Dropshipping bridges the gap between the internet and traditional business for the average entrepreneur. Without the need for warehouse storage, a retail location, or staff to man your store, this eCommerce selling strategy appeals to a wide range of businesspeople. However, like any other business, you need to know what you’re doing if you want to be successful – it’s no walk in the park!
While you’ll want to do some in-depth research before starting a new store, we’ve compiled some of the most important do’s and don’ts of dropshipping with WooCommerce. Whether you’re a new business or just want to make sure you’re doing everything correctly, keep reading to learn more about making the most of your dropshipping business.
DO – Set Yourself Apart with Exceptional Service
No matter what your business model is, customer service plays a huge role in the success of your eCommerce website. Due to the hesitation that comes from ordering with new online stores, building trust with your new potential customers can go a long way towards your conversions. After all, if they don’t trust you’re a legitimate business then your exceptional deals will mean nothing – they’ll pay more elsewhere.
Live chat or fast email support can be a great way to prove that you’re ready, willing, and able to help at any point. If any questions come up during the buying process, a live chat ensures that you have a chance to salvage that conversion before they move on. Fast responses also add to the professionalism of your store – another way to gain trust.
DON’T – Stretch Yourself Too Thin
“Do what you know” is an underrated mentality when it comes to online business. It can be attractive to go as wide as possible with your business to attract more customers, but the more niches you add, the less of an expert you and your store become. There’s already an Amazon marketplace that sells just about everything – stick to your favorite niche and become an authority in the industry to truly find success when dropshipping with WooCommerce.
If you’re an outdoor person, stick to outdoor gear so that you can provide insight into products, helpful information, and help build trust with your customers. If you try to venture into beauty products, you’ll just be another store!
DO – Vet Your Suppliers
As a dropshipper, your suppliers are one of the most important aspects of your business. You’re not a manufacturer or shipping company – your job is selling the products. With the majority of the hands-on work being the process of creating, stocking, and shipping the product to customers, the supplier handles most of the work so that you can earn passive income. If they’re not up to par, they’re going to destroy your business!
Vetting your suppliers helps to ensure that you’re working with a professional. When using plugins like AliExpress for your catalogue, you’ll have access to tons of different suppliers. It’s your job to contact them and find out their business information, guarantees, and other policies, verifying they align with your goals so that you can confidently work with them to satisfy your customers.
DON’T – Price Yourself Out of Profit
Dropshipping is an incredibly competitive market. Even if you choose a small, specific niche to occupy, you’re still going to be competing for sales. Since many stores use supplier directories and catalogues to source their products, there’s often overlap between stores’ inventories, so price is one of the main factors customers consider.
While it can be tempting to beat every competitor’s price at all times, it can also be dangerous. If you’re constantly lowering prices, you’re going to start cutting into your profit margins unnecessarily. Instead, set yourself apart in other ways like service quality and keep your prices competitive so that you’re always maintaining your margins.
DO – Maximize Your Website Conversions
At the end of the day, your marketing can only go so far. While most people put all their money into getting visitors to their site, you’ll be wasting money if your site doesn’t convert those visitors to paying customers! That’s why you need to optimize your site for conversions before you start throwing money into advertising.
You’ll of course want to make sure that your website works correctly, is easy to navigate, and is responsive for all kinds of users (did you know about 40% of sales come from mobile devices?). However, you can also implement other conversion rate optimization (CRO) practices to improve SEO, conversions, and overall sales.
While you’re making the most of your website, don’t ignore the last step of the transaction – checkout. With 76% of carts being abandoned at checkout, it’s arguably the most important step in your sales funnel. You want a checkout that not only makes it easy to take the customer’s money, but also helps you earn more sales.
Handsome Cart for WooCommerce excels at upgrading your checkout process by providing a variety of customization options. From embeddable checkout forms to highly-converting templates to order bumps that increase your average sale, it’s one of the easiest ways to maximize your conversions.
DON’T – Expect Dropshipping with WooCommerce to Make You Rich Overnight
You’ve probably seen advertisements across the web about earning incredible amounts of money online using Amazon Affiliates & dropshipping. While it is possible to become extremely profitable with this business model, it’s not the kind of business where you will get rich quickly. It takes days, months, and even years to build up your website on Google and within your niche. You’ll have to work on marketing, conversion optimization, supplier recruiting, market analysis, and more on a regular basis to stay at the top of your game. While the passive income from dropshipping with WooCommerce is great, it doesn’t come free!
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