Being an active member of various Facebook groups in the Dropshipping niche, I scroll past questions such as ‘Is dropshipping dead?’ or ‘Can I still start dropshipping today?’ on a daily basis. At first, I was a little confused as to why these questions were popping up so frequently but after delving deeper, I was able to put merit to some of the concerns raised by the community. This article will cover the 3 main problems people are currently experiencing with the dropshipping business model as well as what can be done to overcome them.
1. Competitors:
With Shopify now advertising heavily on social media websites, saturation has started to become a real problem. Nowadays, anyone can create an account and mimic a very successful store without any repercussions. Honestly, the best way to combat this is by ignoring them and focusing on YOUR business. Look at this way – if the competition is copying you, they will always be one step behind.
2. Shipping Times:
Sure, some of the products on AliExpress are great – but can you really expect customers to wait 20 days or longer for their items to arrive? If you answered yes to the previous question, be prepared for countless chargebacks and a very low returning customer rate. Amazon Prime and other shipping providers have raised the bar in terms of delivery times and if you want your business to succeed, you should aim to follow in their footsteps. You can do this in two ways:
- Go through AliExpress with a fine comb, making use of their advanced search filters to find products that can be delivered within 7 days of purchase. If you opt to use this method, make sure you take processing time into account.
- Find a provider that doesn’t require such long shipping times. Ebay is a great alternative as if you are fulfilling each order manually, you can order products from the site located closest to your customer (For example, if someone from the UK purchases with your store, fulfil their order with eBay.co.uk). However, if you are planning on scaling up fast, Oberlo is a great solution as their products have relatively short shipping times and all orders can be processed automatically.
Take your time to do some research and find products that offer you the perfect balance of cost and quality, without taking a long time to deliver. During this process, be prepared to sacrifice a percentage of your profits in exchange for repeat custom and positive reviews.
3. Prices:
Just like in any other business environment, dropshipping companies are constantly undercutting one another in an attempt to garner more customers. While sometimes your best option is to slash prices, building a brand around your product(s) can also achieve powerful, sustainable results. Don’t just sell a product – give each potential customer an experience while clearly identifying all of the problems that can be solved by making a purchase.
In conclusion, YES dropshipping is still feasible and will be for many years to come, it just has to be done correctly. Take great care when sourcing your products, ensuring that there is enough room for a healthy profit margin and ideally a delivery time of 7 days or less. As time progresses, some elements of dropshipping will stay the same while others evolve – staying on top of these changes will give you a huge edge over your competitors as your business continues to grow.
