What is dropshipping? How does dropshipping work?

Improve My Business is supported by its readers, if you buy purchase through our links, we maybe earn a commision.
Dropshipping is a method that does not require you to keep products in stock. Instead, you sell the product and forward the order to a third-party supplier who ships the order to the customer. So your only duty is to take in the order, process it and passes on to be delivered.
Dropshipping allows you to skip the cost of manufacturing, storing and shipping products. It is similar to affiliate marketing, your only duty is to provide customers by running marketing and engage with the customer.


How dropshipping works?
So how do dropshipping works? It actually pretty easy but acquire hard work. First of all, you have to find the Dropshipper you want to work with. Which would be the merchant or product owner, who will give you access to the products and information that you can use to post on your website, blog, or SoMe platform. Then when the customer orders the product, you then send the requirement to the merchant, who ships the products to your customer.
Basically, the workflow is:
- Find and choose the products:
- Starts by finding a dropshipper source or integrate a dropshipping marketplace to your website.
- Integrate merchant items to your website:
- Import the products to your webshop and decide the prices. Make sure to have full control over your listings and profit margins, then you are ready.
- Customer orders:
- Receive and process orders from the customer.
- Forward orders to the merchant:
- Forward the customers’ order and shipment details and pay the dropshipping on behalf of the customers.
- Merchant fulfils the orders:
- The merchant ships the orders to your customer and the provides you with information about the shipment, which you use to update your customer.
Pros:
- Start a webshop with a simple storefront and inventory ready to launch.
- No reason to limit the products because of storage space or manufacturing.
- Low cost because production and storage cost.
- You can launch your business from anywhere, all you need is an internet connection.
- You can quickly test products and adjust your inventory. Which means you can change the products when you want because you do not have an inventory you have to sell out.
Cons:
- You do not have control of product quality, though you can change the merchant.
- Refunds and return exchanges can be difficult, but that depends on the merchant.
- Shipping costs depends on the merchants’ location.
How to start a dropshipping business?
To start a dropshipping business you have to develop a marketable concept, sales channel and a marketing plan to execute your business plan.
You have to find a concept that you enjoy and are passionate about, also you can find concepts that are based on sales trend. Just make sure to scale and improve your concept through research and test.

Here are five steps to start a dropshipping business:
- Pick a niche and products:
- For connecting to the audience, you have to find a niche and products. This step is crucial because it is a vital point of creating a successful shop. To find your niche, you can start by researching which trends and products are in the market in your niche.
- Choose a merchant:
- Another vital element is the supplier because you are going to rely on them to deliver and ship good quality products to the customer. One way to do that is to use eCommerce builder such as Shopify, where you can build your shop and then add an app, so you can import products from dropshipping suppliers. You can find many eCommerce sites, who can help you by searching “how to start a dropshipping business”.
- Create and build your website/shop:
- Research and evaluate the various available sales channels and make your choice. Some people use sales channels such as Amazon or eBay. For building your website there are two methods such as eCommerce website builder or WordPress depending on your technical level.
- Add products to your shop:
- Next step is to select and add products to your website. You can do by using an integrated supplier or by yourself. Most use Shopify and Oberlo combined to easily set up a website and a supplier.
- Launch and manage your shop:
- The final step is to attract shoppers to your market, which are usually done by marketing via social media, paid ads or email. Once your marketing efforts are up and running you will receive orders, which you have to manage. Also, make sure to find new trends to update your website and inventory.
Dropshipping what to sell?
Dropshipping is a growing business method for many eCommerce with various kind of products. To be a part of that you have to find competing products which you can sell on your platform. The best idea is to think about the needs of your audience and the problems you can solve for them.

We have listed some of the products you can sell on your website:
- Organic tea
- Resistance bands
- Clothing
- Toy
- Sportswear
There is a lot of products you can sell, the most important is to study successful dropshipping companies and figure out how which products and how they present their products. Just learn all you can from them, so you have an idea of how to start your own business.
Conclusion
If you want a business solution with low-cost and low-risk, then the right choice is to use a dropshipping business model. The learning process is not hard, but how which direction you choose for your business does dictate how successful your business will be.