Since the advent of the pandemic there has been a change of tabs, people have shifted into their homes, working within the four walls of their room and connecting with the world from that expanse itself. What has greatly been affected is the market. The market has changed. But it has changed for good.

How does it work well for emerging businesses?

Gone are the days where you needed a lot of cash, an expensive land and storefronts with a trained staff to rope in more sales and manage your products. With everything and everyone working at a more virtual and personal scale, it has become easier for a lot of businesses to emerge in the ambit of drop-shipping.

Now that people have been singled out, separated through walls, its only natural to understand it is easier to influence them at a personal level. To reach out to a potential customer and entice him/her with your best products handpicked just for them, is a strategy every start-up is working on.

What is drop-shipping?

Drop-shipping can be in simple terms seen as a middle person, acting between the seller and the purchaser by providing enhanced reaching-out facilities, advertising, shipping and labelling. Since the purchases made are shipped directly from the manufacturer, there is no need of an inventory. This cuts down a significant amount of investment it might have needed.

What to avoid?

Its evident that despite the simple terms that describe and constitute drop-shipping, many companies who are in the field tend to make mistakes. Below are those few mistakes to clearly avoid if you are looking forward to the smooth running of your business.

1. High Expectations

It has been seen new start-ups who are all way too excited about starting out, have high expectations from the articles they keep reading on drop-shipping. However great they sound, the “get rich quick” plans are relative to other businesses and involve a lot of hard work.
Lower your expectations, understand you’re playing a long game, and over time you will actually find
the success you expected right in the beginning of the journey.

2. Not doing enough product research

Although too much research can be harmful, it’s inevitable to dive deep into product research. For starters, look if the product is selling in the market, if there’s a good profit margin, and most important would be to notice the competition for the product. It’s always a do-gooder to start low and slow.

3. Selling too much variety

You see, it becomes important to understand what exactly would you be selling. It’s important to have in mind a particular product that you will be marketing. Every other product should come related or as a complement to that one product variant that you’ll be selling. If it’s fitness equipment, then keep it limited to just that, with additional products related to that. By that strategy, it’s easier to have a targeted audience and a good amount of sale.

4. Relying too much on your suppliers

Biggest thing about drop-shipping is trust given you’re dependent on your supplier for the products you are marketing. However, there can be issues like the seller raising prices, not shipping on time, or going out of business. The key to escape from this problem is to rely on multiple suppliers for your products or enter into a contract with your sole supplier.

5. Ignoring reviews and customer feedbacks

As a company serving a population, the last thing you should be doing is ignoring them and their reviews about the products that you’re selling. While shipping problems do indeed lie with the supplier, you’re the public-facing company the customer identifies with. As such, their mistakes affect you a lot more than you realize. Therefore, always reach out to your customers and help them with the issues they’re facing.

There can be few more areas where drop-shippers can impact their own businesses negatively but these
would be the most basic ones to avoid in the first place. As a company just starting out, you should
be careful that you don’t hit the wrong road in the very beginning itself. So understand your job well
and have a good start.