Dropshipping is an easy business model with low startup capital and risk. Since you don’t manage inventory, you don’t need a physical location hence fewer overheads. You can focus the much-needed time on marketing the products and attracting more customers as your dropshipping supplier fulfills the orders. But dropshipping comes with its challenges, and you need to be prepared in advance to overcome them. Here are some hints for successful dropshipping.
Manage the status of your inventory
As a dropshipper, you don’t have to manage physical inventory, but you have to manage the status of your product list. If you are poor at it, you will constantly be telling customers that products are out of stock which hurts your brand in the long run.
One of the challenges of dropshipping is that, at times, your supplier will run out of stock, and you won’t know immediately. It is risky to rely on one dropshipping supplier, so having two or more with overlapping inventories is wise. Additionally, sell products you know both suppliers carry to avoid jeopardizing your business.
Know how to handle your supplier’s mistakes
In dropshipping, you are bound to have a few order fulfillment mistakes. For instance, your supplier sends the wrong products or delivery delays. So what do you do? A good way to manage such is to own up to your supplier’s mistakes. Keep in mind that the customer has no idea that a dropshipper exists, so under no circumstances should you blame the supplier.
Although you own up to the mistake, that doesn’t mean you compromise your profit margins. You can make the supplier pay for the errors and make it up to the customer, for instance, refunding the shipping fee.
Fulfill orders efficiently
You have to fulfill orders efficiently to succeed in dropshipping. Again, having multiple suppliers helps since it reduces the likelihood of items running out of stock, provides geographical diversity for faster delivery periods, and eliminates your reliability on a single source of products. With several suppliers, you can route orders based on location, availability, price, and preferred supplier. You can try all methods and see which one works best in helping you fulfill orders diligently.
Create a reasonable return policy
First, you have to know how your supplier handles returns before writing your return policy. A strict return policy from a supplier means you have to make yours more strict. Note that some suppliers charge restocking fees for returned items. In cases of defective products, additional postage costs to return them apply, and you have to know how to handle them.
Some suppliers won’t pay postage for returning defective products since they didn’t manufacture them, making the process complicated. Most importantly, have a reasonable return policy that takes care of all the parties involved.
Provide customer support
Dropshipping is competitive, and the easiest way to stand out is to have reliable customer service and support. You need a scalable customer support system, and virtual phone systems and help desk software can help you manage your customer support from a centralized point.
