Are you thinking of starting dropshipping textiles? Congratulations!
Why all the congratulations? inthas been a very popular segment of dropshipping since its inception. It’s still very popular to this day. These stats are from Statista.
- In 2019, the retail e-commerce revenue for apparel and accessories was $102.5 billion
- The revenue is expected to rise to $153.6 billion in 2024.
- This is almost a 50% increase in five years!
You won’t run out of potential clients. However, the market is already very crowded and will only get more.
We’ve compiled some tried-and-true tips and strategies for dropshipping clothing. These tips will help you to be successful dropshipping textiles.
But how fine? It is possible to build a dropshipping business that provides a comfortable lifestyle with just a few years of hard work and perseverance. Let’s see how.
Researching your clothing dropshipping niche
It is crucial to do extensive research before you start a dropshipping textile business.
There are generally two types of market research.
- Primary market research requires you to do all of the hard work yourself: collecting data on trends and gathering intelligence on textile industry competitors, running focus groups, etc.
- Secondary market research allows you to access data that has been collected and processed by third parties. It can be quite costly. This is likely to be done by established companies.
As dropshippers, we are going to assume you don’t have a lot of money for market research. Let’s take the first option, primary market research.
You can start by researching competitors to determine the type of clothing that you are selling.
These are the questions you should ask yourself:
- What types of clothes/accessories appeal to me? (You need to be passionate about what you’re selling).
- Which are they popular enough to make it worth it?
Then you can start looking at the websites of major textile brands as well as snooping on social media.
It might be worth looking into key terms on Google Trends and Facebook Analytics. However, it won’t be available until June 30, 2021. These will help you determine what is popular and what patterns and interests are typical of your customers.
Identifying your target audience
It is essential to have a complete profile of your target audience.
Focus on the tectiles niche you have chosen.
- What features bring together your target audience?
- Which problem do they want to solve by your clothes?
A certain style of sneaker might be popular among urban Scandinavians between 20 and 34. It could also be a symbol for upward mobility among 40-somethings in India.
Whatever case it may be, you must know exactly who will be interested in your offer. You must also understand their needs (comfort level, status, uniqueness).
You should also consider whether you are able to offer them the products they want. Dropshippers are heavily dependent on suppliers (more later). This means you have to ensure that you can find someone who is willing to sell the products you want.
Fashion is dominated by big brands, so this can be difficult. With enough research, you can find the product that best suits your target audience.
These questions will help you to make this process easier:
- How do you assess the financial abilities of potential customers?
- Is it possible for them to buy impulse items?
- What is their buying frequency for the products you plan to dropship?
These questions will be key to your marketing strategy.
Dropshipping men’s and women’s textiles
Selling men’s and women’s textiles is easy. You can sell one or both.
Whatever works best for your product or target audience is fine. A large survey by Freedonia Focus Reports shows that men and women both buy textiles online at roughly the same rate, despite previous preliminary studies showing otherwise.
These are some useful tips to keep in mind as you plan your business strategy. (More on that later)
- This survey found that women shop more for clothes than men. However, some of this difference could be explained by the fact women often buy textiles for their children and for themselves.
- Women are more likely to buy clothes than men. Dropshipping might be a good idea. You could focus less on women’s clothes. Dropshipping can be more profitable if you have repeat customers.
Everyone needs clothes, and online shopping is becoming increasingly popular.
The question of whether you prefer male, female, or unisex is ultimately up to your personal preference.
Dropshipping: Quality clothing suppliers
There are three options when it comes to finding high-quality textile suppliers:
Work directly with manufacturers Although most manufacturers won’t list themselves as dropshippers, some may offer this service. Make sure you are familiar with their industry before you contact them. It is important to demonstrate that you are able to sell your products and know your audience.
A paid directory allows you to find suppliers. You can find verified suppliers worldwide through paid directories like Salehoo or Worldwide Brands. Access will cost you a fee, but the benefits of the directory will outweigh any financial constraints.
You can search for wholesalers by yourself. Beware of scammers if you choose to go this route. You might be better off not answering the phone if a supplier wants to charge you a subscription fee or a one-time fee. You might only be charged a small shipping fee or subject to a minimum order.
You might prefer to stay with local suppliers depending on your circumstances. This makes communication easier. These can also be more costly.
To ensure that everything goes smoothly, order a sample before entering into a partnership. Don’t forget about returns. Online textiles returns are much higher than in other niches. Make sure you can return your order.
BrandsGateway
Estonia-based BrandsGateway operates a network that includes offices and warehouses all over the globe. It is amazing that delivery takes just five days, regardless of where you live or what your address is. You also get tons of high-quality images to use in your store.
BrandsGateway plug-ins can easily be connected to your shop via Shopify and WooCommerce. These plug-ins provide a variety of features, including automatic inventory updates and real-time order sync.
Price is the only problem. It currently stands at EUR1,695/year (or EUR1,188 when you take advantage of the discount). You can also subscribe monthly, but if the annual price seems too high, you can still give it a try.
Gertex
Gertex – a Canadian leader in hosiery and loungewear, as well as accessories, has brands such Snugabye and Densely & Co. and Day In Day Out. They also sell winter accessories and baby clothing.
If you are interested in licensed, private label, or branded programs, this is the right option.
Gertex is building a dropshipper website. You can find it by clicking this link.
BrandsDistribution
BrandsDistribution has a huge supplier. It claims to be the world’s largest supplier of B2B fashion, including textiles, footwear, bags and accessories, for the past ten years.
BrandsDistribution allows you to select from 120+ top brands such as Adidas, Nike and Dr. Martens. Over 500,000 products are available. They can be shipped worldwide from their headquarters in Italy.
In just a few mouse clicks, the BDroppy app lets you import thousands of designer products into your store (supported formats include xls and csv), All your sales can be managed through one multi-channel dashboard that integrates with Amazon, eBay PrestaShop Shopify and WooCommerce.
Additional functionalities include multilingual or multicurrency management, automatic ordering and catalog synchronization and professional images to support your marketing campaigns.
It starts at EUR99 per Month – not a bad deal at all!
My Online Fashion Store
This option is only available for US dropshippers. If you are not located in the US, skip it.
If you’re looking to open your own fashion shop, this supplier is a great choice. This is because they are exclusively focused on dropshipping. They offer a Dropshipping Program and a Shopify App that allows for one-click product imports as well as automatic inventory syncing. They also support BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Amazon, even if your store isn’t on Shopify.
It is worth noting that shipping within the USA takes between 5 and 7 days. They even offer free returns.
There are two pricing options available. If you are using Shopify, the first option is to pay $29 per monthly for their app. The standard subscription costs $19 per per month on their website. Each option comes with a 14-day trial.
Sparkle in Pink
The supplier, whose motto is “Adorable made affordable”, is essentially a small group of less than 50 professionals designers. They work hard to find the latest trends, then make high-quality clothing, footwear, or other accessories for children at a very affordable price.
Its business model allows the company to offer low prices (near-wholesale) without sacrificing quality. This is evident by its 4.87 star rating.
Sparkle in Pink was ranked 325 in Inc. 5000’s prestigious list of America’s fastest-growing companies in 2020.
Dropshipping with Sparkle In Pink is easy. You just need to select “Drop Ship My Order” in your cart and enter the customer’s information at checkout. Your order will be shipped within the next business day.
Griffati
Griffati is amazing (let’s just say that) It is a European supplier for designer textiles, including 300+ Italian and International brands. The company also offers more than 20,000 outlet products.
Griffati’s regular discounts are one the best features. These discounts allow you to buy top-quality products at as low as 75%, which will boost your dropshipping business’ profit margins.
This supplier has another huge advantage: local shipping takes only 24 to 48 hours, or 2 to 4 days for international orders.
Although the company won’t reveal its membership prices, you may start with a free 15-day “Discovery trial” and then move on to paid memberships.
ModeShe
ModeShe sells textiles from many women’s fashion brands and focuses on huge discounts. You can find swimwear, dresses and lingerie as well as tops, bottoms and outerwear.
ModeShe is a supplier of direct-to-consumer products, but they also offer dropshippers a program that provides an additional 15%-25% discount and no minimum order requirement.
ModeShe offers support for Shopify store owners (you can also use other platforms) and is easy to integrate into your store.
Delivery times can be quite quick – usually between 6-15 business day depending on where you are located – but order processing can take up to 5 days. This can be a problem, so make sure to keep this in mind when making your decision.
Silverts
Dropshipping clothing for seniors, the elderly and people with disabilities is a profitable niche. Silverts is the best option if this niche is yours. It is North America’s largest provider of adaptive textiles and has been in existence since 1930.
This is what’s amazing – Silvert’s dropship program will grant you a 25% discount on all products if your application is approved. This discount will increase to 30% if you reach $5,000 in sales.
You’ll also get all the high quality, high-resolution images that you need to make your store look professional.
Unfortunately, the program is not available outside of the US and Canada. Silverts, if you are located in North America, is a great partner to work with.
Matterhorn
Matterhorn is a wholesaler for women’s clothing, handbags and swimwear. You can dropship directly from your store with a selection of over 13,000+ products made in Europe by 150 top brands. You only pay for the item and shipping.
The company provides high-quality images with no minimum order requirements. The company ships worldwide in 1-3 business days.
Matterhorn continues to expand its product line by adding approximately 100 new products every day.
BelleWholesale
BelleWholesale can be used as both a business to-business or direct-to consumer platform. It sells men’s and women’s clothes to dropshippers, wholesalers, and retailers.
You get $10 off orders over $120, and $5 off orders over $99, if you spend more than that amount. All orders are shipped via priority mail which is available internationally.
Registering is easy. Simply create an account and click on the “Contact seller” button. Or, skip the first step to get in touch with them directly. After your account approval, you will be designated as a dropshipper. You will then be able to enjoy many perks such as hot-sale items recommendations that are only available to dropshippers.
Dropshipping textiles is still a viable business strategy in 2021. Global e-commerce revenues are expected to grow by almost 50% over the next three years.
You will need to spend time finding the right niche and target audience and then creating a plan to run your dropshipping business.
Next comes sourcing. It can be difficult to find dropshipping suppliers. There are many options available (manufacturers and wholesalers, as well as directories and tools that can help you do the heavy lifting). Make sure to request product samples and talk about returns with suppliers.
Your online store is the final piece of the puzzle. To make it look as good as possible, organize your items by style, color, pattern or any other feature.
