Shopify Dropshipping Tutorial [Step By Step Guide for 2022]

In my role of constantly improvising the eCommerce business landscape, it becomes imperative to review each and every aspect of online businesses, and dropshipping is no exception. And it wasn’t too long before I realized how many of those online stores needed to work on their Shopify dropshipping business. This Shopify dropshipping tutorial will help you address those challenges.

 

We can ease up the process of dropshipping on Shopify! Install Perzonalization for Shopify now, start your 14 day free trial to start displaying AI powered related products, upsell items and frequently bought together products on your webstore.

 

Shopify Dropshipping Tutorial: The Introduction

One of the Biggest Problems in eCommerce: Inventory Management

Coming to think of it, one of the biggest challenges of an eCommerce business is maintenance of sufficient inventory. When you are starting off, you usually start off small, and you don’t have the money to pay for inventory. Inventory problem can be a real deterrent to eCommerce success, if a company does not have the right resources to keep up with the demand of their customers. It may result in unhappy customers and long wait times. It may even lead to your customers’ leaving your site for your competitor’s. eCommerce dropshipping is a business model via which these issues are taken care of. And it is not a surprise that many entrepreneurs now explore dropshipping opportunities and consider starting an online store with dropshipping. This is the main reason why I decided to prepare this Shopify dropshipping tutorial!

The process to building a successful dropshipping store isn’t complicated. All you need is a store that is well-designed and functional. At this point, it is not a surprise to see the words Shopify and dropshipping used in the same sentence. Overall, a Shopify dropshipping store offers all the key ingredients to start and run a successful dropshipping business that your customers will love. And this Shopify dropshipping tutorial will give you exactly what you need to start a Shopify eCommerce dropshipping store.

Shopify Dropshipping Tutorial: The Basics

What is Dropshipping?

In layman’s terms, dropshipping is a retail method where the seller is not required to handle the products physically or fulfill the shipment to the customers. The single most mention-worthy difference between dropshipping and the standard retail model is that, in dropshipping, the seller doesn’t stock their own inventory. Instead, the merchant purchases inventory as needed from a third party – usually a dropshipping wholesaler or manufacturer – in order to fulfill orders.

Shopify Dropshipping Tutorial: The FAQs

Dropshippers and dropshipper WANNA-BEs keep on asking questions about Shopify and dropshipping in general. Let’s try to list a few of these dropshipping related questions and answer them throughout this post:

1) How To Dropship On Shopify? The popular eCommerce platform Shopify is quite popular among dropshippers. There is a reason for that; it’s quite easy to dropship with Shopify! With apps like Oberlo, Spocket, MerchMixer, Shopify merchants can easily build their webstores and instantly start dropshipping.

2) What Is Shopify Dropshipping? It is the act of using eCommerce platform Shopify to sell products via the method of dropshipping. The merchant needs to first sign-up for Shopify and then use some dropshipping apps and tactics to start Shopify dropshipping.

3) How To Start An Online Store With Dropshipping? There are many popular eCommerce platforms that help online merchants build their webstores ready to dropship items. In this article, we will focus on the dropshipping capabilities of Shopify as it is the most popular one among dropshipppers.

4) How To Make A Dropshipping Website? Choosing the eCommerce platform, building an online store on that platform, installing dropshipping apps or finding suppliers are the first steps in making a dropshipping website. Throughout this post, we’ll dive into the details of dropshipping.

5) Is Shopify Dropshipping Worth It? Dropshipping surely requires time, effort and advertising money but it’s worth it! These stories prove that Shopify dropshipping is worth it.

6) How To Start Shopify Dropshipping With No Money? You can start with a very small budget, experiment with a few products and then increase your budget as you gain revenues. This is something quite possible. However in today’s fierce dropshipping environment, it’d be impossible to start dropshipping with no money.

7) How Much Can You Make With Shopify Dropshipping? There are dropshippers who are making 6 figure revenues! If you want to read a few success stories, here is what we have compiled.

8) Is Shopify Dropshipping Dead? Dropshipping is obviously not dead however it became more competitive in the last couple of years. New advertising channels i.e. TikTok and Instagram are used by dropshippers in creative ways. These facts make dropshipping harder than ever.

9) How To Dropship Using Shopify? There are many great apps that allow Shopify merchants dropship items overseas. Throughout this post, we will hopefully answer this question in detail.

11) How To Setup Dropshipping On Shopify? In this post, we have a section called Building a Shopify Dropshipping Store from Scratch that will help you get acquainted with the steps in setting up dropshipping on Shopify.

Shopify Dropshipping Tutorial: The WHOs

Who can Dropship?

There may be some ways in which one can start their own dropshipping business. In the context of this Shopify dropshipping tutorial, I have listed a few for you:

Shopify Dropshipping for Market Research Lovers 

A lot of times, instead of investing on creating your own product, it’s a good idea to see if a similar product sourced from another manufacturer works or not. This is a reasonably good way to find out how the target audience reacts to certain products. It is also a great way to expand into new lines and explore new markets for your business.

Shopify Dropshipping for eCommerce Enthusiasts Who Want to Earn Some Extra Bucks

Sometimes, the idea is not to create an empire, but to earn some extra money on the sides. Take Kelan Kline for instance; Kelan started selling goods at 14 on Amazon and eBay when his parents asked him to get a job. After pretty much selling everything in his home, he started dropshipping products from other dropshipping wholesalers and manufacturers. He has managed to sell $70,000 worth of goods in the last 8 years.

Shopify Dropshipping for Bootstrapping eCommerce Entrepreneurs

With the help of a Shopify dropshipping app, thrifty entrepreneurs can now get into the business without a considerable financial investment. Especially during critical times like the one we experienced during COVID-19 pandemic, some eCommerce merchants started selling medical masks or designer cloth masks online and had decent profit.

Shopify Dropshipping for Online Merchants Who Aim To Expand Their Businesses

When Steve Conine and Niraj Shah started Wayfair.Com in 2002, they started it on a “shoestring budget” as they like to put it. From a small website, they grew their business to sell over 7 million products across 7,000 suppliers. In 2013, they were named one of the largest dropshipping e-commerce stores in the world making a whopping $900 million in annual revenue.

In this Shopify Dropshipping tutorial, I will discuss:

  • How a Shopify dropshipping app can help you start a successful dropshipping business
  • How and where to identify Shopify dropshipping suppliers
  • What the elements of Shopify dropshipping success are
  • Where you can find Shopify dropshipping Products

 

If you’re enjoying this Shopify dropshipping tutorial, then you’ll fall in love with our Shopify app! Install Perzonalization for Shopify now to get AI powered related products, upsell items and frequently bought together products. Start your 14 day free trial on your Shopify dropshipping store.

 

Starting an online store with dropshipping: Finding the Right Products for your Shopify Dropshipping Business

When you decide to sell online, you need to start thinking niche. Very specifically, your product needs to meet one/all of the below pre-requisites:

  • Should address a need/ solve a pain
  • Allows a customer to indulge
  • Has high demand and medium-low competition
  • Can be a completely new or unique product
  • Is unparalleled in quality

In other words, customers should fall in love with the product as soon as they set their eyes on it. That’s how powerful your product should be. Hence, it is important to determine what to sell on Shopify.

Identifying a Niche for your Shopify Dropshipping Business

When you choose Shopify for dropshipping and target a specific niche with your Shopify dropshipping products, you could actually be giving your Shopify eCommerce store a huge boost in terms of growth and revenue. Google Trends can give you an idea on some niche that people might be searching for online. You are more likely to have less competition if you’re running a niche Shopify dropshipping store, as you’ll be targeting a smaller audience. Your marketing costs will also be comparatively lower – especially if you’re thinking of using Facebook advertising or Google Adwords. It’ll also become easier to rank higher on search engines when you are running a niche eCommerce dropshipping store.

How to Begin with Google Search

Google Search can turn out to be a good way to identify Shopify dropshipping products. These searches will give you an idea on how these products are being sold by other online retailers. Google search is also a great way to get a good overview of the market for the product.

Keyword Research for your Shopify Dropshipping Business

It is important to remember that keywords are not only used for SEO. Keyword is the backbone of any marketing, whether it is running Ads on Google or doing marketing on the Social Media platforms. You need to research your keywords for your Shopify dropshipping products to learn the demand and competition, and you also need to find appropriate keywords for your website content through keyword research. You need to put your keywords in product descriptions, title, URL and in meta tags. If you don’t research and implement keywords on your dropshipping Shopify store, then there won’t be much of a difference between your website and that of a street seller. Google Keyword Planner is a great tool to uncover a niche with keywords.

Why is Keyword Research so important?

Every time someone looks up something on a search engine, the latter must decide which results to display from thousands of websites. The search engine algorithms determine the best and most relevant matches for every single query by analyzing millions of websites. Hence, it’s so important to choose your keywords carefully, so that the search engines can match and pull up your site to display in the search results page. If you’re selling vintage Volkswagen accessories, then your main keywords shall be “Volkswagen”, “vintage”, “vintage automobiles” and “vintage car accessories”.

Starting an online store with dropshipping: Finding and Managing the best Dropshipping Suppliers.

Once you have identified your product and chosen Shopify for dropshipping, the next step is to find the best dropshipping suppliers. How do you go about that? No worries! As a part of this Shopify dropshipping tutorial, I am listing the most important dropshipping suppliers here:

How To Find Suppliers For Your Shopify Dropshipping Business: Aliexpress 

Ali Express is a huge marketplace where you can find nearly every product you can think of. It has some great advantages for Shopify dropshippers:

  1. You can easily search for an item on Aliexpress and see if one of their suppliers have it.
  2. You are able to purchase items at their wholesale prices and make them dropshipped directly to your clients.
  3. Shopify dropshipping Aliexpress is quite easy as the process is pretty much like buying an item for your own over AliExpress.

But keep in mind that this is a popular site, and hence a lot of people may be already selling the product you have chosen for yourself.

How To Find Suppliers For Your Shopify Dropshipping Business: Amazon  

You can also dropship on Amazon after creating an Amazon Seller account and being approved as a dropshipper. As the biggest eCommerce marketplace, Amazon stocks and sells a wide variety of products, many of which are actually sold by third-party merchants via Amazon’s website. Amazon can facilitate the sale of your products. So, Amazon is a great place to find suppliers who sell the same products you wish to dropship.

How To Find Suppliers For Your Shopify Dropshipping Business: Etsy   

Being the world’s most popular marketplace for crafters and artists, Etsy has more than 1,600,000 sellers providing more than 8,000,000 unique handmade products. Etsy provides a huge range of exclusive items, the demand for some of which are quite high. If you choose a product from Etsy, which you would like to dropship, you can find the supplier from the platform, and take it from there.

How To Find Suppliers For Your Shopify Dropshipping Business: Supplier Directories    

There are quite a few online dropshipping directories online, like the World Wide Brands. Their directory is legitimate and offers access to a searchable database of thousands of pre-screened drop shipping companies and suppliers. Salehoo, Doba, Megagoods and Wholesale Central are two other online directories where you can look for Shopify dropshipping suppliers. Contacting the Manufacturer

If you know which product you want to sell, you would also know who the manufacturer is. The manufacturer should be able to refer you to authorized distributors, if they are not themselves willing to become one of the Shopify dropshipping supplier for your business.

How To Find Suppliers For Your Shopify Dropshipping Business: Googling The Dropshipping Suppliers

I cannot end the list without mentioning the elephant in the room. Shopify dropshipping suppliers with a proper SEO-d site and proper marketing activities are bound to show on the 1st page of the Google SERP. And if they don’t show up there, take the pains to go to the 2nd, 3rd or sometimes even the 4th page to look for these suppliers. Try searching by “[Product] + dropshipper.” But remember to put each of these suppliers through a strict vetting process before deciding on one.

Once you have the product and the supplier in place, it’s time to set up your dropshipping Shopify store.

Building a Shopify Dropshipping Store from Scratch

Dropshipping Tutorial: Building A Store

Step 1) Sign-up for Shopify

I am guessing you have already chosen Shopify for dropshipping. At this point, you’ll need to build an actual Shopify store.

Building a Shopify eCommerce store can be daunting to many, but in reality it isn’t. It all starts with signing up for Shopify.

So in this Shopify dropshipping tutorial, I’ll guide you through Shopify’s sign-up steps.Visit Shopify and start the 14-day trial. Click the “Start your free trial” tab and fill out the information. You need to enter your email id, set a password and give a name to your store and hit Enter.

Shopify will then ask you the following questions, the answer of which you need to choose from the drop-down. Click on “Next”.

Fill in your address in the following page, and hit “Enter My Store”.

Shopify then takes you to the Admin Page which is also your Shopify Dashboard.

It is through your Shopify Admin Page/Dashboard that you will be able to run your entire dropshipping Shopify business. Through this Admin page, you’ll be able to;

  • Build your website (and preview what your customers see)
  • Accept payments from customers
  • Manage shipping options
  • Adjust and apply discounts

Dropshipping Tutorial: Building A Store

Step 2: Choose and Upload a Shopify Theme

Speaking of a Shopify dropshipping tutorial, one cannot miss the eCommerce themes! Your theme is going to be the layout of your Shopify Dropshipping store. Through the theme you can customise your Shopify dropshipping business site, rearrange layouts, choose your fonts and colours and much more.

On the left-side of your Shopify dashboard, you will find “Online Store” under “Sales Channels”. When you click that, from the drop-down menu, select “Themes”.

By default, Shopify gives you a theme called, “Debut”. If you want to use that as your Shopify dropshipping theme, that’s fine. However, if you want to choose another one, when you’re in the theme section of your Shopify dashboard, you can scroll down and look at the free themes or the Shopify Theme store.

Remember that your Shopify dropshipping theme will not be visible to the public till it is published.

Once you are in the Shopify theme store, you’ll find that Shopify has several great looking themes for you to choose from. Shopify offers both free and premium (paid) themes. Paid themes cost on about $150.00.  You can look up themes on the Shopify store by price, most popular, and even by industry.

Once you have found the perfect theme for your Shopify dropshipping store, select “Install Theme”.

Dropshipping Tutorial: Building A Store

Step 3: Design your Shopify Dropshipping Store

The design of your Shopify dropshipping store is of utmost importance when it comes to attracting to your customers and offering them a good shopping experience. Your store design will reflect how you want to present your brand.

An aesthetically pleasing home page and an equally aligned product page is crucial for dropshipping success. It’s through these two pages, that you are giving your customer their first impression. Customers sometimes don’t mind paying a little bit more for your products, if they find your online store design appealing and easy to navigate.

Dropshipping Tutorial: Building A Store

Step 4: Register a Domain Name

If you are using Shopify for dropshipping, Shopify will automatically give you a URL like “YourStore.myshopify.com.” This is good for testing purposes, but if you want your dropshipping website to look professional, you need to buy a domain for your Shopify dropshipping business.

A legitimate business has its own web domain, and that is what builds trust in the hearts and minds of your– customers and suppliers.

To buy a domain, you need to go to “Domains” under “Online Stores” on the left hand side of the Shopify Dashboard. You will have two options there:

  • Either buy a new domain through Shopify ($14 a year) or,
  • Connect an existing domain from a third-party domain name registrar.

I would recommend that you buy a domain for $14 a year through Shopify, if you’re building your own dropshipping Shopify store. You can also go to companies like GoDaddy, for a reliable domain.

Dropshipping Tutorial: Building A Store

Step 5: Add Shopify Dropshipping Products

From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

From the Products page, click “Add product”.

Enter a title for your product, along with additional details.

Click “Save”.

Similarly, you can click on “Collections” from beneath the “Products” on the left hand side, and create your Product Collections.

Which Shopify Dropshipping Apps To Use For Your Shopify Dropshipping Store?

As an eCommerce owner, your constant endeavour should be to expand the functionality of your online dropshipping store. There can be a variety of ways in which you can choose to do this – from wanting to add customer testimonials, to build/ improve your email marketing campaigns , publish your products to Facebook or Instagram , or get in-depth analytics on your store’s performance. This is where the Shopify Dropshipping apps come in handy.

While there are many apps that you could use in your store to improve your dropshipping opportunities, for this dropshipping guide, I have hand-picked a few apps.

Shopify Dropshipping Guide: Apps To Use 1) Oberlo 

If you have chosen Shopify for dropshipping, then Oberlo app will be a life-saver for your business because Oberlo is an app that was specifically designed for the Shopify platform to help dropshipping Shopify entrepreneurs. With Oberlo, you may easily upload your products directly to your Shopify store from the AliExpress website or the Oberlo marketplace. With the help of the Oberlo Shopify dropshipping app, you have access to an entire library of products to choose from at various prices. The products range from electronics, accessories, apparel to toys and more. And you can dropship them directly to your customers.

Shopify Dropshipping Guide: Apps To Use 2) Perzonalization

Our Perzonalization Shopify app can truly help you get some real sales. it reads the clickstream behaviour of your customers and recommends products on site in real time. It also sends automated emails to your customers based on their behavior on your site. All you need to do is to install the app then you’ll sit back and relax. The emails are powered by AI and are as good as having a one-to-one conversation with your customers. You can also compose personalized promotional emails manually through this app. The app also takes care of cart abandonment issues by triggering emails and pursuing customers to finish the purchases. What you will love most about Perzonalization is, it offers a 14-day free trial and only charges 4% IiF there is a sale; which means that you don’t pay if you don’t sell.

Shopify Dropshipping Guide: Apps To Use 3) SEO Image Optimizer

This app speeds up your website and increases organic traffic to your website. This is a one-click installtion and once it is installed, you don’t need to worry about SEO again. SEO Image Optimizer will improve your rank in the Google Search Results.

Shopify Dropshipping Guide: Apps To Use 4) Countdown Cart by Beeketing

This app creates urgency in sales, drives customer actions and convinces them to buy before the product goes out of stock. The app also provides a stock countdown and displays the limited availability of your products, when relevant. By creating a scarcity and by creating a sense of urgency, the perceived value of your products increases. By providing a social proof of how many people are using your product, this app helps to attract customers to your website. All in all, it’s one handy app for your Shopify Dropshipping store.

Shopify Dropshipping Guide: Apps To Use 5) Shopify Facebook Store

When you add the Facebook online sales channel to your Shopify dropshipping Store, it allows you to showcase and sell products directly on your Facebook Page. Additionally, customers can share their favourite products in their network and you can reach more customers and drive more traffic to your store. This will give your overall Shopify dropshipping marketing a huge boost. With the Shopify and the Facebook channel, you can:

  • Add a Facebook Shop to your Facebook Page
  • Directly manage the products on your Facebook Shop
  • Arrange the order of the collections on your Facebook Shop
  • Enable customers check out on Facebook
  • Fulfill orders placed on Facebook
  • Track Facebook sales using your Analytics pages

Other online sales channel like the Instagram can also be added to your Shopify store to showcase your products.

Shopify Dropshipping Guide: Apps To Use 6) Shippo

Shippo is the last app that I’m going to recommend in this Shopify dropshipping tutorial. It is a cheap and easy shipping app that instantly gets you discounted rates with major service providers like DHL and USPS and compares rates for up to 50+ carriers. It saves you time by pre-filling and saving package information for faster printing, and has no hidden costs.

Some Shopify Dropshipping Store Examples

A Shopify dropshipping tutorial should feature some Shopify dropshipping ideas, right? So here is a list of online stores that should give you a cue about how you want your Shopify store to look.

Shopify Dropshipping Stores 1) Ugmonk

Ugmonk originally started as a side project for its founder, Jeff Sheldon. Today, the company ships more than tens of thousands of products across 60 countries worldwide.  Products range from everyday clothing to workspace related products and many more unique prints and designs.

Shopify Dropshipping Stores 2) BlueCrate 

This Shopify store sells unusual and cool gifts that are made personal. Bluecrate sells novelty gifts including personalised gifts, gadgets, fun gifts, homeware and prints for men, women and pets. Most of their products are made and shipped from the UK, however, they also have some that are made and shipped from the USA.

Shopify Dropshipping Stores 3) Toile

Canadian bedding dropshipper Toile is doing a good job both via dropshipping and carrying an inventory in their showroom. They are providing high quality and luxury items i.e. duvets, blankets, napkins, throws and have managed to reach 6-figure revenues.

Shopify Dropshipping Stores 4) SmellyCat.com

This is a Shopify dropshipping store dedicated to cat accessories. From cat hair remover to brushes, the webstore has many easy-to-use items aimed for cat owners.

Your Shopify Dropshipping Tutorial : The Final Word

On the face of it, dropshipping may not seem a perfect way to build a successful online business to many. And I do not disagree that the model may have some definite disadvantages; but then, which model doesn’t? This Shopify dropshipping tutorial I have given here will let you overcome a lot of those complexities, if at all you come across any. This Shopify dropshipping tutorial not only tells you how to address the most common challenges that you might come across as a Shopify dropshipper, but also allows you to run and sustain a successful Shopify dropshipping business like a PRO.

Using Shopify and dropshipping – the powerful eCommerce tools – you have a chance to build a sustainable and profitable business. So, having gone through this Shopify dropshipping tutorial, are you all set to become the next Shopify dropshipping Millionaire?

Liked our Shopify dropshipping tutorial and curious to learn more? Take a look at related posts!

 

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