If you’re in retail, you must have heard about dropshipping and Shopify. Dropshipping is a relatively low-risk way of operating a business because retailers can sell products without having to physically carry inventory. Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that supports dropshipping. In fact, up to 27% of Shopify businesses use dropshipping for their operations.
If you’re considering dropshipping on Shopify, this post gives a step-by-step guide so you can have your business up and running in no time.
How To Start Dropshipping on Shopify
Dropshipping is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs because it allows them to focus on their business instead of worrying about stocking products and shipping them out. Here are five steps for setting up a dropshipping account on Shopify:
- Find a Supplier
The first step to starting a dropshipping business is to find a supplier that offers products you’d like to sell in your store.
There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a supplier:
- Location: It's best to choose a supplier in the same country as your target market. This will minimize shipping times and costs.
- Reputation: You can learn about a supplier's reputation by reading online reviews and talking to other businesses that use their services. Make sure to ask about quality, shipping times, and customer service.
- Pricing: You'll need to find a supplier that offers competitive prices. Remember that you'll need to make a profit on each sale, so don't choose a supplier with prices that are too high.
- Product range: Choose a supplier that offers a wide range of products. This will give you more options to choose from when selling.
- Open a Shopify Account
The next step is to open a Shopify account. Shopify is easy to use, offers built-in tools for running an online store, and is affordable. Plus, Shopify can be integrated with many dropshipping suppliers and apps that make adding features and products to your store easier.
You can open a free trial account with your email address on the Shopify home page.
- Add Products To Your Store
Once you have a Shopify account, it's time to add products to your store. You can do this directly with Shopify or use a Shopify app like Oberlo to speed up and simplify the process.
What is Oberlo? Oberlo lets you easily add products from AliExpress, an online retail store where many Shopify retailers source their products. Together, Shopify, Oberlo, and AliExpress seamlessly work together and make dropshipping a breeze.
- Set Your Prices
You'll need to balance profitability with competitive prices. An easy way to see how much other retailers are offering for the same product is to use Oberlo's pricing calculator.
- Launch Your Store
Once you've added products and set prices, it's time to launch your store. You can do this by clicking the "Publish" button on your Shopify admin page. Your store will then be live and open for business!
Is Shopify Dropshipping Legal?
Dropshipping on Shopify is legal. The only thing you need to be worried about is selling counterfeit goods (BBC News, 2020) and intellectual property theft.
The Bottom Line
Dropshipping is a low-risk and easy way to start your own online retail business while Shopify is one of the most popular platforms for it. We hope these five steps help you get started quickly so you can discover the joys of being an online entrepreneur that much sooner!
References:
- https://www.shopify.com/blog/dropshipping-guide
- https://www.oberlo.com/blog/shopify-dropshipping-guide
- https://synder.com/blog/how-to-start-dropshipping-on-shopify/