E-commerce doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, it’s a growing industry with a projected 14.7% growth rate until 2027. And dropshipping is a significant factor in this growing industry.

For the past decade, the dropshipping business has proven a viable and sustainable source of income for those willing to step into an online business model.

But is dropshipping hard? You simply need to know how to get into dropshipping business and then grow that business into a success.

How Does Dropshipping Work?

In a dropshipping business, the entire transaction takes place online. There is no brick-and-mortar store for the customer to visit or employees to stock inventory. Either through your own website or a third-party platform, your dropship internet business sells products to customers at a retail price. A third-party supplier then handles the shipping, and you pay the supplier the wholesale price while pocketing the profit.

How to Start a Dropshipping Business in 2021

Entrepreneurs and those starting a dropshipping business often ask, is dropshipping worth it? Follow these steps, and you will learn how easy it is.

Find Your Niche Market

Whatever you’re into, chances are there’s a dropshipping market for you. For example, you could start a fishing gear or a fashion dropshipping business. Enjoy pets or technology? You will likely find a supplier and start dropshipping as soon as your store is set up.

Research your product, develop an easy-to-understand brand, stand out among the crowd, and then check out what the competition is doing. If there is no competition, you may be first to market. However, if there’s not enough demand for your particular market, you’ll need to start over.

The current top trending niche markets include power tools, tech supplies, beauty and health products, and more.

Select Dropshipping Supplier

Without a supplier, your dropshipping business dreams go up in smoke. To find the dropshipping supplier that carries your products, you can either contact the manufacturer first and work directly with them or search the internet for “drop shipping wholesale suppliers.”

Top suppliers that are currently dropshipping products include Oberlo, AliExpress, SaleHoo, Doba, Wholesale Central, and Worldwide Brands, among many others. If you’re wondering how many products should I start with for dropshipping, you’ll need to research the supplier’s products.

Develop E-Commerce Store

Another essential element in any dropshipping business is your e-commerce store. Instead of a typical brick-and-mortar store, this online website is where customers visit to purchase your products.

When developing your online e-commerce store, you can either utilize an e-commerce platform - such as Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace - and connect to a supplier like Oberlo with a plug-in. Or you can custom build a website and integrate directly with the supplier, usually through an API.

Unless you are a web developer with years of coding, it’s best to go with an out-of-the-box website and plug-in for easy start-up and learn how to launch a dropshipping business in a day.

Run Your Business

Once you have a supplier lined up and the online store all set, it’s time to get down to business. The success of a dropshipping internet business is determined by how much you work on your business, not the day-to-day elements of the company.

To grow your dropshipping business from a start-up to a successful brand, consider developing a business plan, getting your finances all set, and marketing your products. The “business of the business,” as some people call it, is what will ultimately determine your longevity in the market.

And don’t neglect personal health habits as you grow your business.

Ideas to Grow Your Dropshipping Business

If you’ve been in the game for a while and are looking into how to grow a dropshipping business, consider these dropshipping business ideas and find the best way to dropship:

1. Build an Attractive Website

Because the website is the front door of your business, you want it to be as attractive as possible. It should be easy for customers to navigate through the products, and the checkout process should be seamless and stress-free.

You may also want to refresh the look of your website. Maybe you need a different theme or colors in your store? Perhaps rebranding your company and doing a relaunch may be the answer.

If you haven’t updated your e-commerce store since you started the business years ago, it may be time for an upgrade. In fact, it’s a good idea to constantly be checking the design and functionality of your website. If you can improve the website’s UX (user experience), you can attract more customers and earn more sales.

2. Partner with Brand Ambassadors or Influencers

Influencers are essentially brand ambassadors who will praise your products and company to their social media followers and work to get customers to visit your website.

And you don’t need big names or celebrities to influence your potential customers. There are several different levels of influencers available for companies to work with to grow their customer base. For your dropshipping business, consider a micro-influencer with 1,000 to 100,000 followers.

Like any business, dropshipping business relationships are vital to growing your company. Whatever market you are in, there are influencers on social media to partner with that can help sell your products.

3. Create Digital Marketing Strategy

A dropshipping internet business’ digital marketing strategy should focus on SEO (search engine optimization), online ads, and social media remarketing campaigns, among other factors.

At the end of the day, the success of your dropshipping business comes down to your online presence, which is what digital marketing is all about. To grow your online business, consider the following questions:

• How easy can customers find your store?
• Do you have social media ads or PPC ads (pay-per-click) ads?
• Do you have an affiliate program?

These questions, and more, all relate to digital marketing and are critical elements for a successful e-commerce business. If you want to know how to grow a dropshipping business, consider focusing on your marketing efforts.