The Internet is advancing at a faster rate which is giving newer avenues to the people. Nowadays people are looking up to start some business that does not require any infrastructure and can be done just by sitting at home. So if you are also of that though then I am going to tell you how to start drop shipping business. If you are thinking to break into e-commerce, then drop shipping business 2018 will be the right choice.
It is not exactly the e-commerce, but you will set up an e-commerce business that will use the model of drop shipping. With this business model, you will get more time to focus on growing the business and adding more value to it.
What is Drop Shipping
Drop shipping is also an e-commerce business where the online store does not keep any inventory. The owner of the business ties up with certain manufacturers who sell their products on that platform.
So for instance, if someone places an order, it directly goes to that manufacturer and he directly ships that item to the customer. This means the merchant is not even in the picture.
If you want to know the basic difference between a drop shipping business and an e-commerce website, then it is that the drop shipping merchant never keeps the inventory with him.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to fulfill the order of the customer and the profit goes to the merchant.
The biggest benefit of drop shipping business is that it does not require much capital. It’s just that you have to open a good e-commerce website and collaborate with the manufacturers and get started with it. The collaboration will not require any manual effort as you can use ready platforms to directly sell from there.
How to set up drop shipping business
If you want a business to be flexible, then drop shipping is the right thing for you. The business is supported by largest e-commerce platform, Shopify. It is an e-commerce platform that enables the entrepreneurs who are willing to start their own website or online stores.
Shopify is so easy to use that one does not require any technical knowledge to operate it. Let’s see how you can start off with Shopify for drop shipping.
Name the drop shipping store on Shopify
This the first step towards opening a drop shipping store on Shopify. Name your store first. The name of the store should be simple yet creative and crisp. You also have to check the availability of the name on Shopify. If you get what you are thinking of, then you are lucky otherwise, you have to think of some other name.
Then once you enter the name of the store, Shopify will ask you all the personal details like name, address, phone number etc.
Entry to the store
Once you enter all the details, you will get the permission to enter into the store. Then a dashboard will be seeing in front of you. There you will find tabs for products, customers, orders, analytics to name a few. You can start adding products by clicking on the add product tab.
You can also choose a theme to give a different look to the website.
Launching the drop shipping store
In order to launch the store after setting up all the information and adding the products. Click on the settings tab which is in the lower left corner of the dashboard. Once you open the settings tab, click on the “Sales Channel” option.
Once you click on the sales channel, then click to add sales channel.
So in this way you can easily create an online store by using Shopify. You can also select the themes and then decorate the store accordingly.
Drop shipping using Oberlo
Oberlo is an application given by Shopify. So now that you have created a drop shipping store using Shopify, then you have to keep updating it as well. So to add the products to the store, you will need to install Oberlo app. Oberlo is in integration with Shopify that will enable you to add the products to the store.
As Oberlo and Shopify are seamlessly in integration that enables the application to search those products that you are interested in. All you have to do is click on the import button on any product that you want to sell and that product will be directly imported to your Shopify online store.
For instance, if you want to sell televisions on your drop shipping store, then just click on the import button and it will be added to your Shopify drop shipping store with Oberlo.
Drop shipping with AliExpress
AliExpress is a marketplace powered by Alibaba, the giant in eCommerce sector from China. There are many small and medium size businesses using this online retail system to sell their products. You can directly pick the products from AliExpress and use drop shipping with that.
Before starting off with AliExpress, you have to decide your niche audience. And once you decide the audience, start adding products to the store. Also, you will have to write the description of the product, the expected delivery time etc. You can also use Oberlo to manage other things in the store.
If you are planning to earn money online and if drop shipping is on your mind, then you must get start with it as soon as possible. Shopify gives you the liberty to design your own drop shipping business, but with Oberlo and AliExpress the job becomes simple yet quick. So now the the concpt of drop shipping is clear to you, you can start off with your online business today!