Dropshipping Tips: 15 Proven Strategies to Skyrocket Your Sales

In this guide, you’ll learn all of the dropshipping tips you need to launch your business to success.

The dropshipping business model is one of the best ecommerce models around.

It allows you to sell physical products without having to carry them in inventory, stock them in your store, or even pay for shipping. That’s what makes it so ideal for sellers who can’t deal with a large amount of overhead costs.

However, just because it’s a low-cost business model doesn’t mean that you can do it without any prior knowledge.

Running a successful dropship business is a skill you need to develop and hone : from optimizing your product descriptions to keeping marketing expenses in line, all while making sure your profit margins stay healthy and customers stay happy.

15 Dropshipping Tips to Take Your Business to the Next Level

Here are 15 dropshipping tips for beginners and experienced marketers alike that can help you optimize your bottom line

1. Offer Product Bundles to Get More From Every Order

Customers love getting more value when they spend less, especially in the world of online shopping.

High value for a low price is an offer not many are keen to refuse, which is why offering product bundles is such a lucrative opportunity. 

Bundling items together has a two-fold benefit: You’ll likely have lower shipping expenses (since you don’t have to ship individual items) and you’ll attract customers that may not have purchased each item individually.

Just make sure your bundled products are relevant or people might feel like your store doesn’t have their best interests in mind. 

Product bundling doesn’t have to be intrusive, either. Here’s how Tushy adds simple product bundles to their store pages to get the most bang for their buck.

Offering product bundles is an effective merchandising strategy because it’s a win-win for both parties involved.

You’re able to sell two items for the shipping price of just one, while a customer gets a great deal on their second product.

2. Find a Reliable Supplier for Your Dropshipping Business

One of the most important dropshipping tips is that getting products from the wrong dropshipping supplier can be disastrous.

Not only will your business experience delays and missed shipments, but you’ll also struggle to find out who is at fault and how to resolve problems that arise. All of this is a great recipe for returned products and unhappy customers.

If you’re dropshipping via print on demand sites such as Printful or Printaura, then many of these issues can be resolved directly with their customer support teams.

Even if you aren’t using print-on-demand services, it still pays to check out reviews before placing orders. 

Take Aliexpress for example, one of the most popular suppliers for dropshipping directories across all industries.

While many ecommerce sellers may just find suitable product listings and call it a day, you can actually contact each individual seller on the platform and speak with them directly.

All you’ll need to do is navigate to the top left of the screen, click the seller’s store name, and send a message over.

From here, you can speak directly to each seller about whether they can handle high volumes of orders, offer quick shipping, or even ask about the best moving products at any given time.

As an added bonus, each seller has a rating from other ecommerce merchants, you can use that rating to determine whether a wholesaler is worth contacting in the first place.

So, no matter if you're going to dropship hair curlers from China or sell high-ticket items from Europe, always do your due diligence before making a business-wide decision—you might just save yourself time and money in the long run!

3. Create an Effective Customer Support Section

The most important thing to remember when it comes to customer support is that you’re not there just to fix problems; you’re there to make customers feel like they have a person on their side.

Don’t take anything personally, or let your emotions get in the way. 

Focus on providing solutions and making your customers feel good about their purchases.

At the end of the day, they want to know that if something goes wrong with their order, you’ll be able to help them quickly and effectively. 

Here’s a stellar example of a top-notch customer support section. It covers all the bases:

• Easy Returns
• Order Tracking
• FAQ Section
• Contact Us Widget

A good customer support page should make it easy for customers to find solutions to all of the most common problems and complaints. And it should also make getting in contact with you easy, in case they’re not able to find a solution.

4. Keep Tabs on Your Competition

While monitoring your competition can feel like an intimidating and daunting task, it’s a simple process that pays dividends in the long run. 

By staying on top of your competition, you can see which products they carry and how they promote them, as well as what their current pricing is.

Keep tabs on their marketing efforts to get a better idea of how to beat them. Monitoring your competition is crucial for discovering new tricks.

For example, if a competitor has started carrying a new product or service, it may be worth considering whether or not it would be beneficial for your business as well. 

This will help keep up with industry trends and stay relevant in an ever-changing market. Learn from your competition’s mistakes so you don’t have to make them yourself! 

Our advice is to keep a running spreadsheet document to track changes to competitors’ online stores. track whether they’re selling new products, marketing on new channels, or even changing their store’s price structure.

You can use this info to adapt your own online store accordingly.

5. Communicate Directly with Your Supplier & Own Up to Their Mistakes

One of the best ways to eliminate returns, and in turn increase your sales, is to own up to any mistakes your supplier makes. 

When you’re not responsible for manufacturing an item (or part of it), you won’t have complete control over all aspects of a product. 

However, if there are issues with a shipment that can be traced back to your supplier—for example— it’s important that you let them know as soon as possible so they can fix it before any customers notice. 

You may even want to pay for shipping back from customers yourself if there are too many errors on their end.

6. Creating Compelling Descriptions for Your Products

Your product descriptions need to be on-point and sales-worthy.  It’s not enough to just list your products; you want them to entice people into buying.

To improve conversions, you’ll have to spend some time researching keywords, writing a compelling description, and adding additional content like images or videos.  For example, you can create videos using video editing tools like VEED and add them to your product pages.

Make sure your descriptions are clear and accurate so that customers know exactly what they’re getting when they buy from you.  

Have a ton of products and not a ton of time? Check out our guide on some of the best product description generators.

7. Maintain a Cohesive Brand Across all Channels

Your website represents your brand and having a consistent look is essential for success in any industry, that includes dropshipping stores. 

Dropshipping tip #7 is to be sure to use similar quality product images across all of your different pages, which will make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for. 

You should also have a prominent logo or design on each page as well as an easy-to-find Contact Us link that can help customers get in touch with you if they have any questions or concerns about their order. 

Your brand should also maintain a consistent voice and palette across the site.

Here’s a great example of consistent branding site-wide, Next:

From the contact page to each individual product, you’ll find that Next maintains a minimalistic, sleek, style that stays consistent across all pages and channels.

Unsure of how to build a consistent brand? Check out our eCommerce branding guide.

8. Join Dropshipping Communities to Find Helpful Advice

Joining Facebook groups and online marketing forums can be very helpful for both beginners and experienced marketers.

If you’re having trouble setting up your online store, you can simply join one of these Facebook groups and ask questions in an open chat; you’ll receive honest answers and dropshipping tips from other store owners just like yourself. 

The members are often very willing to help and will provide constructive feedback regarding each website based on their own personal experiences with them.

9. Be Ready to Pivot Your Business Approach

You never know what’s going to work and what isn’t. This is why you need to be ready to pivot or diversify at a moment’s notice. If you a certain product fails to convert well enough, it may be time to try another product (or multiple products) instead of doubling down.

The best e-commerce entrepreneurs are able to adjust on their feet and keep moving forward in their business. 

They don’t let one failure stop them from trying again. That said, it’s important to learn from mistakes so that you can make better decisions next time around.

10. Stay Updated on Inventory Levels (Even if You’re Dropshipping)

Before you start your business, it’s important to make sure you have a clear handle on how many of each item you need to keep in stock.

If you’re dropshipping, one of your suppliers should offer an inventory management system that allows you to check your inventory levels on demand. 

At the very least, you should continue to communicate with them to understand just how much demand they’re able to handle.

When items run out and get listed as out of stock across all suppliers, you can place new orders.

By using a multi-vendor inventory management tool, you can also keep track of which products are coming from which supplier and automatically have new shipments delivered without any manual intervention required. 

This will allow your business to scale quickly without getting bogged down with complicated logistics issues that could impact your growth rate.

11. Introduce Segmentation into Your Shipping Policy

The cost of shipping is an easy thing to forget about when you’re dropshipping. After all, is it a big deal if your customer spends $3 on shipping if you’re making $50 from that sale? 

Think about it: when you’re creating a product page with descriptions and pictures and reviews, your shipping rules can often become a second priority.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

If you want to make money as a drop shipper, you need to start thinking about shipping costs. One simple way to do so is by implementing basic shipping rules into your store. This means setting minimum order amounts or charging more for certain regions or countries.

One of the most common ways to segment your shipping fees is by speed:

The faster a customer wants their product, the higher the fee. But that’s still far from the only way to structure your shipping.

You can offer free shipping if orders reach a certain threshold, cheaper shipping to certain countries, or even discount deal promotions.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t be lowering your margins store-wide all due to shipping.

12. Don’t Compete on Price Alone

It’s a common fallacy that every business must compete on price to get customers.

A far better approach is to offer value-added products and services that your target audience will be willing to pay more for. 

Of course, it makes sense to promote yourself as having lower prices than your competitors, but it shouldn’t be your only selling point.  

As an example, some book publishers have found success by offering print-on-demand (POD) editions of their books at much lower prices than traditional print runs—and they can still make money because their POD costs are so low.

In other words, they are competing on quality and service rather than just price. 

Another great example of brand competition?

Nike.

Nike is one of the top dogs in the sports clothing industry, especially when it comes to shoes.

But they almost never compete by lowering their prices to a level past the competition. Why?

They compete with strong branding, and top-notch product quality.

People are willing to pay $200 for a pair of Lebron 19s because they trust in the Nike brand to deliver high-quality shoes.

In your own store, consistently delivering top-of-the-line products or branding your own white-labeled products can be a great way to compete with dropshipping stores in similar niches.

13. Focus on Just One Niche

A lot of beginners make the mistake of focusing on a very broad niche they end up losing track altogether.

Dropshipping tip #13 is to focus on a single niche when starting your dropshipping business. 

This will help you target your audience more effectively and it will also give you an edge over other competitors in that niche.

Choosing the right profitable niche is the first step toward building a successful dropshipping business.

Avoid jumping on the bandwagon of hot products as these may only be seasonal rather than sustainable.

If you’re looking to start a dropshipping business, it’s important to find niche products that aren’t just trending. Focus on the products that have long-term potential.

14. Invest Consistent Time & Effort into Your eCommerce Business

One of the most important dropshipping tips on this list is that every business needs consistent time and effort to succeed. You’ll need to spend time everyday working to improve your business.

This means dedicating time to creating and optimizing product descriptions, improving your marketing efforts, and communicating with customers.

If you’re not willing to put in that effort, then dropshipping probably isn’t right for you. The reality is that many businesses fail because their owners don’t work hard enough or don’t plan effectively enough. 

The more planning you do, however, the more likely your venture will be a success.

Remember: Dropshipping is a numbers game; if you want to win big, you have to play big!

15. Use the Right Marketing Tools to Grow Your Online Business

No business is an island, and the best marketing tools can help you find new customers. There are a wide variety of tools available to businesses. 

These include SEO tools, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter.

Before using any of these tools, it’s important to have a good understanding of how they work in order to improve your chances of success.  

Make sure you’re leveraging all resources at your disposal: In addition to having access to different types of marketing tools, entrepreneurs should also use all resources at their disposal when growing their businesses.

Wrapping Up: Dropshipping Tips for More Profit from Your Online Store

The most obvious benefit of dropshipping is the speed and efficiency with which you can get your business off the ground. 

With no need to warehouse inventory or spend capital on traditional marketing tactics, you can launch and scale quickly—and pivot as necessary. 

Many entrepreneurs say they never could have anticipated the opportunity that dropshipping presented them, and one small tweak can make a huge difference in profit margins. 

Just a few changes or resources can be enough to transform your business from a startup to a success story. Hopefully these dropshipping tips give you that edge.

By taking advantage of print-on-demand sites and focusing on customer experience, you’ll be well on your way toward building a truly successful dropshipping business. So, what are you waiting for?