Dropshipping: Why & How to run a dropshipping store
Dropshipping is a business model that allows entrepreneurs to launch an online business and sell products to customers without ever having to physically stock the items. When a dropshipping store offers a product, it buys it from a third party and has it shipped to the client directly.
In this article, we will outline:
- What is Dropshipping?
- What do we offer?
- Why Dropshipping?
- How to get paid and how do items get shipped?
- Recommended Apps
- Nice-to-have Apps
- Marketing Services
Wikipedia defines Dropshipping as a form of retail business wherein the seller accepts customer orders but does not keep goods sold in stock. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, it transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer. As such, the retailer is responsible for marketing and selling a product, but has little or no control over product quality, storage, inventory management, or shipping.
We offer multiple dropshipping platforms to integrate with through ExpandCart such as:
Knawat: a Dropshipping company based in Turkey and provides a wide variety of Turkish and European products such as clothes, shoes, accessories, and much more. To know how to integrate it into your store and offer their products to your customers, please check this article.
AliExpress: a popular online store for buying products at much cheaper prices than Amazon and other similar services. The store was founded in 2010 and is owned by Alibaba, a massive Chinese multinational company focusing on e-commerce and computing, and is one of the world's largest internet companies. To import their products to your store, please check this article.
Mart.ps: is one of the largest E-commerce platforms in Palestine, to know more, please visit this article.
[Printful](https://support.expandcart.com/printful-app): is an on-demand printing and fulfillment company that helps people turn their ideas into brands and products. Offer Printful products to your customers now with ExpandCart. Visit this article for more information.
Dropshipping is an excellent business model to start with for prospective entrepreneurs since it is simple. Dropshipping allows you to swiftly test several company ideas with minimal risk, allowing you to learn a lot about how to choose and sell in-demand items. Here are some more reasons why dropshipping is so popular:
Easy to get started: When you don't have to deal with physical products, running e-commerce is significantly easier. You don't have to be concerned about many things with dropshipping such as paying for a warehouse, storing the products, and handling shipping and returns.
Increase your cash flow: Since you don’t stock the product, you don’t pay for it until it’s sold.
Scalability & Growth: Test products and add new ones quickly without bearing the burden of ordering in bulk and having something fail. This means you have unlimited space to grow and scale.
ExpandCart offers many ways to collect payments from your customers. The most popular ones:
[-ExpandPay](https://support.expandcart.com/expandpay-how-to-subscribe-and-install): makes you avoid third parties and have all that is needed to complete your order fulfillment cycle in one platform, and also If your business is not registered you can just activate online payment by submitting your national ID, Cash-out with a minimum of 250 LE, Transaction fees: 2.75% + 3 EGP.
-[PayPal](https://support.expandcart.com/paypal): allows payment through credit cards, bank accounts, or PayPal account balances and also gives credibility to your store as it’s one of the safest online payments.
-Bank Transfer: Enables customers to transfer funds to your bank account easily.
-[MyFatoorah](https://support.expandcart.com/myfatoorah-v2-installation-guide): A Leading Service Provider for Online Payment in Kuwait & GCC, used by many sellers as it’s supported in Kuwait, KSA, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE.
One of the main advantages of dropshipping is that you don’t need a shipping company or a stock as a form of supply chain management transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer which then ships the goods directly to the customer. You only need to set up the shipping prices at your store by installing one of the following apps:
**-Category & Product-Based Shipping****:** [](https://support.expandcart.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019652379-Category-Product-Based-Shipping)This shipping method is the most customized shipping method as it contains many characteristics and conditions that can help you specify and apply custom shipping rates according to the product, category, geo zone, or total cart amount. Even more, conditions can be added.
-Custom flat rate: Through this method, you can set a fixed shipping rate for each order at your store's products so that a certain fixed price can be fixed for all the products of the store, and these products are shipped to any place at this fixed price
Sell Everywhere: you can sell your products on your Facebook & Instagram to reach millions of customers, with this app you can Import & Export, and Sync your products with Facebook & Instagram.
Enhance your product page: The [Product option Image](https://support.expandcart.com/product-option-images-app) app will make it easier for the customer to see clearly the options of the products without the need of doing more research or contacting you.
Enhance your store search: Since you will have several products you can enhance the store search using the following apps so customers can find their needs easily: Search auto complete, Advanced product filter, and Lableb.
Communication tools: You can use WhatsApp as a communication tool and for automated notifications and so on, or Sendstrap Integration to be able to communicate with your customers, as the products are delivered overseas and might get delayed in delivery so most probably customers will need to contact you to be updated.
-Sales Booster: with this app, you can boost your sales and take your conversion rate to the next level, with this unique application, you can boost your store sales up to 400%
-Social Proof Notifications By TrustRol: increase your sales with TrustRol as this app Increases signup and purchase conversions by showing recent orders and active users on your website.
-Speakol: is a native advertising and content recommendation platform aiming to revolutionize the online advertising industry, reach your audience through Customized widgets blend in with websites design, content, look and feel serving ads as part of the editorial flow of the page, and more.
When running a Multi-Merchant store, marketing is essential since this is will be one of your main methods to attract an audience and increase your sales and revenue. The main marketing services ExpandCart offers:
Google analytics: The goal of Google Analytics is to help you as a business owner to deliver a high-quality website to your customers and provide you with all the necessary information regarding the website statistics. So, Google Analytics basically helps you market to the right people, in the right way and at the right time.
Google AdWords: With Google Adwords grow online sales, bookings, or mailing list signups with online ads that direct people to your website. Get in front of customers when they’re searching for businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps. Only pay for results, like clicks to your website or calls to your business.
Facebook pixel: is a code that serves as the link between your online store and the Facebook account of your brand, to link them and give you access to many advantages that help you in managing your stores, such as data and analysis of your customers and their behavior on the website.
Coupons, discounts, and vouchers: Discounts whether it is coupons or automatic are a very powerful marketing tool, ExpandCart Provides you with the tool to create different types of discounts. You can make the discount general and eligible for everyone following its rules or you can make it with a code the customers need to type while checking out. You may create vouchers too through ExpandCart.
Store affiliates marketing: With affiliate marketing, you increase your reach faster and more consistently, and distribute your message to the widest possible audience on the Internet. By doing so the affiliates will use their influence to promote your products on their own sites and social media channels, leveraging their huge audiences to your advantage.
Store Expert Review: In this service, one of our e-marketing experts will review your store closely and in detail and then send you his detailed recommendations in all aspects to help you increase your sales.
Finally, you can check the following articles depending on the industry you're interested in:
-[Fashion](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-a-fashion-store-with-expandcart-effectively)
-[Restaurant](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-an-online-restaurant-with-expandcart-effectively)
-[Cosmetics](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-a-cosmetics-store-with-expandcart-effectively)
-[Tech](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-a-tech-store-with-expandcart-effectively)
In this article, we will outline:
- What is Dropshipping?
- What do we offer?
- Why Dropshipping?
- How to get paid and how do items get shipped?
- Recommended Apps
- Nice-to-have Apps
- Marketing Services
**What is Dropshipping?**
Wikipedia defines Dropshipping as a form of retail business wherein the seller accepts customer orders but does not keep goods sold in stock. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, it transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer. As such, the retailer is responsible for marketing and selling a product, but has little or no control over product quality, storage, inventory management, or shipping.
**What do we offer?**
We offer multiple dropshipping platforms to integrate with through ExpandCart such as:
Knawat: a Dropshipping company based in Turkey and provides a wide variety of Turkish and European products such as clothes, shoes, accessories, and much more. To know how to integrate it into your store and offer their products to your customers, please check this article.
AliExpress: a popular online store for buying products at much cheaper prices than Amazon and other similar services. The store was founded in 2010 and is owned by Alibaba, a massive Chinese multinational company focusing on e-commerce and computing, and is one of the world's largest internet companies. To import their products to your store, please check this article.
Mart.ps: is one of the largest E-commerce platforms in Palestine, to know more, please visit this article.
[Printful](https://support.expandcart.com/printful-app): is an on-demand printing and fulfillment company that helps people turn their ideas into brands and products. Offer Printful products to your customers now with ExpandCart. Visit this article for more information.
**Why Dropshipping?**
Dropshipping is an excellent business model to start with for prospective entrepreneurs since it is simple. Dropshipping allows you to swiftly test several company ideas with minimal risk, allowing you to learn a lot about how to choose and sell in-demand items. Here are some more reasons why dropshipping is so popular:
Easy to get started: When you don't have to deal with physical products, running e-commerce is significantly easier. You don't have to be concerned about many things with dropshipping such as paying for a warehouse, storing the products, and handling shipping and returns.
Increase your cash flow: Since you don’t stock the product, you don’t pay for it until it’s sold.
Scalability & Growth: Test products and add new ones quickly without bearing the burden of ordering in bulk and having something fail. This means you have unlimited space to grow and scale.
**How to get paid and how do items get shipped?**
ExpandCart offers many ways to collect payments from your customers. The most popular ones:
[-ExpandPay](https://support.expandcart.com/expandpay-how-to-subscribe-and-install): makes you avoid third parties and have all that is needed to complete your order fulfillment cycle in one platform, and also If your business is not registered you can just activate online payment by submitting your national ID, Cash-out with a minimum of 250 LE, Transaction fees: 2.75% + 3 EGP.
-[PayPal](https://support.expandcart.com/paypal): allows payment through credit cards, bank accounts, or PayPal account balances and also gives credibility to your store as it’s one of the safest online payments.
-Bank Transfer: Enables customers to transfer funds to your bank account easily.
-[MyFatoorah](https://support.expandcart.com/myfatoorah-v2-installation-guide): A Leading Service Provider for Online Payment in Kuwait & GCC, used by many sellers as it’s supported in Kuwait, KSA, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE.
One of the main advantages of dropshipping is that you don’t need a shipping company or a stock as a form of supply chain management transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer which then ships the goods directly to the customer. You only need to set up the shipping prices at your store by installing one of the following apps:
**-Category & Product-Based Shipping****:** [](https://support.expandcart.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019652379-Category-Product-Based-Shipping)This shipping method is the most customized shipping method as it contains many characteristics and conditions that can help you specify and apply custom shipping rates according to the product, category, geo zone, or total cart amount. Even more, conditions can be added.
-Custom flat rate: Through this method, you can set a fixed shipping rate for each order at your store's products so that a certain fixed price can be fixed for all the products of the store, and these products are shipped to any place at this fixed price
**Recommended App**
Sell Everywhere: you can sell your products on your Facebook & Instagram to reach millions of customers, with this app you can Import & Export, and Sync your products with Facebook & Instagram.
Enhance your product page: The [Product option Image](https://support.expandcart.com/product-option-images-app) app will make it easier for the customer to see clearly the options of the products without the need of doing more research or contacting you.
Enhance your store search: Since you will have several products you can enhance the store search using the following apps so customers can find their needs easily: Search auto complete, Advanced product filter, and Lableb.
Communication tools: You can use WhatsApp as a communication tool and for automated notifications and so on, or Sendstrap Integration to be able to communicate with your customers, as the products are delivered overseas and might get delayed in delivery so most probably customers will need to contact you to be updated.
Nice-to-have Apps
-Sales Booster: with this app, you can boost your sales and take your conversion rate to the next level, with this unique application, you can boost your store sales up to 400%
-Social Proof Notifications By TrustRol: increase your sales with TrustRol as this app Increases signup and purchase conversions by showing recent orders and active users on your website.
-Speakol: is a native advertising and content recommendation platform aiming to revolutionize the online advertising industry, reach your audience through Customized widgets blend in with websites design, content, look and feel serving ads as part of the editorial flow of the page, and more.
Marketing Services
When running a Multi-Merchant store, marketing is essential since this is will be one of your main methods to attract an audience and increase your sales and revenue. The main marketing services ExpandCart offers:
Google analytics: The goal of Google Analytics is to help you as a business owner to deliver a high-quality website to your customers and provide you with all the necessary information regarding the website statistics. So, Google Analytics basically helps you market to the right people, in the right way and at the right time.
Google AdWords: With Google Adwords grow online sales, bookings, or mailing list signups with online ads that direct people to your website. Get in front of customers when they’re searching for businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps. Only pay for results, like clicks to your website or calls to your business.
Facebook pixel: is a code that serves as the link between your online store and the Facebook account of your brand, to link them and give you access to many advantages that help you in managing your stores, such as data and analysis of your customers and their behavior on the website.
Coupons, discounts, and vouchers: Discounts whether it is coupons or automatic are a very powerful marketing tool, ExpandCart Provides you with the tool to create different types of discounts. You can make the discount general and eligible for everyone following its rules or you can make it with a code the customers need to type while checking out. You may create vouchers too through ExpandCart.
Store affiliates marketing: With affiliate marketing, you increase your reach faster and more consistently, and distribute your message to the widest possible audience on the Internet. By doing so the affiliates will use their influence to promote your products on their own sites and social media channels, leveraging their huge audiences to your advantage.
Store Expert Review: In this service, one of our e-marketing experts will review your store closely and in detail and then send you his detailed recommendations in all aspects to help you increase your sales.
Finally, you can check the following articles depending on the industry you're interested in:
-[Fashion](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-a-fashion-store-with-expandcart-effectively)
-[Restaurant](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-an-online-restaurant-with-expandcart-effectively)
-[Cosmetics](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-a-cosmetics-store-with-expandcart-effectively)
-[Tech](https://support.expandcart.com/how-to-run-a-tech-store-with-expandcart-effectively)
Updated on: 23/01/2023
Thank you!