Dropshipping is a fulfillment method that has many advantages and benefits. It's easy to use, affordable, scalable, and it helps you create a successful ecommerce store without the risk of carrying inventory or making large investments.
In this article, we are going to explore six advantages of using dropshipping in your online store - they include things like:
- You don't need to invest in any inventory
- It's easy to setup
- Highly scalable
But before we're going to dive into detail, let's first go over what dropshipping exactly is:
What is dropshipping?
Let’s start by understanding what starting a dropshipping business means. If you already understand it, then you can click here to scroll down!
If not, then I will explain the dropshipping business model really simple to you:
- Dropshipping is an online business model where you got an online store where you sell products, but you don’t have any of them in your storage or your house.
- When someone places an order on your dropshipping store, then you place that same order directly with your dropshipping supplier. Don’t worry. There are a lot of apps out there that help you with automating this part of the order fulfillment. For example, DSers, or these 14 DSers alternatives.
- Then your dropshipping supplier will handle the rest. Think about preparing the package and sending the order straight to your customer.
- Now your customer will receive the package straight from your dropshipping supplier, and you never touched the product in between!
For the visual learners, this is how it will look like then:
The most common question people have now is, won’t my customer know that the package didn’t come from me?
For example, aren’t there any advertisements or recipes from the supplier in the package?
No.
You just need to make sure that your supplier accepts dropshipping and blind dropshipping.
You can learn more about blind dropshipping by reading this article here.
If you’re interested in learning more about dropshipping, then I suggest reading this article here:
Dropshipping for Beginners: What Is It & How to Start Today?
What are the advantages of dropshipping?
Below you will find all the benefits of dropshipping. I hope this will make you excited to start with dropshipping in 2024.
And in the end, I will cover some great articles that you can read next to learn more about dropshipping for free!
Quick Note: Before we start, I want to be 100% sure that you know that starting a dropshipping store, even though it sounds so great, is still like starting a real business. Please don't rush it to make a quick buck.
If you're not yet convinced, then you can check out this article here, which will go over what kind of mindset you should have.
Alright, now that we have that covered, let's begin!
1. Quickly test products without buying in bulk (No inventory)
Let's start with the first advantage of dropshipping; you can quickly test and sell new products without buying them in bulk.
For people that are not sure what buying in bulk is, this is for you, buying in bulk means that you purchase a lot of the same product at the same time instead of purchasing one at the time with dropshipping.
This means that you will need to find a place to store your products. Which has its own advantages, don't get me wrong! But the thing that I'm pointing at is that if you're not sure if you can sell the product or if you're not sure if your target audience will like the product, then you could be stuck with tons of products that you can't sell.
The advantage of dropshipping is that you don't have to purchase hundreds or thousands of the same product before you can sell them in your online store
You can literally purchase them one by one. This means that you only pay for products when someone places an order on your online store! Isn't that nice?
Yes, that has its own disadvantage as well (which you can read here), but the nice thing now is that you can see if you can sell the product before committing to a huge bulk order.
If you can't sell the product, then you can easily move on to new products without worrying of having any leftover stock in your warehouse or home (wherever you store the products).
Now the big thing you need to remember here is that you need to know when to stop dropshipping.
Look if your product is selling well and you know you found a market to sell your product to, then it's awesome to purchase your product in bulk. This has its own advantages, which I won't go over now, but you can read this article here if you're interested in learning more.
Plus, I suggest reading How To Quickly Test Products With Dropshipping before you move on to selling new products on your store.
2. Not much startup costs in comparison to retail stores
This one flows in really well with the one above that you don't need to purchase bulk in order to start selling products in your online store.
Look it's really cheap to start a dropshipping store mainly because of that reason; you don't need to own the inventory! This also saves you in other things like warehouse fees.
If you're unsure what kind of costs you will have when starting a dropshipping business, then I highly suggest you read this other article of mine here, which goes over all the costs of starting a dropshipping business.
But do keep in mind, as I said above, that it's still a real business and not a way to get rich tomorrow!
However, those startup costs are in comparison to normal ecommerce stores that have their own inventory.
But what about the costs in comparison to starting a real offline retail store?
For that, I suggest reading this great article by Cardconnect, which lays out all the costs you will have when starting a retail store.
As you can see, the costs are significantly higher than running a dropshipping store or even a normal ecommerce store. Although once again, each option has its own benefits.
One example I can give you is that if you want to open a dropshipping store or ecommerce store online, then you don't have to pay rent, but you do need to have some way to open your business. Something like Shopify, which only charges you $39 per month on their lowest plan.
That's a lot of difference between the rent of a retail store, right?
3. You don't have to produce, store, and send the products
The great thing about dropshipping is that your dropshipping supplier handles everything! They take care of the shipping, storing, and manufacturing of the product.
This means that all you have to do is take care of the marketing of the product and your dropshipping supplier handles the rest. Awesome, right?
But of course, that has a disadvantage as well; you can't see the product so there could be issues with the product quality. (You can read more about that here)
This also means that you can easily add new products to your store without having to worry about where to store them.
4. Learn useful skills
As I said above, dropshipping is just a fulfillment method.
The rest of ecommerce doesn't change. You'll still be learning skills like:
- Digital marketing
- Copywriting
- Conversion optimization
- Social media management
And, of course, much more!
These skills will come in handy, even if you don't decide to continue with your dropshipping store in the end.
5. You can open a dropshipping store really fast
A lot of people are starting with dropshipping because it’s so easy to open a dropshipping store and start selling that same day.
But why is it easy?
Well, for example, if you compare it to opening a normal “offline” retail store, then you’re looking at an investment that you need to make before opening the store. (As you read above).
With dropshipping, you only pay for products when someone places an order on your online store!
And not only the investment in money is different. For the time, it’s the same.
You can literally open a Shopify store in a few minutes, and have everything set up in maybe a few hours!
But don’t worry.
I won’t teach you to do the same as that.
It’s better to take your time when building your dropshipping store to be more unique than all the other dropshippers out there who do open their dropshipping store in a few hours!
If you’re interested in learning how to be more unique, then I suggest reading this article of mine here.
6. Highly scalable
You can literally sell to the whole world if you want to.
Do you know why?
Well, because your dropshipping supplier can ship to anywhere in the world without you needing to worry at all, but do check with your supplier before you want to start advertising in a new country! There could still be a small chance that your supplier doesn’t ship there.
Plus, you can find local dropshipping suppliers in each country, for example, in the US.
This will have benefits on its own as well, like faster shipping times. (You can find more reasons to start dropshipping from local dropshipping suppliers here)
Because if you ship from China, then the shipping times might be 2-4 weeks in total! (Source)
Another benefit of dropshipping that fits well with the highly scalable one is that you can turn your store into a brand!
Or you can start a branded dropshipping store from the beginning already.
If you're interested in learning more about this, then I suggest checking these articles below:
- 7+ Amazing Tips to Brand your Dropshipping Store
- Dropshipping Branding: What Is It & Why Should You Care?
- 10 Great Ecommerce Brand Store Examples (2024) | Inspiration
Bonus: Advantages when you are getting sales
I didn't want to include this as different advantages because I don't want to sound like one of these "gurus". (You can click here to learn more about these dropshipping "gurus")
But anyway, a few more benefits of dropshipping (if you create an online store that is making sales) are:
- Earning more money. If done right, then dropshipping could earn you a lot. Just take a look at these success stories.
- Being your own boss. Some people don’t like to work for a boss, so they search for other ways to earn an income.
- Location-independent work. A dropshipping store is an online business, which means that it can be run from just about anywhere with an internet connection. As long as you can communicate with suppliers and customers easily, you can run and manage your business. This is also called being a Digital Nomad.
Still some awesome advantages, right? Just keep the whole it's a real business thing in mind!
Advantages of Dropshipping: An Overview
If that was a lot to take in, then don’t worry!
We have created an amazing infographic for you that you can save for later:
What are the disadvantages of dropshipping?
Now that we have covered the advantages and benefits of using dropshipping as a fulfillment method for your online store, let's also take a look at the disadvantages.
I will list them below for you in bullet points, but I highly suggest you read this article here as well to learn more about how to beat these disadvantages.
- Almost no control over things like shipping times, package design, and the supply chain.
- Sometimes you can't combine products for an order.
- Quality control issues.
- Stock shortages.
- Less profit than purchasing the products in bulk.
- Refunds can be complicated if your suppliers are on the other side of the world.
- Customer service can be difficult.
- A lot of competition.
I hope you're still excited to learn more about dropshipping, but if not, then take a look at these dropshipping store examples first.
Conclusion
So, there you have it! All the benefits of starting a dropshipping store in 2024.
These are all the reasons why people start a dropshipping store instead of a normal ecommerce store or an "offline" retail store.
I'm proud of you that you made it to the end of this article that's why I got a great tip for you:
I think my biggest tip for you is that dropshipping is still a real business; please treat your customers right and put time and effort into creating your store. Don’t open it in a few hours and expect to make sales the next day.
Please don't see dollar signs and only start dropshipping because you think these advantages are amazing and you can get rich now next week... That's not how it works, sorry!
If you know any more advantages or if you have any questions regarding dropshipping, then let me know by commenting below or contacting me directly by pressing the “Contact Us” button at the top.
Also, let me know if these benefits of dropshipping convinced you to give this online business model a try.
I wish you the best with everything that you’re going to do today!
Getting Started with Dropshipping in 2024
So, are you ready to get started with dropshipping? Or maybe you have already started, but you’re looking to get some inspiration?
If so, then I suggest reading this complete Shopify dropshipping guide.
It’s a huge article, but it contains everything that you need to know to create your own Shopify dropshipping store in 2024. It’s like a dropshipping course, but then for free!
Reading this article will surely help you to get started and to stay motivated while beginning and continuing your dropshipping journey.
Just don’t forget that success takes time. Keep improving each and every day!
Shopify Dropshipping: A 20-Step Guide to Starting Your Store
And here are the articles I suggest you read next:
- 23 Most Successful Shopify Dropshipping Store Examples
- 18 Things to Know Before Starting a Dropshipping Store
- 10 Dropshipping Risks to Consider Before Starting Your Store
- Can You Do Dropshipping Worldwide in 2024? (Know This First)
And also, if you didn’t create a Shopify account yet (to get your dropshipping store online), then you can click here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!
