If you would like to earn money at home, them e-commerce should have crossed your mind. But you may not have jumped in and opened your online store on account of the numerous requirements such as inventory, suppliers, storage, and shipment among others.
There is an easy way for you to enter the realms of e-commerce: dropshipping. And this might be your big break.
What is Dropshipping?
Drop shipping is an alternative retail fulfillment method. While traditional e-commerce businesses would need to have a stock of its products for sale, get orders from the customers then ship the products to the customers; drop shipping, on the other hand, skips a couple of these steps.
Still the same, the retailer would even get the order of the customer. But what’s different is that the retailer does not store its products for sale. Every time an order is placed, he would contact a third-party seller (a manufacturer, a wholesaler, or another retailer) to pack the product and ship if on his behalf.
It is a great way to start running your own business as it eliminates some critical requirements such as storage and fulfilment facilities. You would, of course, still need to get to the process of finding the right partner, and setting up your e-commerce website.
5 Ways to Make Money Online from Home with Drop shipping
While an aspiring retailer in a dropshipping setup is already spared from a lot of trouble, dropshipping is not exactly a walk in the park. To help you out, here are five ways for which you can boost your dropshipping venture, and make money online from home:
Set up your online store
As in any business, you would need to do your homework before you could start your operations. Aside from researching your target market and finding the right products to sell for them, you’ll also need to find the right third-party seller. After all that is done, you’ll need to set up your online store.
There are many platforms for which you can quickly come up with an online store, and one of the best ways for you to do just that is through Shopify.
In setting up your online store, you would need to settle on a name. Your name needs to be catchy and clever.
You’ll then need to buy your store’s domain. Owning a domain for your online store will allow it to have a more proper URL.
Next, you’ll need to dress up your shop for the job. Shopify has a lot of themes to offer. There are both free and paid themes for you to choose from, all based on your liking. You’ll also have to set up your site’s most important pages: the homepage, the, about us page, the product page, and the contact us page among others.
After all that, you’ll be able to add your product offerings then you can start running your online store.
Pro tip: Mobile-friendliness is a vital factor for sites of all types nowadays. Make sure that you implement steps to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly.
Sell on Multiple Channels
While your primary channel is, of course, your e-commerce business site, there are plenty of opportunities for your business by tapping other channels. Atop that list is social media.
Social media is particularly useful as a marketing platform. With the high user base that each social networking site has, and the multiple ways to do advertising on their website, you can drive a lot of traffic to your e-commerce site.
Often overlooked though, is that social media sites are now offering features that push e-commerce forward. For one, you can sell products directly through a Facebook store. Doing this is an effective way to augment your site, and boost your sales.
Choose the right dropshipping suppliers
We have mentioned how important it is to find the right partner for your dropshipping business. It is a very crucial factor for all the right reasons. In a dropshipping setup, you are merely coordinating your customers to your suppliers. You would not be able to check the quality of the products yourself, but you would be putting your name on the line for every transaction. Ensuring the integrity of the suppliers you are partnering with is also essential.
There are sites where would be able to connect to suppliers all over the world where you can choose different products. It would not be difficult for you to find the right partner for the right product through similar sites. Also, a lot of these suppliers already engage in a drop shipping setup so you would not have much trouble dealing with them for your own drop shipping business.
With this, you would not have to worry that your business would be in jeopardy because you will be working with reputable suppliers who are trusted in the service that they provide. Then again, if you would like to try out other third-party sellers, you are still free to risk as you please, but you will have to be careful, so you’ll need to screen your options thoroughly.
Develop a Killer Marketing Strategy
In a drop shipping setup, your primary goal is to link your suppliers to customers. To do that, you’ll need to market the products you have for sale. It is therefore essential that you come up with winning marketing strategies that can drive in sales for your drop shipping business.
One of the most important facets of building a marketing strategy is knowing who you are selling to. We mentioned earlier that you are responsible for doing your homework before starting your business. One of which is identifying your target market or your customers. You will then have to develop strategies that are fit for them.
In crafting marketing strategies, some of the most critical points of consideration are the age, the gender, the location, the education level, and the income. Different approaches appeal to different mixes of these demographics. Social media is one of the biggest platforms in which you can target certain people depending on where your social media marketing applies.
There’s also the need to understand psychology, or a more in-depth look on your market’s attitudes and behavior that also play a role in how you can tap these to entice them to buy.
The key to coming up with a winning marketing strategy is knowing what appeals best to your customers, and this can be done by knowing who your customers are.
Provide Impeccable Customer Service
As your customer’s point of contact, you are charged not only to liaise your customers and your suppliers. You are also tasked to provide customer service – before and after making sales.
You should enable communication channels between you and your customers so that you can address their inquiries, and solve their purchase-related problems. Excellent customer service can set you apart from the competition so make sure that you provide the best customer service you possibly can and become the top choice among your competitors, helping you earn more than you can imagine.
Conclusion
Drop shipping is an excellent way to earn money from home. It helps you enter the e-commerce landscape less some roadblocks. With the tips above, you will be able to make the most out of your drop shipping business, making this venture a real success.
