Dropshipping
With an ecommerce business based on dropshipping you only pay your supplier for the products you actually sell. This means that you do not keep products in stock and you are not the one shipping orders. Even though it is not your ideal get-rich-quick scheme, it is a very popular business model for online stores.
Content
- What is dropshipping?
- Dropshipping companies (in Europe)
- The benefits
- The disadvantages
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is dropshipping?
With a dropshipping store, you sell products in your own online store that are shipped directly from a supplier or wholesale company.
The customer still buys your products, but the order goes to the manufacturer or wholesaler who will then take care of the delivery. You do not need to send a parcel yourself and you do not need to have shipping software. All in all, this popular ecommerce method has its advantages and disadvantages.
The supplier will take care of the storage, and delivers the product directly to your customer.
Dropshipping suppliers (in Europe)
If you are looking for dropshipping companies, it can be hard to find the perfect one. It is also rather impossible to list all dropshipping suppliers here, as there are countless suppliers suited for different retailers, industries, and countries. Here are three companies that might be interesting:
Strong in large home and garden products, such as garden furniture, beds, cabinets, and fitness equipment. With 90,000 items, it also offers many products in other categories. Fast delivery across Europe, without inventory management, shipping, and returns.
- European warehouses and fulfillment
- local return addresses per country
- extensive product data
- integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Shopware and Wix
This b2b platform connects retailers with wholesalers with low purchasing thresholds and minimum purchases. Perfect for finding extra items or suppliers. With the dropshipping subscription you have no storage risks or fulfilment hassle: suppliers send items directly to your customers.
- dropshipping and wholesale in one platform
- true European brands
- local storage: fast delivery times
- options for exclusive partnerships
Large platform that offers over 100M+ products from European and United States suppliers, including fashion, beauty, and lifestyle products. You get fast delivery, branded packaging, private label options and unique print-on-demand solutions. Suitable for both dropshipping and wholesale.
- beginner-friendly
- suppliers from Europe and the United States
- branded packaging and private label options
- offers a strong Shopify integration
- strong product research tools
Design and sell under your own brand with print on demand clothing and custom branding. You get private label options such as custom neck labels, packaging and size labels. The platform handles its own production and ships worldwide. Average delivery time in Europe: 8 to 14 days.
- integrates with Shopify and other ecommerce platforms
- build your own clothing brand without holding inventory
- focus on streetwear and premium apparel
- no or low minimum order quantities
- printed fulfillment from Los Angeles, USA
Alidrop provides ready-to-use dropshipping solutions, including store (Shopify), product import, and automation, based on products from AliExpress. It also offers its own overview of European and American suppliers.
The Italian wholesaler B2B GRIFFATI offers several designer brands, including some exclusive fashion brands from Europe. With the dropshipping-plugin of Sync2Fashion you can easily add the products into your Shopify-store on, without the need for a warehouse or logistic management.
Printful works on a print-on-demand basis. They can print your designs on clothing, as well as bags, mugs and phone covers. In Europe, the company is situated in Latvia and Spain, which makes shipping within two to four days possible. It integrates with ecommerce software and marketplaces.
American dropshipping platform that lets you easily import, manage, and ship products. Works with suppliers worldwide, including major Chinese suppliers. It automates your order processing and allows you to build your own brand with custom branding and packaging.
BigBuy has more than 150.000 products and is able to dropship all over Europe. Product categories range from home and garden, beauty and health, sports, toys, fashion, and electronics. With their Marketplace package, you can easily sell their products on marketplaces.
Provides access to a database of over 8,000 wholesalers, nearly half of which offer dropshipping. If you give more deeply into the database you can find strong local European suppliers as well. With the starter plan, you can import up to 200 products per month.
- over 100K retailers work with this platform
- browse through more than 2,5 million products
- Insights tools for market and product research
- founded in 2005, located in Christchurch, New Zealand
Modalyst connects dropshippers and suppliers from the U.S., Australia and Europe. Some of the wholesalers on this marketplace are also listed on AliExpress. It claims to have verified all dropshipping suppliers. It can easily be integrated with Shopify, Wix and BigCommerce.
Based in Estonia, Hertwill is a dropshipping platform that integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce for easy product management. Hertwill simplifies order processing while suppliers handle inventory and shipping, ensuring access to high-quality products.
Platform that combines multiple suppliers. Offers dropshipping with no subscription fees and optional white label shipping. Strong in fashion, jewelry, and beauty products. Fast delivery from US and UK warehouses. Shipments from China often take a bit longer.
- direct integration with Shopify and WooCommerce
- private labeling with no minimum order quantity
B2b platform where retailers and resellers can buy branded overstock and clearance items, often with large discounts on wholesale prices. It offers direct access to both new items, b-grade goods and secondhand goods, from popular brands through a simple digital order process.
- apparel, shoes, bags, and sportswear
- trading surplus inventory
- details of products in the product descriptions
- low or no minimum order quantity
One stop supply chain solution with product sourcing, order fulfillment, tracking, and after sales for dropshipping Chinese products. Strong in apparel, consumer electronics, health and beauty, and outdoor categories.
- integrations with TikTok, Shopify, Wix, and WooCommerce
- database with more than 670,000 items
- partnerships with local manufacturers
- daily shipping volume of 25,000 to 50,000 orders
The popularity of dropshipment
The dropshipping business model is getting more and more popular. And it seems to be used mostly by entrepreneurs who just started their ecommerce business. Many products you see in Instagram ads, for example, are sold by online retailers who are active in the dropshipping business.
Customers often do not notice that an online business is selling products through dropshipping, although there are some factors that could give it away. Think of very long delivery times or generic product images which you can also find on other websites (like with AliExpress dropshipping).
Customers often do not notice that a business is selling products through dropshipping.
Marketshare of dropshipping stores is increasing
Dropshipping businesses are nothing new, but now that suppliers take it more seriously the opportunities for ecommerce companies are better than ever. Back in 2014, a study showed that between 22 and 33 percent of online retailers in the US used it as their primary method of order fulfillment. Since then, it gained in popularity and the share has only gotten higher in the recent years.
This is because more and more suppliers offer to use their warehouse space and integrations for popular ecommerce software. This enables retailers to go into the dropshipping business.
Another study by the Lehigh University, showed that dropshipping was recognized by 88 percent of retailers as being “inevitable for their long-term success”. Among the benefits, they mentioned increased revenue and improved customer support.
The benefits of dropshipping
There are many benefits to dropshipment. The most important one is that with this method, you probably do not have to invest a lot in order to start an ecommerce store.
With the ‘traditional’ way of conducting ecommerce, you buy products in bulk, you stock them somewhere and you ship them whenever someone orders them. This means that you need money to buy the products, you need warehouse storage space to stock your products, you need proper stock control and you need logistics companies to get the items shipped.
With dropshipping, you only need to make a deal with a wholesaler or manufacturer that takes care of the storage of the products. Then, if a customer orders a product in your online store, the company that has manufactured and stocked the products in a warehouse will deliver them to the customer.
With dropshipping, you only need to make a deal with a wholesaler or manufacturer.
Another advantage: you do not need to worry about products that do not sell well. This also means that you will not have stock that could get out of date, that could get out-of-season or that might end up even worse in case of a fire, flood, or other (natural) disaster in your warehouse.
For starters and growing online stores
It can be a low risk business model. Therefore, to start a dropshipping business seems like the ideal way of doing business for entrepreneurs who are new to the game. But it could also be an easy way to scale your business.
If you are ready to sell more items, just import products of your dropship partner (or maybe close a deal with an additional one) in your shop. Scaling your online store is literally a mouse click away from you.
Dropshipping seems an ideal business method for new entrepreneurs.
Expanding your assortment
This is why it can be ideal for expanding your product range. If, for example, you are not sure if certain products or product categories will turn out to be a success, just use dropshipping to find out. If it does not fit your online store or business model, just remove the items from your store. There is no obsolete stock you need to get rid of!
Up-selling opportunities
Dropshipping can also be used for up-selling opportunities. Imagine that you do have stock and you sell a very popular product. Maybe you are the only one in your market that sells this product. That is great, but you could be missing out on extra revenue if you do not up-sell.
With a third party supplier that offers shipping this can become an effortless job. Just pick out the goods that perfectly accompany your unique product and offer them in your online store through dropshipping. This way, you do not have to invest much to maximize the possibilities of your online store.
The disadvantages of dropshipping
Of course, there are also many disadvantages. And many flashy marketing websites promoting dropshipment often do not elaborate on these drawbacks. But it is important to know what you are dealing with once you make the decision to operate a shop through dropshipping.
You are still responsible
The most crucial disadvantage of dropshipping is that you still have a responsibility to your customers.
They may end up getting the products from your dropshipping partner, but they placed the order with you. As an online retailer getting the money from the customer, you are the party that is responsible when that customer is not satisfied with the order, even when you ‘outsource’ your warehousing, fulfillment and shipping.
So, if a dropshipping wholesaler or manufacturer gets in trouble and can not manage to ship the products in time, or the products go out of stock, you are the one who has to solve this issue with the customer.
Not the most original assortment
Another drawback of the method is that, due to the popularity and the limited number of dropship providers, you probably will not have the most original offer out there. The products you can sell with a dropshipping model, are also the products thousands of other ecommerce businesses can and will sell.
Generic product images
At Bol.com, the biggest online retailer in the Netherlands, you often find generic product images for products bought in China.
You should also pay attention to your product images when you are starting a dropshipping business. Usually, there is nothing wrong with the product images provided by suppliers. However, sometimes they are not very detailed, or they are made for a different target group (Chinese consumers for example) than the one you are aiming for.
An extra drawback with regards to these generic product images is that it is quite easy to find the original source with tools like Tineye.com or reverse image search features in search engines like Google and Yandex. These can be used by both your customers and your competitors! With a simple query, customers can buy the exact same item somewhere else (maybe for a lower price), while your competitors can easily find out where you buy your products and then sell these themselves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about dropshipping:
What is dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a business method in which online retailers sell goods they do not store themselves. Often it is the wholesale supplier or manufacturer that handles the storage, fulfilment and shipping. The customer still buys from the online retailer.
How is dropshipping different from wholesale ecommerce?
It is similar to wholesale, but there is an important difference. With wholesale, you buy the items you want to sell and you stock them. With dropshipping, another company is taking care of the storage of products and the fulfillment (getting the items to your customers). You only pay for the items customers have ordered.
How do you take care of returns with dropshipping?
As an online retailer in the European Union, you are still responsible for possible returns. In the EU, the rules state that customers must have the opportunity to cancel and return their online order within 14 days.
So, if you sell items online through a dropshipping program, you are responsible for that process. If a product is broken or defective, you might consider shipping a new product to your customers without asking them to return the broken one. Otherwise, the costs could be too high for you.
For non-defective products you could charge shipping costs if the customer wants to return the items.
Where do I find dropshipping products?
Many people who are interested in dropshipping want to know how to find products to sell online. A good way is just browsing the assortment of wholesale platforms. If you are looking for wholesalers that offer shipping to consumers as well, please check out our list of European dropshipping suppliers.