So you’ve started a dropship store? Congratulations!
You’ve connected to the dropship apps and listed a bunch of products. Well done, you’ve got a dropship business. Modern technology provides easy access to markets and lets you get in front of so many people. It’s one of the greatest gifts of this millennium.
There’s just one problem: Your dropship store is not making money!
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most new dropship store owners struggle with poor sales or low profit margins. If that’s you, it’s time to change what you are doing. Stop wasting time and switch it up so your store works for you and brings you the income you deserve.
What most people do
Most new dropshippers make at least one of these mistakes:
- Spend a fortune setting up a store and making it look beautiful;
- Sell products with low profit margins because they are easy to find and list;
- Sell poor quality products because they are the only ones available, then spend hours dealing with complaints and refunds;
- Spend all day fiddling with store themes, layouts and widgets.
Why that doesn’t work
- The focus is on activities that don’t increase profits.
- Not enough care for those who make or break a business: customers and suppliers.
- Selling the same stuff as everyone else makes it hard to compete.
- The user experience suffers, leading to lost sales.
Every time your customers have a bad experience, with poor quality products or a clumsy checkout process, you lose money.
What Works
- Being prepared to work at relationships. Customer and supplier relationships are the key to successful online businesses.
- Creating relationships with quality suppliers who stock well-designed items and offer better margins.
- Using a simple ecommerce store, with a paid template from a proven designer.
- Not changing your store after set up. The designer knows what works best.
It doesn’t matter how pretty your store looks, what matters is whether casual browsers convert to purchasers.
Action Plan
- Find 5 suppliers with quality products you would love to promote and schedule some time each week to contact them;
- Come up with 2 ways you can get their products in front of more people.
- Be prepared for rejection or being ignored – wholesalers are busy people! It’s okay to ask again, but don’t expect an immediate response.
- Show suppliers how you can help them by showing their products to new customers and increasing their sales.
- Let go of your dream of a beautiful store. Instead aim for a store that converts and sells.
- Use e-commerce software that delivers a great customer experience.
Once you are making sales, don’t forget to provide amazing customer service. Happy customers will return and buy more from you, generating more income. Treat your suppliers with the same care as your customers. They will love you for it.
Want to learn more?
- What is dropshipping exactly?
- Affiliate sales versus dropshipping
- What’s the difference between wholesaling and dropshipping?
What Next…
After all your hard work, you now have a supplier or two with quality products you can sell. How do you actually go about all the things you need to do to sell to your customers? You are probably wondering how you get product listings added to your store or how are you going to keep inventory levels updated.
Click here to have a look at what Dropship Connect can do for you.
