How to Set Up Dropshipping Through Magento 2 Platform?

Dropshipping is a great way to get started in e-commerce. This business model, despite its strong appeal, does not always offer online store owners the best chance to make money.

This post will give you an A-to Z introduction to dropshipping for beginners, as well as an overview of Magento 2 Dropship and how to start one.

Dropship from A to Z: Introduction

Dropshipping Model And Its Pros & Cons

What does “Dropship” actually mean?

The term Dropshipping, also known as order fulfillment, is an option where an online store doesn’t keep products in stock and instead buys them from a third party. This model allows ordered items to be shipped directly from the third-party to their final customers. This model eliminates the need for the merchant to store products in a warehouse.

Dropshipping is a completely new way to make money. This is in contrast to the traditional business model, where you buy products from suppliers and then store them in your warehouse. Dropshipping follows the same flow as traditional business models, where orders are fulfilled in a warehouse.

The customer orders the product and pays for it.
Once you have received the money from your customer, you must pay the supplier to prepare the order for you.
The supplier will ship the products directly to you.

PROS

# Require less capital

Traditional retailers often have to invest capital upfront in inventory. Dropshipping is a different model. It saves you money on the costs of operating a warehouse, and the products that are available there.

Dropshipping not only allows you to start a small business, but also lowers the risk of losing your products in storage.

# Manage a simpler business

Dropshipping is easier when you don’t need to handle physical products. You are not always busy with:

Investing in a warehouse, and managing it
Shipping and preparation of your orders
Manage stock and continue to purchase products
Returns and Inbound Shipments:

# Many products available

Dropshipping allows you to choose from many different products because you don’t need to store or pre-purchase them. Dropshipping allows you to offer trendy items to your customers for no extra cost, provided that the suppliers stock them.

# No dependence on the location

Dropshipping ecommerce can be run anywhere you have an internet connection. Products are shipped directly to your customers by your suppliers. The traditional model, on the other hand, creates dependence between your warehouses and your suppliers.

# Scale up easily

The increase in orders in traditional retail ecommerce means that there is an increase in work. If your store receives twice the orders than usual, it will require you to do twice as much work. Dropshipping models will handle most of the incremental work.

Your business will grow and not lose much effort.

CONS:

# Many competitors

Dropshipping is a great way to get into ecommerce. However, it’s not easy for everyone to do so. You shouldn’t be surprised if other stores sell similar products. This can cause customers to feel overwhelmed by the variety of options.

# Low margins

Dropshipping isn’t a death sentence. Some dropshippers even make very little profit. Because it is low-risk and low overhead, many people will take this model as a given.

Low margins can also be caused by the inability to compete with your competitors or your ecommerce. Higher prices will result in fewer customers choosing your products.

# Inventory problems

Dropshipping can cause inventory problems as warehouses are not under your control. Inventory can change every day and can be changed at any moment. It would be simpler to track the inventory of every product you sell and instantly know if they are out-of-stock.

# Suppliers’ Faults

Dropshipping suppliers have the greatest control over the order fulfillment process. This allows them to decide how customers feel about their shopping experience at your store. The customer will rate your store poorly even if there are any issues with shipping, but not your supplier.

What situations should you prefer dropshipping?

Dropshipping is no exception. Every model has its perks. Dropshipping is a smart business model that can be used in the right situations.

Dropship for Market Research

Dropshipping an online store does not mean that you have to do it the same way every day. Dropshipping at the beginning is a smart strategy to test the market, if you don’t want to take on new product types. This tip is particularly useful for small businesses that have limited capital.

Let’s now consider stocking the product after determining if the product is in high demand and estimating sales. This will allow you to avoid unnecessary inventory costs.

Dropship for Strategic Shipping Systems

Shipping complications can be an issue for businesses looking to expand. Shipping fees will increase the further you travel from your warehouse to fulfillment points.

Dropshipping is a great solution in this case to reduce shipping fees for areas outside of your profit region. These problems can be solved by dropshipping.

Long distance shipping costs are too high
It is too expensive to store the cargo and set up a new shipping hub.
You may be subject to additional taxes and fees when you send your shipment out of your country or state.

Dropshipping can also be used to test new locations before you decide on a strategy to expand your warehouse.

Dropship Flexiblely To High-Maintenance Products

Products that are high-maintenance may include:

Large: Because these products take up so much space, the profit from selling them cannot offset the storage cost.
Heavy products: Shipping heavy items is more expensive. Long distances can make shipping more expensive.
Fragile: You need to take extra care when shipping fragile items. Dropshipping suppliers can do this for you, as they are more experienced and may care better about your products than you.
Important: Valuable products such as jewelry and antiques require high levels of security when being shipped. Dropshipping is a better option if your warehouse cannot meet this requirement.
Special conditions: Products that are sensitive to light or temperature need to be kept cool with special equipment. To preserve their quality, canned foods such as tomatoes must be frozen during shipping.

Products that are high-maintenance will usually require more storage space and shipping fees than other products. Dropshipping a product can be more profitable than keeping them in your warehouse.

Protect your store from overstocking

Dropshipping is a way for merchants to minimize waste and reduce risks while still selling unpredictable products. Dropshipping is a great option if you offer products that fluctuate frequently and are unable to predict their sales. Let’s keep products in stock at a safe level.

This stocking strategy is smart and can help protect your business from market uncertainties. Dropshipping suppliers can still help you offer the product even if it is out of stock. Your profits will increase and you will save on stocking costs.

Five Steps to Start a Dropshipping Business

Dropshipping is an excellent way for merchants to start an ecommerce business. This post will walk you through five steps to start a dropshipping business and build your brand.

Choose a Dropshipping Business Idea

First, choose a dropshipping business plan. Let’s start by brainstorming all of the products you would like to sell, and then write them down. Market research is a great place to start, so you can identify hot products and products that are in high demand.

It is important to remember that dropshipping ecommerce can be run by many merchants. It is a smart decision to choose a niche you are passionate about. It will be easier to conquer the market if you combine your passion with careful research.

Let’s use the available tools such as Ubersuggest Keyword Planner, Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends to find the most popular things that internet users are looking for. You can also test your idea by looking at the search volume. Another tip for finding an idea is to browse the top-selling category of ecommerce websites.

Analyze your Competitors

Dropshipping ecommerce does not have to be the best idea. Merchants must analyze their competitors to ensure the idea is feasible and profitable. You need to not only know what their products are, but also how they market them. This analysis will allow you to determine if your store is able to compete with other stores and make profits.

You can again find many tools that will help you. Start by searching for the product you wish to sell on Google. You will see the top results on the search engine result page (SERPs). SEMrush and Ahrefs are two popular digital tools that enable you to examine the web traffic of your competitors and find out why they rank so high.

Similar Webs and Alexa, on the other hand, allow you to identify niche competitors that aren’t displayed in high places on SERPs. These tools can show you the social profiles of these competitors, as well as advertising and other traffic information.

You can learn from competitor analysis what you should do in order to be competitive with other companies. Once you have a clear understanding of what content attracts the most attention, you can create your content strategy.

Dropshipping Suppliers and Samples

Next, choose reliable dropshipping suppliers. Find out which suppliers offer the products you require and which options best suit your needs.

Depending on your market research, it might be a good idea to have your suppliers either from the country or abroad. Next, verify if they have good policies and products. These are all critical factors that will make your business run smoothly.

Next, you should contact the suppliers that best suit your needs and offer to establish a business relationship. At least two to three suppliers are recommended. Next, order samples from the suppliers to verify their reliability. You can also request services like custom labeling to enhance packaging and promote your brand.

Spocket, Alidropship and Alibaba are the top places to find 2020 products for dropshipping.

Create Your Online Store

No website means no ecommerce. After you’ve chosen the right dropshipping suppliers, you can start investing in a website that allows you to offer different products. A website builder or an ecommerce platform such as Magento is required to host your online shop.

BSS Commerce is an Ecommerce Web Development Agency you can trust. Our team of developers includes experienced and certified professionals who have successfully completed more than 500 projects. No matter what industry or size of your company, we can tailor our services to meet your needs. We will deliver an exceptional ecommerce experience that drives sales.

Domain names are important because they affect how internet users perceive your website and how they remember it. It is important to choose a concise, easy-to-understand and related domain name. It is strongly recommended that domain names such as “.com” be used, regardless of what. Do not name your domain after a person or product. A domain will usually cost you between $5 and $20 per year. You can also connect our consultant here so that we can help estimate the development costs.

Promote and Optimize

Your online store is now almost complete. It is important to market and optimize your online store so you can get your first orders and grow your brand. You have many options for advertising that fit your budget, including display ads, Facebook ads, and influencer marketing. For example, you might consider spending at least $500 to get started.

This is about paid services. Many merchants overlook the importance of inbound elements. They are important, unfortunately. SEO performance and the quality of your content are crucial in order to increase website rank.

Don’t forget about free marketing channels like email marketing and social media. These channels should be used strategically to help you develop your business.

FAQs for Beginners

Question 1: What are some common ideas for dropshipping products

These dropshipping niches are hot in 2020 may give you some good ideas.

Power tools: Wireless charger, electric flea brush for dogs, etc
Phone accessories: car phone holder, neck phone holder, etc
Lifestyle niche: Mirror alarm clock, mini air conditioner and posture correction belt.
Accessories and legs for drones, helicopter drones, etc.

Question 2: Can dropshipping be started without having to spend money?

No. Dropshipping is a business that requires money. This is the cost of building a website (online shop). A hosting service can be used, which usually costs between $50 and $100 per year. Or you can host your own store yourself. This will save you money in the long-term but may cost you more upfront. A domain name costs $5-20 per year.

Question 3: Which dropshipping websites are examples?

=> Inspire Uplift is a great example of a general dropshipping store with a beautifully designed homepage. This website has many options for household, beauty, and wellness products.

HYGO is another dropshipping store that offers a wide range of items in different catalogs such as Babies, Beauty, Health & Wellness, Pets, Phone Accessories, etc. Let’s explore their website.

Question 4: How do you know if a store dropsshipping?

These signals are most likely to be seen at an online shop and indicate that the store is a dropshipping company.

Usually, shipping takes between 2 and 4 weeks.
You might be able to tell if a shop is dropshipping by looking at products that are commonly used in this method of order fulfillment if you’ve spent a lot of time researching.
The store informs you about customs fees and asks you to pay.
The majority of images in that store are white and the designers don’t bother to make better ones. Google even allows you to find identical images.
The same can be said for descriptions of products. Drop shippers often copy the text from suppliers and make no changes.
It is very simple and does not look professional.

You can find these items in an online store. Drop shippers should have about 95% certainty.

Magento 2 Dropship & Top X+ Magento 2 Dropship Extension Options

Dropshipping In Magento 2

Dropshipping, as we have discussed above is a popular method for order fulfillment in ecommerce. There are many reasons why dropshipping is so hot. Online stores that use Magento also use this method to fulfill orders despite the lack of certain items.

So, does Magento support dropship?

Magento is one of the most widely used and popular ecommerce platforms in the world. However, dropshipping is still not supported. This is not a problem as merchants can easily dropship Magento 2 to their stores using third-party extensions.

The question now is, “How do I choose the best Magento dropshipping extension for my store?”

Installing a Magento 2 Dropship Extension is the best way to upgrade your online store with dropship capabilities.

Allows you to manage multiple warehouses. Core feature
Support shipping calculator for dropship
Should be easy to use and compatible all custom templates

Each dropship extension for Magento 2 comes with its own unique benefits. You can skip to the next section to see the 6+ best paid and free options.

6+ Magento 2 Dropship To Consider For Your Magento 2 Website

Magento 2 Dropship Extension By AA Logics

Magento 2 Dropshipping Extension from AA Logics is our recommendation when it comes to setting up a dropshipping online shop. This extension allows admins to quickly extract product variants, images and pricing. It also includes drag-and-drop functionality that allows them to add shipping & tags. It is compatible with Magento 2.0.x and 2.1.x shipping methods. Below is a list of the key features of Magento 2 Dropshipping Extension.

Management of imports:

AliExpress products can be imported to multiple Magento 2 sites separately
In real-time, import simple products from AliExpress with customized options to Magento stores
AliExpress allows you to import multiple products both from the search page and category pages.
Before importing, admins can edit the product description, title and sizes as well as colors and prices.

Management of orders:

You can manage all AliExpress orders in a separate section
Automated orders to AliExpress
Stock auto-updates according to changes made by suppliers
Auto-import the delivery times given by suppliers

Administration management

AliExpress admins have the ability to add, edit, or remove any AliExpress product
AliExpress admins have the option to add price rules for AliExpress products

Dropship Extension By Webkul

Dropship extensions by Webkul are some of the most powerful. The extension integrates Google Maps to auto-complete addresses. Dropship Extension for Magento 2 from Webkul allows you to:

AliExpress allows you to import products into your chosen store (includes description).
AliExpress allows you to import products into multiple AliExpress stores
Register your Magento store URL and verify the shop URL
AliExpress by Cron: Product Price Synchronization
Automated processing of AliExpress orders
Select shipping method for each warehouse
Import shipping rate information via a CSV file
Multiple warehouses can be imported using CSV, XML or XLS files
Shipping fees calculated based on warehouse location
Administrators can use warehouse dashboards to analyze sales
More features

Dropship Module For Magento 2 By Magestore

Magestore Dropship Module for Magento 2 is an integrated module in Magestore’s POS Solution for Magento retailers. This module provides seamless sales and a great customer experience for dropshipping businesses.

Features

Dropshipping is easy with just 3 steps
Frontend allows suppliers to cancel/create shipment requests
Dropshipping notifications can be sent to admins by email to keep track
Give the suppliers and admin a detailed order listing page

Aliexpress Dropshipping By Ced Commerce

AliExpress offers a huge marketplace with a wide range of products for sale. AliExpress vendors are mostly from overseas and offer very competitive prices. Ced Commerce’s module allows you to connect to the Aliexpress Dropshipping Program to promote their products on your site.