Shopify Dropshipping: Complete Guide to Start a Successful Store

If you’re looking for an online business opportunity, chances are that you’ve come across the term ‘dropshipping’.

Dropshipping is an online business model where merchants trade products through third-party suppliers.

The biggest plus of dropshipping is that merchants don’t have to manage their inventory or fulfill customer orders as it’s all handled by third-party suppliers. Dropshippers function as marketing managers. Their primary task is to create an appealing, trustworthy online store and attract customers.

How does Dropshipping work?

No more hassling over up-front shipping logistics or inventory costs. Thanks to dropshipping, products are delivered directly from your wholesaler to your customers.

• Step 1:Customer places an order from the store
• Step 2:The store sends the order to the dropshipping supplier
• Step 3:Supplier prepares customer’s order
• Step 4:Dropshipping supplier sends the order to the customer

What is Shopify? Is it ideal for dropshipping?

Shopify is a subscription-based platform that allows anyone to create an online store in just a few easy steps. Shopify has more than 2.1 million daily active users and has earned the reputation of the most popular e-commerce platform present out there.

Shopify is preferred by many as it’s so much more than just a tool to build a dropshipping store. It also provides a vast ecosystem of apps and services, both free and paid, that can help you handle dropshipping business from A to Z. Shopify has enormously contributed to the rise of dropshipping in general.

Dropshippers get an array of features:

• Hosted online store
• Integrated payment processing
• Robust checkout system
• 24/7 customer support
• Several templates
• An array of apps for marketing your store
• Shopify shipping

Steps to create a Shopify dropshipping store

1. Choose your forte

It doesn’t matter if you’re using Shopify or any other e-commerce platform to create your dropshipping store, the first thing you should know is what you will be selling.

How to choose products to sell:

• Ponder over what interests you
• Check if your items are trending
• Evaluate your potential margins

2. Consider your target audience

Now, you should be able to define your target audience. Which demographic is most likely to purchase your products? No matter how popular or frequently used your product is, you need to give your online store a character, something that will make you stand out from the rest. All of this is not possible if your target list contains “everyone.”

That’s why you must create buyer personas which are fictional representations of your targeted customers.

3. Think about branding

Once you have analyzed who your ideal customers are, you should now think about how you will brand your store. Many dropshippers tend to skip this step and create another generic store – a gigantic mistake if you want to make real money.

Because Shopify dropshipping has such a low entry threshold, multiple dropshippers sell the same products you will be selling, too. To get customers, you must find a unique selling point for your business.

Go and analyze your buyer personas.

What kind of branding language would speak to your best customers? What topics and moods will attract them? Your brand name, logo, social media, and product descriptions on your Shopify store will need to mirror the objectives of your buyer personas.

4. Choose your store’s name

Now, this is the most important aspect if you want your customers to relate to your brand – a name. By default, Shopify gives a name template for all new stores such as your-store-name.myshopify.com. Nevertheless, it is highly suggested that you drop the “myshopify” part and create a custom domain name to appear more relatable and professional.

Moreover, Shopify has a free business name generator that can be used to create your store’s name and check domain availability.

5. Create a Shopify account

If you are not certain which Shopify plan you want to use, don’t worry. You do not have to pick one right away. You can just start a 14-day free trial and start setting up your online store.

6. Design your Shopify store

The next step is to design your store that will set you apart from your competitors. Shopify provides you with more than 100 free and paid themes. You can peruse them by industry to find the best one for your business. Similarly, you can customize each theme according to your requirements – you can effortlessly add or remove chunks of content. If you are familiar with coding, you can tweak your store furthermore.

7. Add products

There are numerous ways in which you can add products:

• Import the whole product catalog in a CSV file
• Bulk upload your items
• Upload your items one by one

8. Select your payment and shipping settings

Now is the time to fill in some technical information. You will need to choose your:

• Shipping settings – You have 3 options:
• Offer flat rate shipping
• Offer Free Deliveries
• Charge extra shipping costs
• Check out Shopify’s Shipping – it will help you evaluate your shipping costs. You can also use it to complete your orders too.
• Payment settings – We suggest using Shopify Payments as it’s already integrated into your account – you just have to turn it on.
• Store guidelines – You will also need to write a couple of policies for refunds, terms of service, and shipping. You can even use Shopify’s free privacy policy generator to create your store policies.

9. Include apps from Shopify’s App Store

Shopify has thousands of apps that can assist dropshippers in their businesses. From searching products to sell to executing automated ads and repairing your SEO mistakes, you can find    everything on the Shopify App Store.

Everything seems easy when you go through the above info, but if you want an expert to help you run an online Shopify store, we are here to help you out!