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Dropshipping on Shopify is one of the most popular ways people make money online. With dropshipping being one of the best passive income streams with a low barrier to entry, people are turning to Shopify to start online stores. Shopify dropshipping caters to a wide range of people, making it a popular choice for those looking for a side hustle. You’ll find countless dropshipping apps on the Shopify App Store that have unique specializations, such as AliExpress dropshipping, US and EU suppliers, or even a combination of them. In this article, we’ll walk through what dropshipping and Shopify are, why you should dropship on Shopify, and how to get started with a step-by-step tutorial. So, let’s dive in.
Dropshipping is a popular business model used where a manufacturer creates, packages, and ships products directly to the customer of a business. The business is responsible for marketing the product and ultimately owns the customer list. The upside to this business model is that it’s relatively low risk for the business owner and the manufacturer. The downside to dropshipping is that you don’t have control over the product quality and packaging unless negotiated upon with the manufacturer. Most business owners prefer dropshipping over wholesaling because you don’t need to buy inventory in bulk and upfront; you only purchase the specific products a customer chooses when they place an order.
Shopify is an ecommerce platform that allows you to sell your products online or in person. Similar to website builders, Shopify has a whole suite of features that specialize in commerce, so you’ll get a high-converting and secure checkout, access to thousands of apps which allow you to customize, market, and grow your business, and you can even access a POS system if you own a brick and mortar store. Shopify’s specialty in ecommerce is what differentiates itself from traditional website builders, making the entire process of starting an online store simple and hassle-free. So, Shopify dropshipping is when you dropship products using Shopify as your ecommerce platform.
When comparing Shopify to other ecommerce platforms, Shopify dropshipping is made possible because of how dropshipping-friendly the platform is. Some ecommerce platforms specialize in handmade goods and are less likely to encourage dropshipping on their website. Shopify recognizes the popularity and ease of dropshipping and actively promotes it on its website. You’ll find tons of content, such as blog posts, webinars, and more, that help dropshippers succeed on their platform.
In addition to being dropshipping-friendly, Shopify dropshipping is also made possible with the many apps available on the Shopify App Store. You’ll find apps specializing in AliExpress dropshipping, US dropshipping, and even EU dropshipping. However, if you’re looking for an app that allows you to do all of the above, look no further than Spocket. You’ll be able to find suppliers worldwide: from the US to China. It’s one of the only dropshipping apps that allow you to choose which region to dropship from. You’ll have access to millions of products from every popular niche, allowing you to start a business in any category. So, if you’re serious about Shopify dropshipping, consider Spocket as your go-to dropshipping app.
Shopify is a no-code-friendly ecommerce website builder allowing you to set up your online store without needing any development skills. You’ll be able to set up your business with ease. You’ll be able to purchase a domain name, get instant access to hosting, and even choose a theme all on Shopify. With all steps of the store-building process in one place, setting up your store couldn’t be easier. You’ll also have access to help docs, blogs, webinars, and other educational content on Shopify in case you get stuck. Plus, Shopify has 24/7 customer support with live chat so that you can get help along the way. The ecommerce giant is merchant-focused making it ideal for those looking to start dropshipping on Shopify.
Building a business has various costs that depend on your plan and where you purchase different products. For example, you’ll need to buy a domain name to start Shopify dropshipping, which costs an average of $10 per year. A Shopify subscription can cost anywhere from $29 to $299 each month and includes the cost of hosting. To dropship on Shopify, you’ll need an app like Spocket, which can run between $24.99 to $99.99 a month. You’ll also need to pay for a theme, though you can find free ones on the Shopify Theme Store. And finally, you’ll have marketing costs associated with your business.
Yes, Shopify dropshipping is legal. Dropshipping is simply one of many possible business models. Regulated products like firearms, paraphernalia, etc., aren’t allowed on the platform. Fortunately, popular dropshipping apps like Spocket remove restricted products from their platform, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
To really understand how Shopify dropshipping works, the best place to start is in the Shopify App Store. There, you’ll find various Shopify apps that specialize in dropshipping and more. If there are things beyond dropshipping that you need, such as sales channels, you can also add those while browsing the App Store. For your Shopify dropshipping app, you can use Spocket, the highly-rated dropshipping app. The cool thing about Spocket is that you’ll find suppliers based in the US, EU, and AliExpress. So, if you’re looking for American-made products, you’ll find countless US suppliers that ship to Americans fast. However, if you’re looking to build a store with millions of low-cost products, you might want to add AliExpress products. Fortunately, Spocket offers the Chrome Extension, AliScraper, that’s free for users on the forever free plan. AliScraper allows you to add AliExpress products to your Spocket account in only a couple of clicks. Having all the suppliers on one app makes Spocket the preferred dropshipping app for many dropshippers. Spocket also allows you to add order inserts into your packaging with your logo and customer product details.
After browsing a few Spocket products, you might find yourself excited about all sorts of business ideas. However, most people choose to stick with a singular niche. A niche is the broad product category you’ll sell on your online store. For example, you can start Shopify dropshipping in the women’s clothing niche. Alternatively, you can create a general store like Amazon that has a bit of everything. However, it’s essential to remember that Amazon didn’t start as a general store but as a bookstore. Starting with a niche and then expanding into other verticals is key to succeeding. Being known for a specific thing helps people think of you when they’re looking for that item. Then, you can expand into other verticals to fill out your collection line. For example, if you started a women’s clothing store, you begin by selling clothing. You could then introduce footwear, beauty products, jewelry, and possibly some home decor as you expand. It’s a natural progression without alienating your original customer base. You can find various niches to choose from under Dropship on Spocket’s homepage.
Once you’ve narrowed down the niche you’ll be selling in, it’s time to do some product research. With millions of products at your fingertips on the Spocket app, choosing the right products to sell requires some work. Fortunately, Spocket keeps product research simple. When you click on “Premium” in the product search tool, those are all the best-selling products for Shopify dropshipping right now. For non-premium products, you can use Google Trends to determine whether the product is trending upward or downward. Most people make the Google Trends settings “Worldwide” and “2004-Present” for an easy-to-read understanding of the product. For example, if you search “women’s blazer” on Google Trends, you’ll see that it’s growing in popularity. So that would be an excellent product to add to your store if you own a women’s fashion store. You can also search for products on Amazon to read customer feedback, analyze positive to negative reviews, and determine if the product is the right fit for your business. Finally, add the products you think customers will love based on reviews, current data trends, etc.
Once you’ve added ten to twenty products to your Import List, take some time to edit the title and descriptions. Keeping the original copy is called “duplicate content” and is a penalty that Google can strike on your website, which prevents you from ranking in search engines. Considering how search engine traffic is free, writing SEO-optimized descriptions could mean a lot of free traffic for your website. Avoid naming your products after people’s names, such as “Amelia dress,” and focus on describing the product itself, such as “Black V-Neck Cut Out Dress,” since that’s how your customers would search for the product instead.
After setting up your Spocket account, you’ll want to choose a domain name for your Shopify dropshipping business. One thing to keep in mind is the long-term future of your domain name. For example, naming your store after your name could result in you losing the rights to your name if the business is sold down the road. In addition, choosing a brand name such as “Simply Beauty” could limit you down the road as people will only expect you to sell beauty products. However, if you plan to stick with a singular niche, you could use the Shopify Business Name Generator to come up with a domain name. Selecting a name that’s generic or has no meaning works best long-term, but no one understands what your business is about in the short term. However, many Shopify dropshipping stores choose generic names for their domain names.
After finding the perfect domain name, it’s time to sign-up for Shopify. You’ll create an account for your store and include the name of your store in the sign-up process. Shopify will then ask a series of questions, such as “Are you already selling?” “What is your current revenue?” and “What industry will you be operating in?” These are just for Shopify’s information, so there’s no wrong answer. In Shopify’s back-end, you’ll need to fill in details about your business, such as payment methods, adding your domain name to point to your Shopify store, and other crucial information.
The next step you’ll want to do is design your Shopify store. This tends to be the most popular part of signing up for Shopify. However, it’s crucial not to overspend time designing your store, as it’s the marketing of your business that leads to your success. You can choose any theme from the Shopify Theme Store or you can shop for Shopify Themes on a theme website like ThemeForest. You can customize your store’s colors, fonts, and copy. If you’d like to add elements that aren’t available with your theme, such as an email opt-in form, you can reach out to Shopify Experts, who will make unique customizations for you for a fee.
Now that you’ve added products and done some design work, you’re ready to start promoting your Shopify dropshipping store. There’s no one way to get sales. You can generate sales on any platform you market on. The difference, though, depends on the speed. If you’re building a social media following from scratch, it’ll take time to build up an audience to promote to. However, if you’re running ads, you’ll get sales immediately, but it’ll cost more upfront. Advertising, in general, is the fastest way to generate sales. Whether you choose Facebook, Google, or TikTok depends on what makes the most sense for your business. You can also go the free but slow route of building your own followers, starting a blog focusing on organic traffic, or growing an email list. Building your own audience is key to your long-term success; it just takes longer.
After a few sales on your Shopify dropshipping store, you’ll want to scale your business. Keep in mind that scaling is never 1:1. Conversion rates tend to drop once you start getting bigger numbers. For example, if your website traffic increases from 1,000 to 100,000 monthly visitors, the conversion rate will be lower for the 100,000 visitors. Same with ads. If you get four sales from $100, you will likely not get 40 sales when you spend $1000. The ad will “break” or, in other words, not convert as well. You’ll need to focus on conversion rate optimization on your website to increase conversions for organic traffic. And you’ll need to create another similar ad to convert ad traffic with a higher budget.
Shopify dropshipping is a great way to build an online store with low entry barriers, low risk, and ease of getting started. Using Spocket, you can find millions of products to add to your online store to get started. Anyone can be successful with Shopify dropshipping. However, you’ll need to invest a lot of time into marketing your business to grow a big audience. Fortunately, there are a lot of free methods for promoting your business, from social media to content marketing. With some effort and experimentation, you can build and grow a successful Shopify dropshipping store that allows you to earn passive income for years to come.
Nicole Martins Ferreira is an experienced ecommerce entrepreneur who's built online stores in various niches. In her spare time, she shares her experiences with others, so they can succeed in ecommerce too.
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