropshipping Shopify on Dropified
If you’re looking to free up some of your precious time through the power of automation, Dropified is definitely worth considering. Dropified estimates that you can save up to 20 hours per week by using their services. Think about what you could do with that extra time!
We’ve listed the most prominent features of Dropified to make it easy:
- Zapier Integration of the highest quality
- Dropified makes it simple to search, choose, import, or sell high-quality AliExpress products.
- Dropified’s backend allows you to view quick profit statistics.
- Automated price/availability updates
Modalyst Dropshipping
Last but not least, there’s Modalyst. Dropshipping is easy with this app. It specializes in niche artisan products as well as big-name brands. There are over 600 vendors that you can choose from so there is something for everyone.
Modalyst offers products from brands such as:
- Superga
- Calvin Klein
- Diesel
- DSquared
- Puma
- Lacoste
- Cavalli
- Moschino
- Dolce & Gabanna
Modalyst has some key advantages, including:
- They allow you to centralize your suppliers, order management and other tasks in one convenient place.
- It is easy to add Modalyst products to your online shop and modify product names and descriptions.
- Continuous and automatic inventory and price updates.
Like some of the other plugins mentioned, Modalyst is also free to use, and some suppliers even offer free shipping!
Design Your Online Store
After you have edited and published your products, it is time to design your store. This is not a difficult task.
Click the tab “Online Store” located in the left-hand sidebar. From here, you can either opt for a free Shopify theme or splash out on one of their paid-for templates.
Now that you have chosen a theme, go back to Shopify and click “Customize”. This will take you to Shopify’s ‘Theme Creator’. You can also edit the store’s aesthetic from this page. You can browse through the available design options (located on the toolbar to the left-hand corner of your screen) and make any edits that you wish.
Add Images
When it comes to publishing images on your Shopify store, we wanted to include a separate section. Because Shopify offers a few different ways to do this, each of which is very simple (like almost everything else with Shopify).
You have two options: upload images directly from your computer or any other device. You can also upload images directly from Burst. For those who don’t know, Burst is Shopify’s free library of stock imagery, designed to make it easy to search for images that best fit your needs.
After you have selected a photo you like, you can see how it will look on your website before it goes live. You don’t have to switch between hundreds of tabs, Shopify’s theme editor makes it easy!
Shopify Themes: The General Settings
Of course, there are other more general settings surrounding your Shopify theme, which you can modify. You can experiment with:
- Layout of web pages
- Your site’s color scheme
- Typography
- Your social media icons and accounts that you link to
- Checkout page
Shopify’s beauty is its ability to make tweaks until your product is perfect. When you are satisfied with the final product, click “Save” and your job is done.
You can add different web pages
A store is not only about product pages. Most online shops have several other pages that are referred to as’staple’.
- A page titled “About us”
- Contact us page
- This page outlines your shipping and return policies
- A FAQ page/knowledgebase
To create a new page on Shopify, you’ll need to head to your Shopify dashboard. Next, select “Pages” from the menu to the left. To set title and content, click “Add Page”.
You can also access the following:
- Modify the meta title
- Modify the meta description
- Modify the URL
We recommend doing all of these things for SEO purposes. Unfortunately, this topic is too complex for us to cover here. Once you are satisfied with everything, click “Save.”
Sort your website’s navigation
Now that you have created your product collections and web pages, it is time to set up your navigation settings. By ‘navigation options’, we mean the main menus of your website and which pages and product collections will be displayed on them.
Before you jump in, think about the following questions: What information would your customers like to find? AND WHAT content do YOU want your customers to find? These questions will help you to improve your website’s navigation.
Top Tip: You might link to your web pages regarding returns, refunds and shipping policies if you have them. This is also true for FAQs pages.
Once you are clear about the structure of your website menu(s), follow these steps:
- Go to your Shopify dashboard
- Choose the navigation option in the left-hand menu.
- Choose the menu where you would like to add your page, collection, or link. These are called ‘items.
- Then select “Add menu item.”
- Then, you can input a name to your item.
- Select the item that you wish to add in the “Link” section (collections or products, links, etc. You can also choose from what you have already set up.
Let’s use your “Contact Us” page as an example. Assume you wish to add this page to your main menu. You would choose “Pages” and then “Contact Us”. Get it?
Set your general preferences
How about your general preferences? Again, from inside your Shopify backend, you can edit the general preferences for your online shop. Click the “Preferences” tab in the left-hand navigation. You can also write the meta title and description of your site from this page. This is also where your Google Analytics code will be entered and your Facebook pixel.
Register Your Web Domain
Also, we recommend that you add and use your own web domain. Without one, your Shopify store’s URL will display this subdomain (as default): https://YOUR-STORE-NAME.myshopify.com/.
We can all agree that this does not look professional. That is why it is important to have your own domain.
Just like everything we’ve discussed, adding your domain is also really easy with Shopify.
Simply launch Shopify’s dashboard and click on “Online Store”. This option should be in the left-hand navigation. There are three ways to connect Shopify with your domain.
Connect with a third party domain
If you have an existing web domain (e.g. one from Bluehost or Namecheap, GoDaddy etc. This option allows you to connect to Shopify
This process can vary between domain providers. Shopify’s help pages are a good place to start. Or, speak your domain provider directly.
Transfer a domain to Shopify
You can transfer your web domain to Shopify by using Shopify’s backend.
Shopify and your web host provider will help you make sure everything is set up correctly.
Buy a Brand-New Domain
You don’t yet have a domain? You can buy one through Shopify. Prices for custom domains start at $11 per annum
Register for Payments
It is no secret that customers must be able to pay for orders. You can modify these payment settings by going to the left-hand menu in your Shopify dashboard and selecting ‘Settings” and then “Payment Providers”.
Here you can authorise which payment providers to use. Here are just a few examples of what Shopify has to offer:
It’s easy to see the point!
Note: Shopify will only be able to deposit funds into your bank account if you enable Shopify payments.
You should also remember that PayPal will email you after you have made your first sale with instructions on how you can set up your PayPal Merchant account.
Okay, so now we’ve taken a look at how to set up your Shopify store, we’re going to circle back to adding products. Oberlo is not the only plugin you can use for dropshipping products. There are many other quality plugins. We’ve listed some of them below.
Most of these work in the same way as Oberlo, but have unique selling points that could be of greater value to your business.
Are you ready to start dropshipping with Shopify
As you can see from the guidelines above, there are a lot of easy ways to start working with dropshipping suppliers on Shopify. This strategy is not for the faint of heart. Experts from Alibaba and other companies will handle all your order fulfillment work.
Dropshipping can be a great way to increase your brand’s popularity online by gaining customers’ attention and building cash. You can still take credit card or PayPal payments according to your own needs, and set your own price points. You will be able to send orders to customers via someone else.
When you don’t have to deal with things like shipping times and order fulfilment on your own, you have more time to focus on building your website in different ways. You could try pop-ups to increase traffic to your site or offer targeted deals through email marketing.
You will have more time to manage things such as organic rankings and making sure your website is listed in search engines for the keywords you choose. Basically, a dropshipping supplier takes a chunk of the stress off your shoulders when you’re running an online business, so you can concentrate on the things that you do best.
Shopify Dropshipping: How to Make the Most of It
The most important thing you should remember about Dropshipping with Shopify is that, although it may seem easy, there are still steps you must take. You need to think about how you’re going to find the right dropship supplier with the correct Shopify plugin.
Also, think about how you will run your store. Is it possible to bring new products in line with dropshipping suppliers’ wares? Do you prefer to concentrate on a handful of key items in order to reduce the complexity for your store? You might want to ship only those items dropshipping suppliers are able to store and ship from the United States.
There are many options for shipping products to your customers from around the world, but it is possible to experience delays depending on where your supplier is located. Shipping times can make all the difference in your business’ success.
No matter what Shopify App or route you choose to start your dropshipping business. It is up to you to create the perfect business name. Everything from customer service to how your website will stand out must be considered. The dropshipping company only does the shipping for you.
You may decide to include your own products in the mix and combine a traditional retail model with dropshipping.
We hope having read this article; you feel more prepared to start dropshipping with Shopify. You can ask any questions in the comments section below. We are here to assist our readers in their entrepreneurial endeavors as best we can. Talk soon!
