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Dropshipping app development
On-Demand Apps

Excited To Start Your Dropshipping Business? Here Is What You Should Learn First

Manav Patel,

You may have a collection of millions of products, but selling them online without any hassle is a strive. Well, if you are an eCommerce business owner, or a business selling online goods, it is difficult to escape from the shipment hassles. But, but.. Inventory executors, eCommerce entrepreneurs, and warehouse managers have found a realistic solution, Dropshipping. This practical gig in the online business world proved to be a panacea to the majority of warehouse problems. Do you wish to go for dropshipping store development? Do you have enough resources to initiate dropshipping app development? If not, we are here to help. This write-up shares interesting and relevant information on dropshipping app development solutions and how it is worth the efforts. 

Beginning with the basics:

Dropshipping definition:

Dropshipping is the process of selling goods without maintaining an inventory. In this approach, the business partners with third-party suppliers who ship the goods directly to the customer’s doorstep. 

Thus, you as a business remain entirely out of the product shipment hassles. You do not have to worry about stocking your inventory; the respective seller satisfies the customer demands. 

Once your platform or app receives a customer order, you transfer it to the retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer with shipment details. The next action is performed by the seller. 

This business model for dropshipping saves a lot of time, effort and lets you earn profit. Dropshipping is becoming the favorite way of selling products online, especially for an eCommerce platform like Amazon, Shopify, BigCommerce, etc. 

I hope this description makes it pretty clear how dropshipping works in real-time and how the role of middlemen is mitigated in this approach. 

benefits of dropshipping

Let us now look at the need and benefits of dropshipping in an online business in eCommerce.

Dropshipping business model is a great approach for new business entrepreneurs starting with a limited budget. Dropshipping increases your business accessibility, and you can experiment with various ideas to check the products in trend and high in demand. If we were to elaborate on the benefits of dropshipping here, it would go like this… 

Less investment requirement:

Needless to say, an inventory setup consumes a maximum share of your budget. You need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in setting up an inventory, which with a limited budget is a risky task to start. However, with the dropshipping model, there is no inventory setup involved, nor do you have to purchase items and stock them. Hence, you can avoid the up-front cost of investment and let the other things rest on the supplier’s front. 

All in all, you can launch an eCommerce website business easily without thinking of any commitment. Also, you can save yourself from the risks of shipment mishaps and other inlined errors. 

The challenges of fragile shipping or heavy machinery also skip from your menu. The entire chain of functioning goes like this,

Customer → Online business platform → Supplier

↑__________________________________________________↑

Easy to implement:

eCommerce business or multi-vendor online store requires you to deal with various operations such as,

  • Order receipt;
  • Order packing;
  • Order tracking;
  • Inventory management;
  • Returns of goods handling;
  • Shipment of goods;
  • Order processing;
  • Order delivery;

All of these are directly managed by respective sellers in the dropshipping model.

Operate from home:

The greatest comfort of the drop-shipping model is that you can run the business from home (the on-going trend of current times). You just need a laptop, internet connection, and a few recurring costs to bear in order to operate your online business. The flexibility to manage things from anywhere, anytime, is highly embraced by entrepreneurs. 

Easier to test and sell products:

If you are new to the business, you probably don’t know your customers’ likes and dislikes thoroughly. Additionally, you are operating with a limited budget, which puts restrictions on certain items procurement. But, with dropshipping, you can test a whole new range of products before finalizing the list of eCommerce or multi-vendor products you want to sell on your app. 

On top of that, you get a chance to provide an exclusive, hand-picked list of products and increase your sales. 

Chance to grow your business:

Dropshipping business model gives you room to think out of your comfort zone and provide exemplary services to customers. Since you do not have to spend a hefty amount in inventory set up, you can use the funds for other activities and grow your business.

limitations of Dropshipping

What are the limitations of Dropshipping?

The benefits of developing dropshipping multi-vendor mobile apps by far outweigh the disadvantages. But, it is important for you to know both the upside and downside of the approach.

High competition because of low operating cost:

The one benefit that tops the chart of dropshipping, may serve as a disadvantage too. The lower cost of investment allures hundreds and thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs to start with the dropshipping app on Shopify or other platforms.

This means you and your competitors will have to operate with a low-profit margin cost. This reduces your chances of winning the competition swiftly with minimal effort.

Inventory challenges:

Inventory management is really a hassle. If you opt to stock your products, you are responsible for stock allocation and shelf placement. But, if you are purchasing items from multiple vendors, syncing the order is challenging. The dropshipping model allows drop shippers to sync items in real-time, but you need to keep a check that it is done correctly. 

Shipping challenges:

Developing a dropshipping multi-vendor mobile app invites shipping complexities too. Various drop shippers have various order fulfillment approaches. The shopping costs may also differ depending on the product type/size. This will complicate the process of the price calculation, and it will be your responsibility to simplify it and explain it to the customer.

Along with this, you should also remember that the front face of the business is you. This means you can’t afford to make shipping-related mistakes like labeling errors, address errors, etc. But, with the dropshipping model, nothing relies on your hand. The suppliers take care of the shipping, and if any error is found, the same will be recorded in your account. You will be answerable for the shipment challenges or low-quality packing, which may be harmful to your brand. 

Method to set up dropshipping

Now that you know what pitfalls you have to protect your dropshipping business from, here is the method to set up dropshipping on Shopify or other platforms:

Focus on your brand:

For any business idea to succeed, the business owner should focus majorly on the brand image. S/he should figure out whether the brand stands out from the crowd and in what way. 

Curate an exclusive list of products that none of your competitors can offer, craft out a solid marketing plan, or even add blogs to the section. This way, you will attract new clients and convince them to keep shopping using the platform.

Opt for dropshipping app development:

You can prove your online existence explosively if you have an app in place. This enables you to mark your presence on any of the popular platforms as a dropshipping supplier. 

However, you need to partner with an app development partner who can understand the concept and help you build a dropshipping app. Well, if you don’t want to go hunting, you can straightaway contact Kody Technolab. We help businesses to embark on their online journey with an app. Our development executives will explain to you the features and functionalities required for developing a high-quality app.

Test the products you are planning to sell:

Dropshipping model doesn’t involve setting up an inventory, which means you have no idea of what is going to be delivered to your customers. In such scenarios, you should consider ordering sample products from suppliers and check the quality of the same. 

You can also estimate the shipping time it takes for a product to arrive at your doorstep. If anything is found out of the line, you can take preventive actions right at the beginning of the journey. 

Import the products:

If you are satisfied with the product quality from the supplier, it is time that you can import some of the products from the supplier. Yes, you need to showcase the list of products on your app store with the easy-import feature. You can sync the price of products on the app and have your list of products ready.

Add a little bit of customization:

Well, since everything starts falling in place, you have your space to make your dropshipping mobile app look attractive with description and customization. Add product images and descriptions to make the screen look intriguing to the audience. Give your efforts to impress the audience in the best possible way. 

There you are, almost ready with your dropshipping app solution. 

Well, concerned about what is the cost to develop a dropshipping mobile app? 

It is somewhat difficult to give you an estimate of the cost of dropshipping app development, but considering what we offer in our solution, our price is around $30K. Sounds reasonable, isn’t it?

Well, why wait? If you already have a dropshipping business idea ready to rock the stage, contact us instantly.  We would love to give you a quick summary of how you can initiate and what things you should plan in advance for dropshipping app development. Additionally, it takes time to build trust if you are new to the business. Hence, start at the earliest, without wasting any further time.

How can you make money with a dropshipping business?

Dropshipping is the approach of providing exclusive products to your beloved customers. However, these products are directly shipped by the seller to the customers. In this model, you can have your share from the sellers for using your platform, or you can include it as a total cost in the final cost of the product.

You are incurring the marketing cost on behalf of the seller; hence, you can cover the same in the seller’s invoice. You can charge a minimal fee as a customer support fee for resolving any queries related to the product or service. 

In addition to this, you can include a percentage share of each product and decide the final price of the product accordingly.  

features to include in dropshipping app

What features to include in dropshipping applications?

Dropshipping model is adopted to make work easy, and the same goes for the features. You can develop a multi-vendor mobile application or procure from a single vendor, but the feature part needs to be explicitly designed. 

A few of the required features for your dropshipping application are:

  • Seller dashboard;
  • Seller order management;
  • Set your price;
  • Add products;
  • Customize details;
  • Admin and seller connect;
  • Seller profile management;
  • Seller’s details;
  • Add/Remove products;
  • Curate a product list;
  • View transaction list;
  • Define product attributes;
  • Add images;
  • Invoice management;
  • Order history;
  • Shipping slips;

Some of the popular dropshipping applications to take inspiration from are:

  • Oberlo;
  • Klaviyo;
  • Judge.Me;
  • LangShop;
  • PageFly;
  • DSers;
  • Wiio;
  • Privy;

Well, here comes an end to our interesting topic on dropshipping business. Hope you have enjoyed reading this detailed guide. Do not give a second thought; dropshipping is all worth your efforts and time. For any more queries or information on the topic, please fill up our contact us form. We will get back to you in the shortest possible time. Thank you!

Manav Patel

Manav Patel is the founder of Kody Technolab. His visionary ideas and passion for technology have backed Kody Technolab's success. He nurtures the team with his knowledge and skills.

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