As far as online businesses go, there are many benefits to starting a dropshipping store. The advantages of dropshipping include starting an online business at a low cost, and minimal overheads because you pay your suppliers only when items are sold.
But wait….doesn’t it cost thousands of dollars to design a slick new online store?
If you are new to ecommerce, you may still be wondering how it is possible to setup an online store at a low cost. Let me show you how…
The secret to setting up your dropshipping online store quickly, cost-effectively and professionally is to signup to a platform known as Shopify.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform which allows you to build an online store with ease. The platform allows its users to open up their very own online stores and sell their goods (and sometimes even services).
The Shopify platform offers a complete solution for setting up an online store, so if you have products you wish to sell to your customers online, you can easily create a store with Shopify.
Why use Shopify?
Shopify provides individual stores via a SAAS (software as a service) model, which essentially means that the Shopify team hosts all of their clients’ stores. As a store owner this is an important consideration, as having a third party to manage your online store’s hosting and web administration allows you to focus on the important stuff, like marketing and attracting new customers!
Being a managed service, the prices for a Shopify store start at $29 per month. While this may sound higher than the alternatives, believe me, it will save you hours of time in the long run. You won’t need to buy any hosting, backup your website regularly, or fiddle with complicated web server settings, nor will you need to pay according to the number of visitors to your store as Shopify looks after technology part with unlimited storage and bandwidth. You’ll simply need to load your products on Shopify and focus on growing your business.
Another key benefit to using Shopify, is access to the ‘Shopify App Store’. Here you will find hundreds of apps, both free and paid, to enhance the functionality of your store. There are apps for all sorts of applications including accounting, inventory management, marketing and reporting. Some of these apps will be worth their weight in gold in taking your store to the next level, and would cost thousands of dollars to develop as bespoke apps for other ecommerce platforms.
Shopify is the most popular choice for ecommerce merchants of all shapes and sizes, because it offers a reliable solution with tons of valuable extensions. The Shopify platform offers a great user experience for shop owners and customers alike.
How to get started with Shopify for dropshipping?
Setting up a Shopify store is a very simple process – they offer a free 14 day trial so you can try before you buy. Visit Shopify.com and simply follow the instructions.
However, if you don’t already have your dropship products and suppliers organised, I would suggest completing this step first so that you can make the most out of your Shopify store from day one. Online marketplaces that send goods directly from China, such as Aliexpress or Oberlo are a good place to start searching for potential products to dropship.
Leave a Reply