Dropshipping is a new-age business model that has become popular in recent years. It involves an online store selling products they do not have in the warehouse. When the store receives an order, they pass it to a third-party supplier, who ships the product to the customer. Many individuals and companies have recently started a dropshipping business and shown significant growth.
The success of this business largely depends on your website or online store. If you are a dropshipping business owner or have a sound business plan for this, you need to know a few things for designing your online store.
This article explains what are the benefits of starting a dropshipping business and also the things you must consider when designing an online store.
Table of Contents
Top 5 benefits of a dropshipping business
Easy to start
Starting an ecommerce business is easy if you don’t have to deal with physical products. You also don’t have to manage a warehouse or packing and shipping orders. Besides that, ordering products and tracking inventory are not required for dropshipping. You can manage the business from your home, so overall, dropshipping is easy to start and manage.
Requires less capital
One of the biggest advantages of dropshipping is that you don’t need a large capital to start a business. When you start a physical store or a standard ecommerce business, you have to spend a significant amount of money. However, you can start the business without up-front inventory investments and run it successfully without massive capital. You need to find suppliers and design a dropshipping online store, and you can start a business.
Location independent
Whether manufacturing, retailing or having an ecommerce business, running a business efficiently without being physically present at the location is almost impossible. However, dropshipping is different. You can run it from any location if you have a stable internet connection and can communicate with customers and suppliers.
Wide range of products
In dropshipping, you do not have to pre-purchase any item and you can offer a wide range of products. All you need is for the product to be available at the supplier, and you can list it in your store. This gives you the option to choose a large number of products.
Easy to scale
In the case of a traditional retail business, you have to invest a significant amount in scaling up your business. However, in the case of dropshipping, you can grow your footprint in new locations or add more products without investing a lot of money. You also don’t have to bear the burden of additional orders as suppliers handle most of the work related to order processing.
7 essential things to keep in mind when you design a dropshipping online store
1. Hire an experienced dropshipping website development team
Your website is the backbone of your dropshipping business, and you must ensure it is designed well. Developing an ecommerce business requires expertise and years of experience. Hiring an experienced dropshipping developer is essential to building a user-friendly website. You need to consider many things, from design and security to check out. You can recruit an individual developer or a team.
Nowadays, many dropshipping websites developing companies such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix can help you design your ecommerce website within a few days only. Remember, not every developer may be an expert in designing these websites, so it is worth finding someone who has already worked on a similar project. Also, make sure your website is user-friendly and has all the essential features of every ecommerce website.
2. Your website design should be relevant to the products
Consistency is one of the most important things to keep in mind while designing your dropshipping website. The design of the website should be relevant to what you are selling.
For example, if you deal with the latest gadgets, the theme should be technology and its applications. However, if you are selling apparel and shoes, the design should include the latest fashion trends and not something related to healthcare or medicines.
When designing the website, make sure that the text, images, color schemes, and overall theme perfectly defines your product niche.
3. Use a category list for different product categories
Let’s say you are dealing with various types of products, including a category list on your website. Also, let’s say you are selling apparel, beauty care, home decor and accessories, and other products, you always should use a list on the home page. It will help your customers find the products easily, and without spending too much time.
Moreover, the website also looks organized, and you can add or remove a product quickly. Sometimes, you may have to include a sub-category under each category. For example, if you sell mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets, you should add sub-categories. The purpose is to make navigation painless for the customers.
4. Showcase your products and add descriptions
Before purchasing any product, every customer wants to see it. Unlike a local store where customers can see the product physically, there is no such option in the ecommerce business. However, you can add product images and videos to help customers see how the product will look before they place an order.
Using high-quality images from different angles and videos is a great way to display the product. The larger the images, the better it is for the customers. If you are selling apparel or footwear, ensure you add images with a model wearing the dress or the shoes. The customers can visualize how they will look when they wear the dress. Additionally, it is important to cut videos to highlight the key features and present a concise representation of the product.
Adding product descriptions is another crucial part when designing a dropshipping store. So, describe your products in detail, and add everything that matters to a customer before purchasing.
This can include the size, colour, weight, materials used, cuts and fits (for garments), manufacturing and expiry date, and other factors influencing customers’ decisions. Make sure to add accurate details because if customers don’t like the products when they get them, they will return them.
5. Don’t forget about your website security
How to secure your dropshipping website? Cybersecurity is a significant concern, and almost every online customer takes it seriously. As the incidents of cybercrimes are increasing, customers think multiple times before providing their personal and payment details on an e-commerce site. You have to ensure customers’ details are protected and no third party can access them. Moreover, website security is essential to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) standard when you accept online payments.
You can take many steps, like choosing a secure hosting platform, using anti-fraud software, and securing the admin panel. However, one thing every ecommerce site does to secure its website is installing a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. When you use it on your website, it shows HTTPS and a padlock before the URL.
These digital certificates create a secure connection between the browser and the website server, thus preventing any third party from accessing the information. It encrypts the user input that only you can decrypt. It does not cost you a lot of money, as you can get a cheap SSL certificate online. So, make sure to always use an SSL certificate when you design a dropshipping online store.
6. Include an easy check-out process
One of the problems customers face in an ecommerce store is the option of checking out. Everyone is not tech-savvy and faces difficulty while checking out.
It affects the customer experience, which can reduce the number of orders. Besides that, some customers do not like to create an account on an online store, so include a guest checkout process on your website too.
7. Keep SEO in mind
Your product pages should rank higher than your competitors to attract potential customers. Nowadays almost everyone likes to shop online. If your website ranks low, the chances of finding your website are lower when a customer searches for a specific product name. That is where search engine optimization (SEO) can help you. It is a crucial factor to remember when designing a dropshipping online store.
Optimizing your dropshipping website will help your store rank highly since your pages provide the best solutions to customers’ search intent. SEO brings organic traffic to your dropshipping store and significantly contributes to your business. It also reduces your reliance on paid advertisement and creates brand awareness. Creating high-quality content, using the right keyword, and adding relevant images are part of SEO.
Find out how SEO can help a dropshipping business
Conclusion
Dropshipping is getting popular as it requires a small capital but has a high potential for growth. You can start with a handful of items and include more as you find new suppliers.
Your website plays a crucial role in this business, and you must focus on ranking your product pages higher. Besides that, security, website design, and easy navigation are some of the most crucial factors to consider when designing your dropshipping online store.
Article by Trex Scott
