How To Dropship On Shopify In 5 Steps in 2023

Did you know that the global dropshipping market is forecast to reach $196.78 billion in 2023? 

With a whopping increase of 23.7% from 2021, dropshipping businesses have the potential to grow and strive in the coming years. But how do you start your own dropshipping business without much knowledge in the area? 

Shopify is one of the most-used platforms specifically customized for building and growing dropshipping stores. Although its beginner-friendly interface will assist you at every stage, this step-by-step guide will help you dive further into details to get on the right foot. 

What is Dropshipping?

Before we get into the guide, you need to understand what dropshipping is all about. It is the easiest eCommerce model you can find on the internet because, in this model, you don’t need to create a product, purchase, manufacture, store, or deliver the products. You just receive orders to your online store and then pass along those orders to suppliers who will fulfill them on your behalf and then charge you for it.

To get started with this eCommerce model, you must have an online store, and you can create your store on Shopify easily. After starting the store, you can just go ahead and start using dropshipping techniques. You won’t need to touch the products or buy inventory; you just need to pay for what you’re selling through your online store.

Why Choose Shopify For Dropshipping? 

Here are two major reasons why you should choose Shopify for building your dropshipping business: 

Customized For Dropshipping 

Shopify has everything beginners need to get started with their dropshipping business. It has all the necessary apps you need to install to get in touch with the best suppliers. Some apps specifically work with the platform only. For example, Oberlo and Spocket are two apps that work with Shopify. Furthermore,  its beginner-friendly interface will help you successfully run a dropshipping store without much hassle. 

Extensive Features To Grow 

Shopify doesn’t only create an excellent and functional website or online store. It works on growing the store by providing exceptional marketing, sales, and payment features to entrepreneurs. Having a well-built eCommerce store is crucial, but the right features to promote and grow plays an essential role in the beginning. 

Let’s proceed with the steps required to get started with your Shopify Dropshipping store. 

Read: Yaguara Named as Shopify Plus cretified partner. 

Step #1: Selecting A Profitable Niche 

Selecting the right dropshipping niche will decide the success of your business. It’s crucial to prioritize customer needs or demands over the products you are passionate about. Going through the current trends and using an innovative mindset will help you make the right decision. Let’s say you decide to offer products based on the current trends. Remember that trends are quick to fade. Keeping up with the speed will help you make the most of the current situation

Here are some basic questions for selecting a dropshipping niche: 

• Can you offer your target market products that are hard to obtain locally? 
• Are your products catering to the specific interests of your target market? 
• Are you putting in efforts to identify an opportunity gap? How is your offering standing out amongst the competition? 
• What specific and fruitful product features are you targeting? 

Conduct A Thorough Market Research

Start by conducting thorough market research to get an idea of current trends. Let’s say you already have certain products in mind. Research about the restrictions associated with shipping those products. 

For instance, there are varied restrictions on the shipping of alcoholic drinks in different parts of the world. Being clear about everything related to shipping will help you avoid future problems or delays. 

Market research will also help you get a better hold of the problems dealt with by your target market. Selecting products that provide the best solutions to those problems will help you succeed. 

Use Online Tools To Understand Your Target Market

Make use of varied online tools to identify the demand for your selected products. Facebook audience insights are one of the most crucial product research tools for dropshipping businesses. This free tool will assist you in identifying topics that interest a particular group (page likes), frequent ad clicks, information related to demographics, etc. 

For example, let’s say you plan on targeting the beauty and wellness niche. Typing relevant keywords will help you understand the topics people are interested in, their geographic location, age, gender, etc. 

Did you know that more than  2.4 million searches happen through Google every minute? Your target audience is searching through their topics of interest every second. Use Google Keyword Planner to understand the demand for specific items and keywords used during their search. Furthermore, use Google Trends for getting a detailed insight into your targeted niches. 

Some of the most profitable dropshipping niches include health and personal care, apparel, and footwear. home interiors, kitchen, and dining, parenting, and baby products. 

Step #2: Be On The Lookout For Suppliers 

It’s time to choose the right suppliers now that you have clarity on the products you want to sell. Platforms like Shopify assists beginners by providing various apps you can install for choosing products or selecting suppliers providing a high-quality service. DSErs is one such example of one of the best marketplaces for finding quality products to sell online. 

You will find as many products as you need irrespective of your niche from around the world. These products have high profit and growth potential, thereby helping entrepreneurs get a good start. The platform adds these valuable products to your store at one click, takes customer orders, and handles everything with minimal effort from your side. Here is how the DSErs app works: 

• Once you click on a supplier’s link, it takes you to an AliExpress page to help you find the products of your choice. You will get every information from product quality to shipping time. 
• Skim through the reviews and browse through the top-selling products to make an informed decision. 
• Select the products you want to add to your store. 

Note: use the ePacket shipping option to avoid any delays in shipping for China-based products. Your customers will only wait for a few weeks instead of months for receiving their products. 

Step #3: Set Up Your eCommerce Store And Import Products 

Start by setting up an account with Shopify. Here are some simple directions to get started: 

• Go to the website and enter your email address to get started with the 14-day free trial 

• Next, enter the store name you had in mind along with setting up a password. Click on Create Your Store. 

• Shopify will understand you and your business better by presenting a bunch of questions. Answer the ones you wish or skip through the next question. 
• Click on Products appearing in the top left corner. 

• Import your existing products or search for new ones to sell. 

• Add Your Products will lead you to a page requiring relevant information about your product like title, description, pricing, tax inclusions, images or videos, quantity, weight, shipping details, etc. 

• Find Products to Sell will take you to a page with apps that will assist you in selecting best-selling products. 

• Browse through the available options and click on Add App for the one you prefer. 

• Click on Install App to initiate the installation process.

Step #4: Customize Your Shopify Theme 

Succeeding in a dropshipping business requires standing out amongst the competition. Shopify will get you started with a basic theme. It’s crucial to select and customize a theme based on your niche. The platform is suitable for beginners as you don’t have to start from scratch. But even the most relevant Shopify themes require a personal touch. Here are the following points you need to emphasize: 

Attractive Visuals 

People are more drawn to visuals than words in online shopping. Using crisp images with the right resolution will help you catch instant attention. Try uploading your product images in Shopify’s maximum image resolution (2048px by 2048px). Remember that being an online business, your product images will contribute to a great extent in decision-making. 

Pro tip: focus on providing an excellent customer experience by using a consistent image ratio on all pages. 

The Right Blend Of Colors 

It’s crucial to have a color palette for your brand to get recognition. The blend of colors you use must align together to put forward a great first impression. Brands with existing logos must pick colors based on the chosen logo. You can also pick colors based on the products you sell. Let’s say you went ahead with baby products. Using colors that give a soft touch like shades of pink will work. Bright colors like red might not be a great choice in this case. Go through various color palette tools to make an informed decision. 

Note: never make this decision in a hurry as your brand colors will represent you in the long haul. You cannot keep changing them if you strive to gain brand recognition. 

The Right Number Of Fonts 

Browse through the available fonts and choose a maximum of three fonts to align with your designs. Font consistency is crucial for developing the right flow of processing information. Choose appropriate fonts that blend perfectly when used together. The font size plays an important role as well to ensure readers can rightly skim through the content. Furthermore, choosing fonts belonging to the same font family like Times New Roman will add the right difference with little variations. 

Pro Tip: Use bold and italics wherever needed to make your font styles stand out and highlight crucial information. 

Lastly, stay consistent with your image and content presentation to create a lasting impact. You might get the urge to experiment with different colors or fonts every once in a while. But remember that consistency helps develop brand recognition. 

Step #5: Marketing Your Dropshipping Store 

Marketing is the next area of focus once you successfully design and launch your Shopify store. It will help you stand out amongst other dropshipping stores in your selected niche. Investment in the right marketing and advertising areas is crucial in the initial stage. Let’s take a look at the right blend of marketing tactics you must use to get the word out there: 

• Beginners must focus on investing in paid Facebook ads for promoting their products. The costs associated with FB ads are comparatively less. But identify the social networks your target audience generally uses before initiating ads. 
• People are less likely to trust newbies but they have faith in the influencers they follow. Entrepreneurs with limited budgets can invest in influencer marketing. Look for niche-specific influencers with a small but dedicated audience. 
• Use the power of content by starting a blog dedicated to your dropshipping niche. Post fruitful and actionable content consistently to develop your audience. 
• Join the already existing communities in your niche. Networking with relevant individuals is one of the best ways of getting the word out there. 

Final Thoughts On How To Dropship On Shopify

If you want your lower your overall cost for business, then starting a dropshipping business on Shopify can be the best option for you. In the dropshipping model, you will only have to pay when you make a sale and products get shipped to the customer by the supplier. You don’t have to worry about inventory management, manufacturing, warehousing, and shipping because a third-party supplier will handle everything.

I hope with this guide on how to dropship on Shopify; you can start your dropshipping business on Shopify. If you encounter any issues in following any step of the guide, let us know in the comment section.

FAQs On How To Dropship On Shopify