{"id":3583,"date":"2018-03-05T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/?p=3583"},"modified":"2025-01-10T14:53:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T21:53:35","slug":"e-commerce-what-is-dropshipping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/e-commerce-what-is-dropshipping\/","title":{"rendered":"E-Commerce: What is Dropshipping?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/what-is-dropshipping.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3584\" src=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/what-is-dropshipping.jpeg\" alt=\"what is drop shipping\" width=\"600\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/what-is-dropshipping.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/what-is-dropshipping-300x184.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve been asking yourself, \u201cWhat is dropshipping?\u201d it is a method by which online stores sell products without actually keeping them in stock. Instead, when a customer purchases a product from the e-commerce website, the store purchases the product from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/e-commerce-what-is-dropshipping\/#Pros_and_Cons\" >Pros and Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/e-commerce-what-is-dropshipping\/#Low_Margins\" >Low Margins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/e-commerce-what-is-dropshipping\/#How_to_Succeed\" >How to Succeed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/e-commerce-what-is-dropshipping\/#One_Last_Piece_of_Advice\" >One Last Piece of Advice<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pros_and_Cons\"><\/span><b>Pros and Cons<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When drop shipping, getting your venture started is simpler than it otherwise would be; companies require less capital to start up, there\u2019s less overhead involved, and the business\u2019s location is far more flexible. Furthermore, the enterprise will be relatively easy to scale in case you find yourself needing to expand operations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the downside, you\u2019re bound to deal with more complex inventory and shipping issues. When you\u2019re sourcing from several warehouses, it can be challenging to keep track of which items are in or out of stock. Likewise, when dealing with multiple shippers, sometimes shipping to the same customer, it can take some work to figure out exactly how to pass shipping expenses off to your consumers. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Low_Margins\"><\/span><b>Low Margins<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dropshipping stores generally work with low margins. Because it\u2019s so easy to set up a drop shipping company, the market is highly competitive and a lot of firms are vying for the same business. One way to help alleviate these problems is to find a niche industry that\u2019s well suited to dropshipping. That means that the key to a successful drop shipping store is specialization. Don\u2019t just sell sports equipment; sell soccer balls for children. Don\u2019t just sell cameras; sell aerial cameras for weddings. Find a specific market where the customers would benefit from the dropshipping model and move in.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Succeed\"><\/span><b>How to Succeed<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s obviously not enough to simply find a market and hope for the best. You have to build your business deliberately. Focus on adding value to the end consumer. You\u2019re not just selling a product, but you\u2019re also in the business of offering relevant information and answers to questions. Your dropshipping store should help solve customers problems. Find out what these problems are through diligent research and appeal to the right people through effective marketing and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/services\/general-services\/search-engine-optimization-seo-service-s-1135\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engine optimization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One_Last_Piece_of_Advice\"><\/span><b>One Last Piece of Advice<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Offer top-notch service. As alluded to, dropshipping is a highly competitive industry with many firms going for the same thin margins. As a result, many of your competitors are bound to be bare bones enterprises. Having the best customer service around will be a huge advantage. Get a leg up on the competition by giving your customers an experience they want to come back to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is dropshipping doing for your industry? Let us know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve been asking yourself, \u201cWhat is dropshipping?\u201d it is a method by which online stores sell products without actually keeping them in stock. Instead, when a customer purchases a product from the e-commerce website, the store purchases the product from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. Pros and Cons&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":3584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[877],"tags":[845],"class_list":["post-3583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-commerce-business","tag-what-is-dropshipping"],"modified_by":"Nurul Afsar","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/what-is-dropshipping.jpeg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}