Many online merchants who want to launch their online store do not know how to do it. Let’s say a business has no knowledge about product manufacturing and production and does not even know which product has more profit to sell online. There’s a way for you to do it - dropshipping for e-commerce in India.
We will explain, why?
Everyone has heard of dropshipping in India, there are some things to know about it. Online business is evolving as more people turn to purchase most of their products online. Such systems like dropshipping have been game changers for so many e-commerce business personalities.
This is a growing industry as a result of the seller-friendly business model. As per the client's requirements, the count of products managed via the dropshipping platform is usually in demand.
What is Dropshipping?
Thus, dropshipping in India is one of the effective ways to sell merchandise online while not holding any stock. In addition to that, you work with third parties such as manufacturers, wholesalers, or merchants – who then handle the storage and delivery for you.
In this method, your task as the ‘drop shipper’ is to handle the e-commerce business and promote the products. The provider takes care of stock and delivery.
This is how the dropshipping business model works:
- When a client places an order on an e-commerce store, they pay the retail price you add.
- You (dropshiper), send the order to the supplier and pay them the retail cost. We can differentiate it from the customer paying and the supplier paying is the profit. Suppose the retail price is $80 and the wholesale cost is $50 the profit you keep is $30.
- The provider processes the order and ships the delivery to the client directly.
What is a Dropshipper?
A drop shipper is the one or organization that approves customer orders and passes them to the supplier for completion. Dropshippers usually run online stores to market and sell items. When a client shops the item, the drop shipper places a respective order with the vendor.
Let’s assume a client buys a cat collar from your online pet store. Being a drop shipper, you forward the order to your cat collar provider, who handles the goods in stock.
Why Start Dropshipping in India as an E-commerce Business?
In India, dropshipping is one of the best ways since they require little capital to start an online business or an e-commerce store. It allows people to sell products through the Internet without stressing over possessing items and dealing with their stock. It even removes the requirement to handle shipping and order fulfillment.
All in one, dropshipping makes initiating an online store in India, a low-risk business model. India’s e-commerce sales are intended to grow at an annual cost of 51%, making it an effective possibility for business owners. Dropshipping in India is the right medium to test the waters, apart from the product you want to sell.
India also holds one of the biggest providers of raw materials and goods in multiple industries. Hence, when you start dropshipping in India, you can select to work with a local provider or manufacturer, who would guarantee a good delivery time on orders.
To outline, here are the features of dropshipping in India:
- Lower upfront capital acquisition
- Easy to get initiated with
- Low overhead as compared to other models
- Flexible spot
- Comprehensive selection of products to sell
- Easier to test out various markets
- Easier to scale
How to Start Dropshipping in India as an E-commerce Business?
These are the things to consider while starting a dropshipping business in India:
1. Find your niche
Initially, the step to developing a dropshipping business is considering what you want to sell and whom you want to sell. Select the area that you are interested in and eager about. But simultaneously ensure the niche and item are in demand in the market.
You can start by making a list of items you like to sell and how your interested customers might look for them. For instance, keywords like ‘coffee mugs’, ‘kitchen essentials’ etc.
Later on, check how these keywords have ranked over the last few times. The aim is to know if the requirement for these products is maintained or tends to drop now and then. The right way to do this is to write in the keyword in Google Trends and monitor for the last 3 months.
2. Recognize profitable item
As dropshipping helps you have the flexibility to sell most of the products on your e-commerce store online, it is vital to search for profitable goods. Take into account the price of doing store, shipping cost, marketing, and the profit you require to give to suppliers/manufacturers. Ensure you have healthy margins of around 40-70%, if not much.
You are interested in looking for lower-cost items that you can sell at an effective cost.
3. Set up Shopify store
You are required to add your business name, profile, and address to start selling drop-shipped items. Set up a store on Shopify and begin with dropshipping in minutes. It offers an easy-to-access e-commerce store that comes with features. The features will guide the design of an innovative storefront to integrate with dropshipping apps, payment gateways, and more, Shopify makes it just a matter of fewer clicks. You can initiate with a free trial and go with the plans that suit your business plan the best.
How Does Dropshipping Work Over Shopify?
You will have the first recognized items you are interested in selling online and then search the suppliers nearby you. Then you may have to search for a way to integrate and link your Shopify store to those providers to complete the demands of orders received on Storefront.
However, Shopify simplifies dropshipping in India.
To get started with dropshipping, you just need a Shopify store and an app that you integrate with your store.
After you download the app, you can look for thousands of suppliers backed up and vetted for the product you want, in your location, at bargain prices, and many more options.
This means that you bring to your Shopify store the products that you wish to sell from another store. And you’re done!
What you want to ensure is that you have all the details about the products such as sizes, descriptions, or treatments of the products which should be posted in your store. You will still need to influence the end customer about the best bet in order to make a sale.
However, whenever a customer makes an order with you, you will be in a position to meet the order using the dropshipping app of your choice. Suppliers would be notified immediately after the details are submitted over the page upon order placement.
How to Set Up a Shopify Store as a Dropshipping Business?
Prepared to begin with online business? The time has arrived to explore Shopify for dropshipping in India to launch a business without worrying about managing, packing, or shipping.
1. Create a business profile on Shopify
The first step requires registering or logging in with Shopify. Do not stress, you begin with a free trial and are not paid until you prepare to take business live.
2. Add details of business
Later registering, you asked some queries of the business. Begin to use the dropdown and give details to Shopify appropriately. When you have completed the signup procedure, you will get an email from Shopify with admin credentials and a URL. It would be the structure of store-name.myshopify.com/admin. Ensure to save the details safely.
3. Link dropshipping app
After account creation, the user will be navigated to the Shopify dashboard. If there is a new profile, the dropshipping app feature will not be displayed.
To install one, heed these steps:
- Search for a dropshipping app to install from the Shopify App Store
- Tap on Add App
- Under Shopify admin, to approve the use of the app, tap Install App
4. Add products from the dropshipping app
Once installing the app, businesses would be allowed to add the list of products at the store by following these steps:
- On your MySQL Workbench, expand the section of ‘Schemas’ on the left pane and click ‘Products’.
- On the left panel tap on “More actions” and then on “See more products to sell”
- You should go to the dropshipping app that you installed to get started.
- Then, you will be transferred to the interface where you can use your dropshipping app to find products and suppliers.
It’s crucial to sift through these results and choose the products you wish to advertise on your Shopify store.
5. Add the retail cost
You will see the supply and shipping charges on the product page, along with a costing field in which you have to add the retail price of the goods. Tap ‘add product’ when you’re done with the steps, and the dropshipping app will add the product to the Shopify store.
6. Modify product information
Ensure that the product description is based on the target audience to support them in making an ideal purchase decision. Add the product title/name, description, sizing guide, material description, and more. Request the supplier for more details if it’s not already accessible.
7. Set up and design Shopify store
When the requirements are prepared, navigate to the next steps - create a good storefront.
- Move to online store > Themes from the left-hand side of the Shopify admin dashboard.
Then, you will be able to pick free Shopify themes or also pick a more premium theme for the look and user interface of the store. Ensure to personalize the theme by adding a business logo, brand colors, and more!
8. Link payment gateway
Before launching an e-commerce store online, you will have to guarantee to offer payment gateways that Indian clients are convenient transactions on. From online payment gateways to third-party gateways such as cash-free, PayU, Razorpay, and others, or even cash on delivery, Shopify enables them all.
9. Select a plan and go online
Once everything is done, move to select a business plan. This will delete the password from the Shopify store and make the storefront public. Now the customers can visit the store and shop from their bucket list easily.
How to Begin a Dropshipping Shopify Store with the Help of PTI WebTech?
Therefore, if you are a business owner and thinking of starting your online Dropshipping business in India; consider PTI Web Tech as your partner. PTI Web Tech for dropshipping Shopify store is the right platform that you can use to start a dropshipping Shopify store.
Hire Shopify expert, a team which is well-equipped to develop and launch your creative dropshipping e-commerce store. The Shopify store development company like PTI Web Tech will guide you through everything from setting up the Shopify store to making it live. Developers at PTI Web Tech are tedious handling any kind of Shopify work like planning, designing, development integration, etc.
E-commerce store owners can take their Shopify business to the next level with such an extensive platform. Please check a few features to consider how PTI Web Tech is helpful for your dropshipping Shopify store:
- Multi-Vendor Marketplace
- Multilingual and Multi-Currency Support
- Customizable Checkout
- Seamless Third-Party Integrations
- Omnichannel Commerce
Why Dropshipping a Better Option Than Wholesale?
Wholesale is one such example which has been operating in India for quite some time now. However, wholesale in India may mean paying a higher price for an initial investment in the goods or products, their transportation cost, employee expenses in handling, etc.
At the moment, in the wholesale model, the price is slightly high because a client has to buy the items in large amounts so that they can be charged cheap prices. That means you will need to order more inventory, but you will have no certainty that it will be sold.
When you do sell and you get an order that you have to ship, you also have to pay very high shipping costs as you cannot afford ePacket deals from the government.
On the other hand, starting a dropshipping business in India helps you manage only activities like promoting your brand and ensuring a good experience for everyone who is buying from your store. The rest is managed by the supplier/manufacturer In this case the general belief is that those products that are perceived to have less appeal end up being utilized in compensating for the perceived problems associated with the particular product line in question.
Tips to Open a Dropshipping Business in India
Opening a successful dropshipping business needs solid planning. Here are a few tips to consider while starting the business:
1. Create Small and Scale Gradually
Stay away from the urge to stock millions of goods to attract users at the initial stage. This means if you are warehousing a lot of products, chances are high that some of them are likely to cause so much trouble hence, to avoid this, it is only wise to sell a few products and then gauge the performances of the different products that are being offered to the customers. After you have understood your best-selling items, start to replicate that to expand your target while keeping operations manageable.
2. Select Local Suppliers Where Probable
It is essential that a firm sources its materials from local suppliers so that there may be faster and cheaper transport. Though it also serves to improve the customers’ loyalty and as a result helps to gain the trust of the audience. Because the delivery time is shorter, you can stand out from rivals that use only overseas suppliers.
3. Develop a User-Friendly Online Store
Take time and money for the development of an enlightening and user-friendly platform with attractive graphics. Shopify and WooCommerce are a few instances that can be slid in easily as they have easy-to-use templates. Your store, if it was created for the web, must be built to be aligned for mobile customers, as most customers shop on their phones. Flexible and easy payment methods are also required for growing clientele, as well as enhancements on the checkout page.
4. Invest in Marketing
Seamless product marketing is important to catching the customer's attention to dropshipping stores. Implement a digital marketing approach, like targeted marketing on platforms like Google and social media. Plus, aims at search engine optimization to enhance the store’s presence in search results, supporting prospects to search for products more effortlessly.
5. Focus on Customer Experience
Also while you are not directly managing goods, you are the one to take care of the customer journey. Ensure timely shipping, manage transparent interaction for order status, and ease returns. A potential client experiences direct-to-repeat shopping and positive feedback, which is important for growth.
Best Products to Dropship in India
Requirements for the product regularly differ on seasonal trends and other aspects. Make sure to validate the product’s preferences by utilizing tools such as Google Trends and monitoring the market.
Here is the list of products that can be drop shipped in India:
Electronics & Accessories
- Wireless charger
- Power bank
- Laptop cover
- Smartphone videography equipment
Fashion, apparel, and accessories
- Scrunchies
- Nail extensions
- Shapewear
- Tote bags
- Slip-on shoes
Beauty and self-care
- Beard grooming kit
- Personal hygiene essentials
- Posture corrector belt
Nutrition
- Ashwagandha fortified consumables
- Protein bar
- Multivitamins
Home Furniture & Decor
- Workspace furniture
- Kitchen furniture
- Sofa bed
- Blankets
- Rugs
Home and Kitchen
- Air fryer
- Vegetable chopper
- Planters
- Air purifier
Exercise and outdoor
- Resistance band
- Bicycle
- Yoga mat
- Tent
- Fitness band/watch
Other
- Pet food
- Jigsaw puzzles
- Reusable water bottle
- Customised gifts
However, if you are unable to specialize in say an industry, you can offer several types of products in your store. With drop shipping, it turns out that you can offer a large number of goods without including or excluding certain goods easily.
We suggest to follow the pointers on how to select the goods to sell online:
- Find out what people want in terms of products with regard to solving a specific challenge
- Search for products that people (as well as yourself) are really interested in
- Identify artifacts with a possibility of carrying out branding.
- Keep a tab on market trends.
- Look for products that are purchased on a whim Identify and satisfy special markets.
Cost to Start Dropshipping in India
Integrating numerous payment methods for an e-commerce business could be helpful as it allows the consumers to pay in the way they are comfortable with it. You can approve payment via debit card, online banking, bank transfer, EMIs, credit card, Paypal, wallets, and cash on delivery. It offers a significant market benefit. Initiating a dropshipping business in India as an e-commerce business must cost not much. With the right platform like PTI Web Tech, you can start your store in just no time.
Conclusion
Easy, right? The dropshipping model is the right for them to start an e-commerce business with less experience and limited funds. It requires no inventory management. Having the right place, loyal suppliers, and a solid store, you will be on your path to success in less time.
Just remember to do your financial and legal due diligence before making your online store live, and regularly track and adhere to the strategies for optimal outcomes.
We hope you find the article helpful with the required information to start dropshipping in India as an E-commerce business. Start your business now!