subject: Dropship Program for Your Ecommerce Website [print this page] Dropship Program for Your Ecommerce Website
Drop shipping is a distribution method primarily used by online retailers to fulfill customer orders from their ecommerce web site. With a dropship program, the retailers do not carry any inventory, instead all of the products are held as inventory by wholesalers or sometimes even the manufacturers. Right after an order is placed, the online retailer collects shipping information and payment then the customer order is transferred to the drop shipper to be fulfilled. They are then responsible for shipping all of the products that are ordered out to that customer. The online retailer makes a profit off of the difference between the wholesale and retail prices.
Drop shipping is a wonderful way to start an online business without a lot of start up cost. In fact several home based businesses have grown to be very successful using this technique to sell online. The first thing you must do is find suitable vendors to get involved with. There are thousands to select from, but they are not all reliable. This step appears to be relatively easy, but the fact of the matter is that finding a suitable vendor for your dropship program can either make or break your business. The key is to spend a lot of time researching all possible vendors and selecting ones that you think are a good fit for you. Think of it as a partnership, you take care of the first part of the order and they take care of the rest. The only way to have a smooth running e-commerce business with satisfied customers is if both parts work well together.
The initial step is coming up with a list of potential vendors to use for your dropship program. Search for vendors that supply products you are looking to sell in your online store and then find out if it's well known and reputable. How long have they been in business? Do they have the ability to deliver what they promise? Can you make a profit based on the price you are getting the products for? After choosing the best of the bunch, contact them about their services and try to order a few products. Then narrow it down by comparing the quality of each product, the delivery time, how fast they respond to inquiries and their ability to customize the packing slip and shipping label to match your business logo.After making your decision on which vendors to use, you have to make sure that your ecommerce solution is able to manage your dropship program. Make sure they are able to provide the following:
QuickBooks integration for easy POS management and tracking
Create unlimited number of vendors
Automatically contact vendors when their products are ordered
Shipping is calculated in real time based on drop ship location and carrier
Admin log-in area for vendors to add products or update inventory
People generally decide to run a dropship program for their business, because of the freedom it offers and low level of risk involved. There are some disadvantages such as not being able to control the merchandise and not being the only retailer they supply to. However there are also a number of advantages for creating this type of business. Here are just a few:
Little to no inventory
Saves time by letting someone else handle the order fulfillment
Saves money by not requiring a lot of overhead cost
Product images and details are already available for you to use on your web site
Huge selection of products to choose from which gives you the ability to sell more than you normally would
