As customers order from your online retail store, all you have to do is contact your Dropshipper- who will in turn, prepare the orders for shipment. You get to purchase the item at a wholesale price and place your own mark-up price.  

Most dropship Wholesale Suppliers practice “blind dropshipping” which means, you can use your own brand name in reselling the products. When customers purchase from your shop, they won’t even know that you are just a reseller.

Nevertheless, the concept of a dropshipping business is not without challenges. As the number of online retailers increase, you need to be a lot smarter to stay competitive and survive the business.

Challenges of Dropshipping

If you are an online retailer or planning to start your own dropshipping online business, you need to be ready to face up to the challenges. Below are some tips:

Make sure that you are dealing with a legal and trusted Dropshipper. Bear in mind that scammers abound in the industry. If you are not careful, you could be working with a middleman who is making a much bigger profit from the sales you make. See to it that you are dealing directly with a legitimate Wholesale Supplier, not just another retailer or another link in the chain.

Ensure your customer’s satisfaction. As a reseller, it is your reputation that is directly on the line. Therefore, it is your duty to ensure that your Wholesale Dropshipper can live up to its promises. Before reselling, make sure that you are confident about the products you will market. It is a must to order sample products from your dropshipper.

Can you be sure that only quality products will be shipped out to your customer? Can you monitor the status of the orders from your end? Will your customers be given guarantee for their purchases?

Watch out for dropshippers that charge fees. A legitimate dropshipper will never require upfront payment just to open an account. You will only be required to submit payment once you have made a sale from your site.

Offer more than one product. It is advisable to offer more than one type of product from your store. If your dropshipper offers only one kind of product, try to find other legitimate dropshippers with products to complement your store.

Defining Back-End Products Selling

What is back-end product selling? It is when you try to sell other products to a customer who has recently purchased one of your products. Back-end product selling is very important especially for online retailers.

Obviously, someone who has bought your products showed genuine interest in what you offer. Trying to convince your existing customers to buy your other products as well should not be as hard as trying to convince someone who has never tried any of your products yet.

Make That Back-End Sale More Easily

How can you effectively sell back-end products to your customers? Here are some tips:

Stay true to the quality of your products. The first thing is to make sure about the quality of the products you’re selling. See to it that your customers will not find any reason to regret their purchase. Ship out only the best of what you offer and deliver them on time.

Ship out flyers. Include an extra brochure in the package of the products your customer ordered. The brochure should include other products you also offer and their benefits.

Provide a free newsletter subscription for customers. A newsletter allows you to keep in touch with your customers. This gives you the chance to keep them interested in your company and a great way to introduce your other products.

Send postcards. Send postcards to your customers on special occasions. A simple postcard can make a customer feel special and appreciated.

Create a “thank you” page on your website. This should be the page that your customers will see immediately after placing their online order. Part of the “thank you” page should be a list of your back-end products along with a statement that encourages your customer to try them out.

Include a freebie. Customers will surely love to receive a surprise gift when they receive their order. Along with the gift, include a small card or a flyer that advertises one of your back-end products.

Do follow ups. Send a follow up e-mail or direct mail showing your appreciation for their support and asking feedback about the product they bought from your store. Take the opportunity to offer them other products as well. You can also ask them to be included in your mailing list for updates from your store.

These are just some suggestions on how you can attempt to offer other products to your existing customers. Keep in mind that it is very important to deliver to your promises. Obviously, it will be easier to convince customers to buy from you again if you know that your products are truly worth buying.

If you’re a small business retailer who sells products from the internet, you need to be extra cautious about the risk of online fraud and ID theft.  Below are tips for both buyers and sellers on how to do an online business more safely:

FOR ONLINE RETAILERS:

Use a secured server.

An internet merchant should only use a secured server with at least 128-bit data encryption.  A secured server will protect both you and your customers as you receive credit card payments online. 

Prepare Your Merchant Privacy Policy.

A legitimate online seller should post a Privacy Protection and be true to its Policies.  Assure your customers that you will never use or sell their personal information for any other purposes except for that purchase.

Always use an updated anti-virus program.

Install an updated anti-virus program to protect your computer system from viruses, malicious files, spyware and hackers trying to invade your files.

Open a Merchant Account from a trusted provider.

Since you will be accepting credit card payments from your customers, it is crucial to apply for a Merchant Account from a trusted and secured Merchant Account provider.  See to it that their credit card processing system will give you protection against online credit fraud and ID thieves.

FOR BUYERS:

Manually type the URL in your address bar.

If you want to buy from an online merchant, it’s best to simply type the complete URL in your address bar.  Instead of clicking links that could lead to a fake site or phishing website, you can be sure that you’re on the right website by manually typing the web address.

Purchase only from reputable merchants.

Some online sellers may offer incredibly low prices for the same products and services.  However, it is better to purchase from a reputable merchant than risk purchasing from an unreliable seller.

Use trusted secondary online payment services.

Instead of using your personal credit card for payment, consider paying through a secondary online payment service like PayPal.  This enables you to send payment without revealing your personal card information.

Check your credit card billing statement.

Check your credit card bill right away especially when you made an online purchase.  If you don’t receive your billing statement for this month, inform your credit card issuer immediately.  ID thieves often call the credit card issuer and ask for a change of address to prevent the real credit card owner from learning about the unauthorized purchase right away.