Dropshipping And Why It’s Still A Relevant Online Business Model

Since 2010, the rise of e-commerce has been tangible on many different levels. Starting from eBay and all the related platforms, through the ascent of Jeff Bezos’ colossus Amazon, to the present, with user-friendly CMS like Shopify and Magento, e-commerce is now a solid reality for all those businesses who want to quickly establish themselves in the market. A new trend in e-commerce has emerged, though: Dropshipping. What is the idea behind the process? How can a business model originally used by IKEA still be relevant? Let’s break it down in a simpler way.

Automation Is The Starting Point

Dropshipping has become a winning business model given the fact that many app developers released automation tools in order to make the process easier: with software like Oberlo, which basically lets the owner list products previously catalogued on different websites, the entire business model became more accessible.
Oberlo is, for now, a native Shopify application that literally requires 30 seconds to install and, with a very simple interface and features, it is indeed the reason why this entire business model became so popular lately, especially for the fact that it automates the entire ordering process.

The Dropshipping Process: IKEA’s Path And Its Evolution

Before Shopify, Oberlo, Aliexpress and DHgate, IKEA (yes, the Swedish furniture colossus) was doing the exact same thing: selling products that they weren’t physically owning. By selling these (generally) Chinese made pieces, with a big price increase due to rebranding, the Swedish company was able, in a couple of years, to produce his own line, without spending a single dime.
Today, given all the above-listed apps, a dropshipping store can sell every single product from Chinese sites like Aliexpress, DHgate, Taobao and so on with a simple click (Oberlo, in fact, fulfils every single order from start to finish).

The Core Part Of The Business: Influencers Marketing

In order to sell products in a fast way and given the fact that the entire process heavily relies on brand awareness, every successful dropshipper is constantly on the hunt for the biggest influencer, in order to place his products on the person’s Instagram page or website. It’s not a secret, this business model is purely marketing related and that’s why, generally, all the successful ones are SEO, PPC and Digital Marketing experts.

To Conclude

There are, of course, many pros and cons in this business. The dropshipping scene is, at the minute, incredibly saturated, which is why only the marketing savvy professionals are succeeding within the craft. The ones who truly understood the entire process are, indeed, able to run 30/40 stores at the same time, with an incredible income.

Guest article written by: Paul Matthews is a Manchester based business writer who works closely with Caunce O’Hara in order to better inform business owners on how to run a successful business. You can usually find him at the local library or browsing Forbes’ latest pieces. 

Leave a Comment