This is one of our cardinal rules of dropshipping.
Many e-commerce entrepreneurs aspire to grow their businesses into huge retail brands such as Amazon, AliExpress, and Walmart. However, doing so is incredibly difficult, mostly because brands that sell everything to everyone are hard to build, scale and maintain.
In this article, we’ll unpack the following:
The difference between a niche dropshipping store and general dropshipping store
The merits of launching a niche dropshipping store first
The difference between a niche store and general store
What is a Niche Market?
Shopify defines a niche market as a subset of a larger market with its own particular needs or preferences, which may be different from the larger market.
For example, within the clothing category, there are many different sub-categories or niches. Each of these niches appeal to a specific segment of buyers. From graphic t-shirts to yoga pants, you will find that the number of niches — and potential target markets — in this category are quite numerous.
Examples of Needs or Preferences within a Niche
Almost every market can be segmented by the specific needs and preferences of its buyers.
Some of the most common ways to define a niche are based on the following:
Geography (the buyer’s location)
Production quality (premium, high, moderate, low, affordable)
Price point (high, moderate, discount, off-price)
Demographic base (gender, age, income level, education level)
Psychographics (values, interests, attitudes)
What is a Niche Dropshipping Store?
A niche dropshipping store is one that sells a specific product or a set of products with a specific feature to a narrow segment of buyers.
For example, Five Below is a chain of discount stores selling cool stuff for $5 or less to various customer segments, including children, adolescents, teens, and women.
In the piece, they cited underscored that while “many retailers are closing stores, Five Below … can’t seem to open them fast enough.”
And furthermore, “unlike other bargain stores like Dollar Tree or Family Dollar that focus on necessities such as laundry detergent and toothpaste, Five Below is the place to come to find things you didn’t know you wanted, such as squeezable foam toys called ‘squishies’ that have gone viral on YouTube.”
This chain of stores, which sells everything from Spalding basketballs to Bluetooth headphones and yoga mats for $5 or less, might be the most successful retailer you’ve never heard of.
Glambox (For Him) was launched in May 2017, in response to the booming rise of male interest in grooming and general well-being (the Hipster beard trend was a key factor!).
Particularly in the Middle East, male grooming is becoming the norm, yet the market offering still falls short of demand. That’s where Glambox For Him comes in!
Dog is Good
Dog is Good is a dog friendly lifestyle business that creates and markets gifts and apparel for dog lovers.
What Is a General Dropshipping Store?
A general dropshipping store sells everything to everyone.
It is usually comprised of several different niches and target markets. These include, but are not limited to, premium and discount buyers, pet owners and fur lovers, as well as tweens and octogenarians.
Like Amazon and Walmart, a general eCommerce store helps you reach a broader audience of buyers.
General stores aren’t usually very profitable given the competitive landscape, but they are a good way to evaluate the niches that perform well relative to others.
For example, a general dropshipping store includes products from multiple industries. Such as Clothing, Electronics, Home and Garden, and Computers. The users who visit them will buy one thing from any of the niches.
What are the Pros of Niche businesses?
More Visibility
Having more visibility is a benefit of niche businesses that not only results in more traffic but also amplified presence on search engines and across the internet.
Dropshipping stores that serve a niche market tend to be unique, and sometimes have an interesting angle that draws the attention of buyers everywhere.
For example, an e-commerce business that features a new or innovative concept, such as cleaning supplies with all-natural, non-toxic ingredients, will more likely grab the attention of media outlets than a business that offers cleaning supplies made of the same formula used by similar products in this category.
Getting in front of a subset of people who have a vested interest in your niche is more important than getting in front of a lot of people.
However, getting in front of a lot of people such as through these media outlets also has its benefits.
The more people who know about your business, the more people there are to recommend your business to a friend who fits the criteria of your niche market.
Traffic Converts More Efficiently
Traditionally, niche dropshipping stores target only a subset of buyers that are already interested in the niche.
While this usually results in a smaller target market, this market already has a vested interest in what you’re selling, thereby making it easier to convert first time or recurring visitors into buyers.
Better Customer Relationships
Perhaps counterintuitively, having a small customer base has its merits.
When you are engaging with fewer customers, you can more easily focus on nurturing your customers and understanding their preferences.
Your contact with them can be more personalized, your follow-ups more frequent and pertinent, and thank you notes more genuine.
You can also start to learn how to personalize the experience even further.
For example, you may be able to accommodate special requests and offer custom services based on the individual needs of your customers. Each of these practices will help you better address your customers, thereby enhancing your relationship with them and cementing their loyalty to you.
Word of Mouth Referrals
Another benefit of a niche store is that it is very word-of-mouth-friendly.
Customers in a niche are usually in frequent communication with others in that niche. This creates more opportunities to get the word out about your brand and the products you sell.
For example, expectant parents attend prenatal education programs where they may meet many other expecting parents. The same is true for parents whose children pursue a particular sport. These parents are more likely to brush shoulders at the same sporting events and tournaments.
Low competition
When you have a highly specific product or service and are targeting a smaller, segmented market, chances are that there is either zero or very little competition.
It’s also much easier to connect with the target audience when you specialize in a particular niche.
As an example, there are millions of companies out there that sell ceramic mugs.
There are fewer companies that sell ceramic mugs with images of a cat, and yet fewer that offer this product with your cat’s image on them.
The more specific your product or service, the fewer businesses there will be to compete with you for customers, and the harder it is for those businesses to reproduce the strategies that make you different.
It is important for companies to have competitors, but low competition is sometimes preferable.
The fewer competitors you have, the less you have to be concerned with monitoring the competition, especially competitive pricing.
By the same token, the more unique the product is, the fewer buyers there will be.
Low competition is only a benefit when there is a significant audience to compete for. Understanding whether your niche includes buyers with a willingness to spend on that niche is important.
Save on Marketing Dollars
With niche marketing, you can get more bang for your buck and save big on your marketing spend.
Furthermore, since you are confined to a specific person and a specific need, less focus is required on digging into your data to understand and keep up with their needs.
You will also be doing less trial and error with your methods, which also can be resource-heavy.
Niche marketing is extremely cost-effective.
By contrast, businesses with a wide or general audience will have various customer segments to target within that audience. The mix of advertising — successful content, ads, and other direct communication channels — will look different for each customer segment, and catering your messaging to each segment requires particular effort and bandwidth.
When you target just one specialized segment, your job will be more straightforward.
You can also dedicate your energy and attention to this one area, iterating the strategy over time based on more data and feedback.
If you source or sell any product from China or Aliexpress, you’re probably familiar with Chinese New Year. If so, you know that Chinese New Year has a big impact on supply chains all over the world, including production and shipping times. If this Chinese New Year will be your first as an eCommerce entrepreneur, let us help prepare you for what to expect and how to remain competitive and profitable during this holiday.
What is the Chinese New Year?
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese calendar. It is the most important celebration in China — and one of the most well known across the world. It is celebrated worldwide in regions and countries with significant Overseas Chinese populations, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Mauritius, as well as in North America and Europe.
While the festival is celebrated over a two week period, only the first seven days are considered a public holiday.
Nevertheless, offices and factories in China close for about three weeks, allowing Chinese workers time to travel back home to spend the holiday with their families. This event creates an enormous migration within the country and from abroad. For context, in 2019, over 90 million workers, the majority in urban areas along China’s coast, traveled by road, train, and plane back to their rural hometowns during CNY.
Chinese New Year 2021: What is the timeline?
Chinese New Year begins on Friday, February 12, 2021.
Suppliers in China will begin slowing down or halting production a week or so before. We recommend you ask your suppliers when their offices and factories will be closed during this holiday.
Outlined below is an approximate schedule for Chinese New Year holiday.
Beginning of January: Businesses begin to slow down production
January 21st: All employees will have left their offices and factories
January 22nd: Chinese New Year begins
January 27th: Chinese New Year ends (public holidays)
End of January: Some employees start to trickle back to their place of work
End of February: Most employees have returned to their place of work
Businesses resume their normal operations and production around then too.
Chinese New Year 2023: How will CNY affect my eCommerce business?
As highlighted earlier, Chinese New Year is the most important event in China every year. This means that most businesses, including the suppliers on AliExpress you may work with, observe the holiday and shut down for a period of time. While CNY officially kicks off January 22nd , many factories and offices shut down in the days leading up to the official start date, allowing time for workers to travel home back to their families. As workers leave, the general operations of businesses come to a halt as well. .
Since China is an economic giant in the global exporting industry, the effects of Chinese New Year ripples to all corners of the world. The ripples affect many different industries, including eCommerce dropshipping.
For example, if you are actively sourcing and selling products from AliExpress, Chinese New Year will affect your business. Below is a list of some disruptions to expect during CNY.
How Chinese New Year may affect your supply chain
All major businesses in China completely shut down for at least seven days. This includes factories and manufacturing facilities. No orders ship out of China during CNY. Some factories may even shut down for up to three weeks. Why so long? There is sometimes a delay in getting workers back to their offices. China’s transportation system is usually overburdened in the days following the end of the holiday as all workers choose to go back at once.
The information flow is cut during the Chinese New Year event. No one, including your best suppliers, will be available for correspondence.
You might experience production slowdowns one or two weeks before the start of the holiday. Workers sometimes leave their job sites early to go back home and spend time with their families.
Before CNY, you may experience an increase in product quality issues, as factories rush to finish as many orders as possible before their workers leave for the holiday.
Likewise, after CNY, you may also experience an increase in product quality issues. This happens because the factories are short staffed for a period of time.
How to Plan for Chinese New Year
At Modalyst, most of our independent suppliers are from the US and Europe and will not be affected. Now is your chance to try more of our curated suppliers or join our Private Label Program and newPrint-on-Demand Program.
If you are sourcing products from AliExpress, you should expect delays while warehouses and logistics in China and Hong Kong are reduced during the holiday from January 21, 2023 through January 26th, 2023. Many warehouses also are stocking up on bestsellers now, and start to wind down a week earlier to extend their holiday.
What steps can you take to maintain your business during CNY?
Contact your suppliers to understand their plans
When are they winding down?
When are they starting up again?
Can they still ship during this time period?
Consider selling USA or EU brands during this time
This is a great time to branch out and sell indie brands. You can also join our very popular Private LabelProgram and our new Print-on-DemandProgram to sell products with custom designs and your branding.
According to Chinese tradition, this is a year to focus on relationships. We hope that this is a time to build a deeper relationship with our customers and for you to build a thriving business with your customers.
Reduce ads
Once you have a better idea of your suppliers’ plans, you can reduce ads for items which will ship slowly during this time. It is good to check on this now, as some suppliers start to slow down in the weeks leading up to CNY. For example, reduce marketing for Valentine’s Day or Mardi Gras items, as those items may not arrive in time.
Consider buying stock of bestsellers
Do you have a hot selling item? Consider buying stock of this item now so you have it on-hand. You can then guarantee that orders are delivered during this time period.
Inform customers that orders are experiencing delays
Consider posting on your website that orders will experience delays. Customers will often understand, especially since Covid has also reduced the number of flights, slowing ecommerce delivery times globally.
You can also remind customers that orders are experiencing delays in an email after they place their order. This will ensure that they are reminded of delays if they did not see it on your site.
In case you want to plan ahead for future Chinese holidays, please see the below.
Chinese New Year may be the biggest holiday but there are actually several other Chinese holidays that could have an effect on your business.
Qing Ming Jie (Tomb Sweeping Day): Sunday, April 4th
International Labor Day: Saturday, May 1st
Dragon Boat Festival: June 14th – 16th
Mid-Autumn Festival/Moon Festival: Tuesday, September 21st
Golden Week Holiday: Friday, October 1st – Thursday, October 7th
Millions of potential customers, low overhead costs, and unlimited potential… eCommerce sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
However, before googling “how to start an eCommerce business,” it’s important to understand what eCommerce really is.
In this article, we’re going to explain the most important aspects of eCommerce, show you how to start an eCommerce business, and analyze the current trends to understand the future of this increasingly profitable industry.
Let’s take a look!
What is eCommerce?
The term eCommerce, short for electronic commerce, signifies buying and selling products and services over the internet.
Traditional commerce would require you to have a store. With eCommerce, you have an online store.
You don’t have to be in the same room as your customers. The majority of your sales promotion and activities are conducted over the internet.
eCommerce comprises of different business models (for example, dropshipping), but in general, if it’s sold online, then it’s eCommerce.
You’ve probably encountered the following terms which can be used for eCommerce:
Online shopping
Online retail
Online business
eTrade
eBusiness
It’s precisely because of the first term – online shopping – that eCommerce rose to popularity.
Back in the 1990s, people weren’t willing to buy products online. However, we’re currently in a situation where both small businesses and major chains like Ikea and Walmart sell their products online.
But how did we get this far?
What is the History of Online Shopping?
While the idea of processing transactions over the internet started way back in the 1960s, and the first online shopper bought at an online Tesco store in 1981, online retail as we understand it today hasn’t gained traction until the 1990s.
The first purchase recognized as an online purchase took place in 1994, when The New York Times described how a man used the internet to buy a CD.
(Google it? Nope, Google didn’t appear until 1998.)
It wasn’t until 1999, when PayPal launched, that online shopping really gained traction.
People were afraid of sharing their sensitive financial information with virtual strangers, especially when hackers could intercept their connection at any point.
When PayPal opened for business, things started looking up for eCommerce business owners.
At the same time, the number of internet users rapidly grew. People finally understood how convenient it was to shop online. And with PayPal ensuring the financial transactions went off without a hitch, there was no longer anything to fear.
In 2000, the Census Bureau reported that online sales hit over $5 billion in the fourth quarter of 1999 alone.
Even though the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, online shopping became a regular occurrence.
More and more companies started selling online, with very few small businesses dabbling in eCommerce. Price-compare sites started popping up, allowing consumers to find the best deals.
When Facebook launched in 2004, it became pretty clear that there was no turning back.
The number of internet users grew to almost a billion, with more and more joining the world wide web.
iPhones started enabling customers to use the internet on the go, and the whole world started shopping online.
By 2012, everyone was ready to swipe their cards or upload their products online, and eCommerce started becoming a viable business model, instead of simply a filler for brick and mortar stores.
Reviewing the history of eCommerce, a few things become immediately clear:
Consumers had to develop a habit of using the internet to get information and shop in order for eCommerce to gain traction.
The most pressing obstacle to online shopping in the 90s and early 2000s was security. After PayPal introduced their safer alternative to payment processing, more and more people started shopping online.
The more the eCommerce tech developed, the easier it was for everyone to start shopping and selling online. Small businesses could easily get started with eCommerce after 2009, when Shopify launched its app.
And while the early beginnings were rough, 2020 is the prime eCommerce time.
What is the state of the eCommerce Industry in 2022?
In 2022, it’s laughably easy to start an eCommerce business.
A potential eCommerce entrepreneur in 2022 doesn’t face the challenges entrepreneurs faced in 2005.
Back then, you’d have to pay thousands of dollars for online storefronts.
Today, you can simply pick from some of the readily available eCommerce platforms such as Shopify. The majority of plans won’t cost you more than $50/month in the beginning.
In fact, if you decide to dropship, you don’t even have to store your products.
In 2022, it’s completely possible to sell products without ever touching them yourself.
There is an eCommerce service for every online shopping need.
Platforms like AliBaba connect online retailers with manufacturers and wholesalers. Even if you don’t want to sell products from China, you’ll find a vast variety of wholesale platforms that can connect you to American and European suppliers.
In 2022, there’s something for everyone in eCommerce.
The eCommerce growth predictions of the early 2000s came true.
In 2018, global eCommerce sales reached $2.93 trillion. It was predicted that they would grow to $3.46 trillion in 2019. That makes up for a significant portion of global retail sales, which surpassed $20 trillion in 2018.
All in all, it seems we’re dealing with a thriving industry that shows incredible signs of growth. eCommerce is definitely not a passing fad, but a way of doing business in the 21st century.
We’re also seeing a lot of advanced trends being applied to small and mid-size eCommerce businesses, namely:
Artificial Intelligence and Automation for eCommerce
Contemporary tools allow eCommerce business owners to harness the power of artificial intelligence and automation for sales. Be that nurturing more potential customers through email marketing automation, or leveraging website chatbots that act as sales representatives, one thing is clear:
Advanced technology has never been cheaper, and online retailers are taking notice.
2010s also brought us a rise of SaaS (Software as a Service) companies.
Instead of licensing tech tools, companies are now offering them to customers for a monthly subscription fee. The reduced costs make it much easier to start a business with all the necessary tools.
Consumers no longer randomly see ads; instead, every ad they see is hyper-personalized and caters to their interests, increasing conversion rates for retailers.
Advertising in 2022 is all about matching the potential customer’s intent, and giving them what they need.
And all of this is just the tip of the very profitable eCommerce iceberg.
What Are the Different eCommerce Business Models?
While eCommerce is an umbrella term for businesses operating online, there are a few specific business models:
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is generally considered to be one of the best ways to get started with eCommerce.
One of the main advantages of dropshipping is cutting overhead costs.
Traditional eCommerce requires you to store your products in a warehouse. But with dropshipping, you’re just selling them. The actual supplier takes care of handling and shipping.
All you do is market products, process orders and take your cut.
If you’re running a dropshipping eCommerce business, your main costs will be marketing and sales. You don’t have to pay the supplier/manufacturer for a single product until someone buys it through your site, and the money is deposited in your account.
Where dropshipping focuses on reselling products that already exist, private labeling is the perfect eCommerce business model for entrepreneurs that have a great idea, but limited resources.
If you’re private labeling, you’ll be outsourcing product creation to manufacturers.
Typically, those are overseas manufacturers in China. This is a bit more complicated but again, you’re still cutting costs as you won’t have to manufacture your products yourself.
In some cases, you can even have the manufacturer ship the products directly to your customers.
The other version of private labeling can be buying products from manufacturers, and adding your twist to them.
For example, a tooth brush comes as a generic product. Then you ask the manufacturer to customize it (for example, change the color, add other features), and add your branding to the product.
One of the main advantages of private labeling is certainly the ability to customize the product to your liking and branding.
While you can modify product specifications if you’re private labeling, you’ll make do with a generic product if you’re white labeling.
In that respect, white labeling is pretty similar to dropshipping. You can customize your packaging, but you can’t customize anything about the product.
To put it simply: it’s take it or leave it.
When it comes to white labeling, your niche matters.
You’ll face a lot of competition, so it’s important to conduct extensive research prior to selecting the products you’ll offer in your online store.
eCommerce entrepreneurs that focus on white labeling typically differentiate their products either through pricing (being cheaper than competitors), or by adding value with useful content and branding.
Print-on-Demand
This eCommerce business model is a great fit for artists and creatives.
Print-on-demand is exactly what it says on the tin: the printing company takes their cut from customers when they order your products.
Normally, you don’t have to pay anything in advance to print books, canvases, T-shirts, mugs, and other products. There are no overhead costs per se; you don’t need a warehouse.
You just need a great website and a steady stream of customers.
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing is a great example of a print-on-demand service for books, while Printful gives you the opportunity to sell anything from mugs to hoodies.
However, if you’re interested in this business model, you’ll have to put your best marketing foot forward. Branding and customer service are crucial to your success with this eCommerce model.
Subscription-Based eCommerce Business Models
Finally, while eCommerce is online retail, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to offer subscription-based services.
You can create a subscription business like the Dollar Shave Club, who send regular shipments of shaving products to their subscribers.
You can also create a membership website with courses and learning materials.
Not even the sky is the limit; you can sell just about anything online!
The main advantage of subscription-based eCommerce businesses is the fact that you’re getting recurring revenue. However, in order to retain customers, you’ll have to focus on product quality and customer service.
Traditional eCommerce
Finally, there is also the option of doing everything yourself while operating an online storefront. This is the so-called traditional eCommerce business model, also known as warehousing and wholesaling.
It’s your run-of-the-mill Walmart eCommerce.
The only difference between traditional retail and online retail is the fact that you’re selling products online, and not (just) in a brick and mortar store.
Everything else stays the same; from inventory management, to handling and shipping.
Additionally, if you’re in the B2B sector, you can also offer discounts for customers who order in large quantities. This is the wholesaling part of the model.
Ikea’s webshop is a great example of traditional eCommerce with wholesaling and warehousing
If you already run a profitable business but you haven’t created an online storefront yet, then it pays to consider this eCommerce model.
What are the pros of e-Commerce?
You Can Sell Wherever You Want to Sell
With traditional commerce, you’re either limited to your geographical area, or you have to worry about logistics and additional costs to deliver your products to customers not in your immediate vicinity.
eCommerce overcomes this barrier.
Regardless of your business model, there are services you can use to handle and ship products across the world. Talk about increasing your revenue!
Low Costs
eCommerce significantly reduces overhead costs.
Even if we just start from the fact that you don’t need to pay thousands of dollars for rent, it becomes pretty clear that eCommerce generates a better return on investment.
Yes, you’ll need to pay for a website and subscriptions to eCommerce platforms, but you still won’t have to shell out thousands of dollars – a standard requirement when managing traditional stores.
24/7 Sales
One of the best things eCommerce store owners get to experience is waking up to find out that you’ve earned a lot of money overnight.
Unlike regular stores, your online store stays open 24/7. And with automation tech, you can run advertising, order processing, and shipping on autopilot.
Personalization
Personalization works great for marketing, but it also works great for customer experience. Your automation tools will know exactly what (potential) customers want to buy, allowing you to up-sell and cross-sell easier than ever before.
Scalability
It’s really, really easy to scale an eCommerce business. You don’t even have to hire more employees. All you have to do is improve your marketing game, and customers will come pouring in.
Entrepreneurs who start out with a few dozen customers often end up with thousands as soon as they invest into strategic marketing, advertising, and re-targeting.
What are the cons of e-Commerce?
Where there are advantages, there are disadvantages.
Fortunately, eCommerce doesn’t have plenty:
Consumer Behavior
Often, people want to try products before they buy them. Unfortunately, for the majority of B2C eCommerce businesses, this just isn’t a possibility.
You can mitigate this by offering size charts for clothing, and implementing similar strategies.
Reliance on Technology
When you run an online store, you rely on the technology powering it; from website hosting, to automation tools connecting your storefront with your suppliers’ inventory.
Normally, this isn’t a problem at all. However, if your website crashes, your customers won’t be able to access it, so it pays to invest in reliable hosting.
eCommerce Is Highly Competitive
eCommerce has a low barrier to entry because of the reduced start-up costs.
Unfortunately, if anyone can start a business, then it’s bound to be more competitive.
The key is in differentiating your product and your brand. A good marketing strategy and high-quality products will go a long way towards increasing your market share.
Can anyone do eCommerce?
Not exactly.
Some products and services are simply not a good fit for eCommerce.
For example, you can’t really imagine a plumber selling their services online, whereas for a marketer, that’s completely normal.=
However, eCommerce works really well for products and services that don’t require you to be in the immediate physical vicinity of your customers.
Similarly, eCommerce might not be a good fit if your target customers are older than 70. While the times are changing, older generations may still be wary of technology – especially if your products come with a hefty price tag.
Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to this rule, so make sure you conduct your own research.
Finally, it’s important to understand that eCommerce is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
It takes time and strategy to successfully run an online store. If you’re not very tech savvy, you should invest in courses and education.
However, eCommerce’s main advantage is flexibility.
So even if it looks like you couldn’t use it on paper, make sure you do your own research, and make the best decision for your unique business.
The 10 Most Popular eCommerce Platforms to Start Your Online Business
Shopify
At this point, Shopify is the go-to solution for eCommerce sites. In fact, it’s widely considered to be the best eCommerce platform, with a Capterra rating of 4.5/5.
It comes with an eCommerce website builder, as well as hundreds (if not thousands) of additional integrations to attract new customers, and improve their experience.
Shopify also offers shipping discounts if you ship with their partners, and other perks such as point-of-sale apps and Shopify Payments gateway.
If you want to run your eCommerce website on WordPress, WooCommerce is a great solution.
Not only does it integrate with WordPress, but WooCommerce is also an open-source platform. If you want additional features, you can have a developer customize your website. This is usually not the case with other platforms.
Just like Shopify, WooCommerce also has plenty of integrations to pick from.
Similarly to Shopify, BigCommerce is considered to be one of the best eCommerce platforms today. It’s rich with features and eager to please eCommerce business owners.
One notable difference between BigCommerce and competitors like Shopify is that their platform was made for wholesalers and B2B businesses, as well.
Magento is a great, open-source eCommerce platform.
It’s a great choice if you want to supercharge your business from the very first day.
In addition to providing standard eCommerce features, Magento Commerce also offers business intelligence, merchandising, and other tools.
It’s a great choice if you’re already running a profitable business and want to expand.
BigCartel
If you’re an artist or a creator looking to sell your products online, BigCartel is a sound choice.
BigCartel plans start at less than $10 per month, and they depend on your product quantity. This is what makes it a great fit for creators with just a few products.
Wix.com
Originally known as a website builder, Wix has recently branched into eCommerce.
Wix is more than just an eCommerce website builder.
They recently partnered with Modalyst, a supplier platform, so it’s even easier to find products you love and display them in your online store.
Pricing starts from $17/month, with 25GB of storage and $75 ad vouchers. You can also create a free eCommerce website before paying for any plans.
3D Cart
3D Cart is one of the smaller eCommerce software players, but they still offer the functionality you need to get your online business up and running.
They’ve also been named as the best eCommerce platform for SEO by PCMag. If you plan on making SEO a vital part of your marketing strategy, 3D Cart is a solid choice.
If you like open-source platforms that allow you to customize everything about your eCommerce sites, you’ll love PrestaShop.
While the platform itself is free, add-ons and integrations can be between $50 and $150.
Weebly
Another website builder has joined eCommerce ranks: Weebly.
Weebly has joined the race relatively late, but they’re still used by thousands of eCommerce business owners. It’s not surprising, since their plans start from $12/month – perfect for testing the waters of eCommerce!
Can smaller eCommerce Websites compete with Amazon and eBay?
No, but you shouldn’t want to compete anyway.
Amazon and eBay’s main strength is in their search engines.
They’re the go-to resource for millions of shoppers every day. It’d be pointless to compete with that. However, a good online store that’s renowned for its products and beloved by its customers can go much further.
No, dreams of making it as big as Amazon are nearly impossible. But it is possible to run a profitable and successful business by using both your website, and big sites like Amazon.
You can list your products on both, while keeping your branding on point.
This way, you always have an online storefront to sell through, even if Amazon and eBay change their rules and algorithms (and it happens more often than you think).
At the same time, you’ll be getting traffic and sales from them.
It’s a win-win!
Just make sure you check the rules, especially if you’re dropshipping. Amazon and eBay require you to control products for quality before shipping them to customers. This is especially true for eBay, which states that you shouldn’t list products you don’t have in your possession.
What Is the future of eCommerce?
The future of eCommerce is exciting!
If you want to stay ahead of the game, the most important eCommerce news to keep an eye on are:
Private labeling. Big players like Walmart cut their costs by private labeling products. Private labeling is a great way to scale your business without billions of dollars in funding.
Automation and personalization.Consumers prefer personalization. Fortunately, today it’s not hard to set up your marketing engine so that it only shows customers products they are interested in.
Mobile retail matters. Your website has to be as functional and engaging on mobile as it is on desktop. By 2021, 59% of sales will take place on mobile devices, so make sure you’ve future-proofed your online business.
New markets.eCommerce is growing all over the world, not just in the US. And as more people from different regions get used to the idea of online shopping, you’ll be getting access to new markets.
Omnichannel experiences. Don’t forget about the power of social retail. Your customers want to engage with your brand on social media, in pop-up stores, and through email.
Back in the day, we used to say that content was king.
But when it comes to the future of eCommerce, experience is king.
AliExpress dropshipping isn’t dead and remains one of the most profitable business models for eCommerce entrepreneurs interested in making money online and from the comfort of their homes.
The only thing that’s changed in 2021 is the competitive landscape. It’s more saturated than ever with similar platforms coming to market, but AliExpress has adapted to the market, making it easier than ever to succeed as a dropshipping business with AliExpress products.
What is AliExpress?
AliExpress is one of the largest online retail websites in the world, and millions of eCommerce merchants use it to find products for their dropshipping business.
Aliexpress was launched in 2010 as an online business-to-consumer platform where Chinese retailers can sell their products to foreign consumers. The website was launched by Alibaba Group, a major Chinese eCommerce company which also owns Taobao and Tmall.
Does AliExpress allow dropshipping?
Yes.
Today, AliExpress is practically synonymous with the idea of dropshipping products.
You can find everything you need on AliExpress. From needles to trains, as the old saying goes. No matter what you sell in your store, you’re bound to find more items like your current products on this incredible marketplace.
Additionally, AliExpress is affordable. The pricing is extremely competitive; you’ll find products for much cheaper than you would on other platforms.
It’s why dropshippers love it so much.
The Benefits of AliExpress Dropshipping
AliExpress dropshipping is a piece of cake.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur in the United States or Hong Kong, you can easily find the products you like, and import them to your online store. Once you’ve sold them, you pay the wholesale price, the Aliexpress seller ships them, and that’s all you have to worry about.
It’s the ideal place to get started as a new store owner.
Upfront cost, bye-bye!
One of the pros is that you don’t even have to pay a fee to get started with the AliExpress dropshipping program. You’ll only pay the wholesale price when you sell the product. The profit margin is yours to keep.
The fact that there is no upfront financial commitment significantly reduces your start-up capital. All you need to do is create your own website. You won’t have to pay for products or fees to access the products until you start earning money.
And even then, it’s just the wholesale price + shipping.
AliExpress suppliers don’t dictate minimum or maximum prices, either. You can add your profit margin and set the final price on your own. The wholesale prices on AE are usually very low, so you’ll have plenty of room to work with.
Since AliExpress.com is a huge marketplace connecting millions of sellers with hundreds of millions of buyers, you’ll find popular products on there first. That is one of the competitive advantages.
While other platforms, such as Banggood, Lightinthebox and DHGate will be sluggish, AliExpress won’t. They depend on being the first and having super low prices.
Keep in mind that the majority of sellers on AliExpress are factories based in China. One of the widely spoken about cons of this platform is the shipping time. However, shipping times no longer are a month or more. While Ali Express used to be known for its long shipping times to regions like the United States, order fulfillment is now much faster.
With ePacket delivery (made possible because of smaller orders that don’t call for shipping containers) and new shipping methods, your customers will get their packages in 14 days at most. If you’re only looking for same day or single day shipping, AE may not be the best solution for you.
With that in mind, it’s time to set up your AliExpress dropshipping store.
Selecting Your AliExpress Dropshipping Products
Don’t fret if you don’t have fleshed out product ideas. Products on AliExpress are sorted according to categories.
For example, consumer electronics, home improvement, clothing, jewelry, etc. However, you can find your products based on keywords.
There are plenty of product variants on AliExpress. It can be a lot. But don’t panic! All those options (and your marketing) are what is going to help you get more customers than you’ve ever dreamed of.
If you already have product ideas and know what you want to sell, that’s great!
If you don’t, it pays to take a look at trending products.
Then, use those keywords (e.g. “fidget spinner buy”) and plug them intoGoogle Trends to evaluate interest over time. Pay attention to the location, as well.
You can even compare multiple products at once and make sure that you’re selling profitable items.
Even if you don’t sell a thing, it’s okay. Remember: you haven’t paid for a single item that hasn’t been sold.
All you’ve done is synced your store to AliExpress’ catalogue.
Running your own website doesn’t get better than that.
You can use the following product tips and tricks to set yourself up for AliExpress success:
Stock up on seasonal products – If holiday time is coming, you can add seasonal products to your store to make extra money. If you can find seasonal products that fit your niche, that’s even better!
Think about what your customers want – Know your target audience well. If you sell to men, they might be on the lookout for great gifts for their S.O.’s. If you sell to teens, trendy products are always a hit. If you stocked up on consumer electronics, it might be good to add accessories and peripherals.
Go the extra mile – In drop shipping, you’re not going to compete based on the price. Not even quality. Plenty of dropshippers can sell the same products you sell in your store. What makes a difference is that extra mile – the additional value you provide your customers. Sometimes, that can be a blog with helpful tips, or extra materials. For example, if you sell within the fitness apparel niche, you could have a professional create an exercise routine book showing your customers how to snap on their yoga pants and get ready for the summer sunshine.
Shipping & Delivery – Choose products from Aliexpress sellers who offer free ePacket shipping, not standard shipping. ePacket delivery arrives in 2 weeks at most, standard shipping arrives in 1-2 months.
Margin potential – You want to earn as much as possible from your products. Pay attention to the wholesale price (+ shipping, unless it’s free) and then conduct market research (Googling works) to see what kind of markup you could add. After all, you’ll need to promote your store. That’s an additional cost that you should factor in.
Finally, it’s a good idea to order product samples.
You can test the quality of the product, as well as take your own product photos. It will significantly help your marketing efforts in the long term, especially if you have consistent branding.
When you drop ship, your ecommerce store is only as good as your Aliexpress suppliers are.
The best part of drop shipping with AliExpress.com is that you get access to a vast number of not only products, but sellers as well.
You can choose the suppliers you think are the most reliable, get quotes from multiple factories, and make the best possible decisions for your business.
Conversely, other platforms offer fewer chances of connecting with different suppliers manufacturing the same products. And if you only have two-three potential suppliers, you’re forced to agree to their terms.
When you use the AliExpress dropshipping program, your business is completely your own.
The platform is just there to offer you plenty of options; from private label sellers who offer additional services (e.g. customization), to complementary products.
After you’ve decided on the product(s) you want to sell, it’s time to start looking for suppliers.
Check the suppliers’ product orders, product reviews, and feedback score.
The more positive reviews and stars rating your vendor has on the product page, the more reliable they are. Pay attention to what their previous customers mention, as well. Maybe they say the supplier was flexible or provided high-quality service.
Some sellers are simply there to ship the products, and they don’t pay as much attention to the presentation.
For example, you don’t want the dropshipping supplier to include your invoice in the package. Great drop shipping is invisible drop shipping.
If you have other requirements, pay attention to reviews mentioning them, as well.
If a Aliexpress seller doesn’t have a lot of ratings and product orders, it doesn’t have to be a red flag. Visit their profile to see how long they’ve been using AliExpress. If they signed up recently, it’s normal not to have a lot of product orders.
However, if they’ve been using it for a while and you can hear the crickets, keep moving down the list. The bottom line is that they’re probably not a reliable supplier.
The ideal seller has positive feedback, and their products are highly rated.
The quality of your products matters, so make sure you’re working with a reliable supplier producing quality products for your store.
Understand the seller’s background.
Has their store been open for a long time? Choose sellers whose stores have been open for at least a year.
Are they a Top Brand?
There are also some sellers on AliExpress who have Top Brand status. It means that they satisfy all the requirements, and have a history of excellence. They’re definitely a reliable supplier you want to shortlist.
Before you choose a vendor, send them a message.
Ask everything that they haven’t covered in their policy statements, and make sure you pay attention to:
The promptness of their reply – Were you waiting for their reply for a day? Two days? A week? It could be a good sign that they’re not that attentive, and you don’t want the lack of communication to jeopardize your business.
Their thoroughness – Have they answered all of your questions? Did they answer them clearly? Did you understand all of their terms and conditions?
You should clear everything up with the dropshipping supplier before you integrate their products into your store.
And once you’re ready, it’s time to set the wheels in motion!
How to add AliExpress Products to your eCommerce Business
There are two ways you can add AliExpress products to your online business:
Manually
Automatically
Manual import is okay if you run a small online store, or plan on selling one or two products.
However, if you plan on selling multiple items across different product categories, you’re going to need a scalable solution for importing items in just a few clicks to your own website.
Fortunately, there are a few great plugins you can use to automate your work and set yourself up for success:
Adding Aliexpress.com products to Shopify
New ecommerce entrepreneurs love to set up their dropshipping businesses on Shopify. If you have a Shopify store, you can use Oberlo or Modalyst to import products to your own website. It comes with a free plan for up to 500 products.
When you want to import product listings with Oberlo, you have two options: using the Oberlo dashboard, or getting the Google Chrome extensions.
From the dashboard, you’ll find the products and add them to your import list.
If you’re using the browser extension, you can add products while you’re on AliExpress.
After you’ve added the desired products to the import list (with the app or the extension), you can modify your product listing before uploading them to your ecommerce store.
If the product you’ve selected comes in different variants, visit your Oberlo Import list and select only the variants you want to sell.
Otherwise, the product will be imported with all the variants.
You can also use Oberlo to automate fulfillment and track product inventory levels.
Adding AliExpress.com products to Bigcommerce
If you run your own online store on BigCommerce, you can use apps to import AliExpress items to your website.
Currently, CedCommerce’s dropshipping app offers the best pricing and features. Users frequently note the ease of use, support, and a seamless process. In just a few clicks, your AliExpress products will be displayed in your own online store in a matter of seconds!
Tips & Tricks
If you want to maximize your store’s success, you shouldn’t just import products and call it a day. Every major integration and plugin gives you the ability to customize your product details, images, and create your own listings.
You can automatically import details directly from the product listing on AliExpress. However, it’s much better to customize your product descriptions for your audience:
Stand out from the competition: your marketing is a significant differentiator for your store. Don’t hesitate to write your own copy, take your own product photos, or create mockups.
SEO perks: If you use the same descriptions other dropshippers are using, your website could be flagged for a duplicate copy. This can impair your search engine results.
Aliexpress sellers are selling to you, not your customers: Create listings that speak to your unique audience.
If you’re not taking your own photos, then select the photos that aren’t branded by the supplier in any way. This will ensure that the customers associate your products you’re your brand, and not your supplier’s brand.
Make sure you mention shipping costs and delivery times on your website.
If your products usually take two weeks to arrive, notify your customers of that before they purchase the product to avoid chargebacks and refund requests.
If you have products from multiple wholesale suppliers listed on your website, you should specify shipping times and shipping costs for each variant in the product description. Remember, epacket delivery option isn’t the only method of sending orders to your customer. Take a look at Aliexpress premium shipping for faster shipping and high-quality carriers.
Finally, everyone likes free shipping.
You can always integrate the average cost of shipping into the price, but it’ll sound much nicer for potential customers who are on the fence. It’s an additional perk greatly appreciated by many, and it could bring you plenty of repeat customers.
Dropshipping with AliExpress and Modalyst
You can process orders of AliExpress products manually or automatically.
If you’re dropshipping Ali Express products with your Shopify store, you can use apps like Modalyst or Oberlo to automate order fulfillment.
Oberlo is designed for beginners. It automates so much of the workflow, including tracking price changes. This way, you won’t have to go through the pain of manually entering order specs for every single order that comes through your dropship store.
Instead, the entire process will be automated, allowing you to focus on marketing and selling your products.
One of the other pros is that Oberlo allows you to add order notes.
It’s always a good idea to tell the seller that you’re a dropshipper. This way, they won’t add packing slips or invoices to the shipment. If you’re an affiliate, you may not be concerned with this as much. But online businesses looking to drive repeat business to their storefront, should always request this option.
Make sure you add your request to every order note.
Speaking of branding, if the seller is open to customizing shipments with your thank-you notes or other materials, add that to the order notes.
Finally, select ePacket delivery for smaller orders.
Sometimes it’s the default option, other times it’s not. It’s why it’s good to set it as the default shipping option with Oberlo. This way, Oberlo will select ePacket shipping every time orders are processed through the app.
If you’re not using Oberlo, take the tracking info you’ve received and add it to your Shopify store’s order, marking it as fulfilled.
With Oberlo, this is completely automated and completed for you.
The process is similar if you’re dropshipping with BigCommerce. You can use one of the apps in their store to automate the process.
Paying for Products
You can pay for AliExpress products in a few ways:
Debit cards
Credit cards
Wire transfers
Cash payment in certain countries
SMS payment in certain countries
PayPal for certain countries and sellers
AliExpress accepts other country-specific methods, such as German Giropay.
Credit cards and Paypal are the best options. You can easily reverse the transaction if the order isn’t shipped, or if there’s something wrong with the order.
When you first add your credit card to AliExpress, it’ll take a few days for it to be verified so don’t plan on processing orders during that time.
Returns and Refunds
Every supplier’s returns and refunds policy is different.
While AliExpress does their best to protect the buyer, you’ll have to manually check with your Aliexpress seller regarding refunds and returns.
If you or your customers encounter a problem, you can file a dispute with AliExpress:
Get photos from your customers
File a dispute
Receive a partial refund, refund, or return the product
If the product hasn’t been delivered, you’ll typically have to wait for the standard 45 days to pass, after which you can receive a complete refund.
Again, this is why it pays to select your suppliers carefully. While undelivered or mismatching items are not common, you can ensure there are no problems by carefully vetting suppliers and communicating with them extensively.
AliExpress has a strong Customer Support team and a great Buyer Protection program, so if the suppliers’ policies are matching, you won’t have to worry at all.
AliExpress Dropshipping Best Practices
In addition to the basics, there are a few things you can do to set yourself up for success like many new ecommerce entrepreneurs running their businesses on autopilot:
Automate Everything using Modalyst with AliExpress
As a rule of thumb, if it can be automated, it should be automated. Automation is a real competitive advantage for new ecommerce entrepreneurs.
For example, Oberlo is a great Shopify plugin. You’ll save a lot of time and headaches by automatically importing products and processing orders. You’ll even get access to real time inventory tracking so you never sell a product that’s not in stock.
Similarly, you can use other automation tools for your marketing activities.
Is the goal to chill poolside while your store runs itself?
Definitely.
And while you’ll always need to create strategies to scale and grow your store, you can make the process a lot easier by using the right tools.
Invisible Dropshipping with AliExpress sellers
Always ask the supplier not to include packing slips, invoices, or anything else that could ruin your branding. Even if you choose epacket for delivery, blind shipping is available for drop shipped orders.
If you want to scale your business and build a brand your customers are going to love, you can also ask your suppliers to include your thank-you notes and paraphernalia. The manufacturers on Ali Express can sometimes surprise you with the level of customer service they offer.
This way, your customers will be tangibly reminded of your store.
You can offer free shipping, promotions and discounts. Especially if the season calls for it. There’s nothing people love more than seeing their favorite store offering a Black Friday discount.
If you want to attract even more customers, offer referral incentives. For example, you could offer your customers and the referee 5% off if the referee makes a purchase at your store.
Drop Surfing
Since AliExpress gives you access to thousands of suppliers, don’t limit yourself to just one.
Instead, always look for the best ratio of price and quality.
Keep browsing the catalogues for a chance to spot a supplier with a lower price and equally amazing products.
Ready to Dropship with Modalyst and AliExpress?
Drop shipping with AliExpress really is the best way for entrepreneurs to start earning money as soon as possible.
What do you say? Are you ready to import snazzy new products in just a few clicks?
Wix was founded in 2006 as a cloud based platform to help people build fully personalized high quality websites for free. On their site, the company highlights that Wix.com is a place where you can:
Promote your business
Showcase your art
Set up an online shop
Test new ideas
The Wix vision, according to their CEO and co founder Avishai Abrahami , is “to see every small business owner effectively leverage the web to take their business to new heights … we want to give [everyone] the easiest and most effective way to do so.” The company’s vision is quickly becoming a reality. Wix is ubiquitous. Used by approximately 160 million users worldwide, it remains the leading website builder on the market. While the company has always been known for its ease of use, including the drag and drop editor, and vast selection of design templates, it has been less widely considered as a powerful and extensive ecommerce platform. But very recently, its reputation as an online store builder is changing. Wix is looking to dominate ecommerce and target everyone who wants to sell online. Over the last few years, the company has impressively expanded the functionality of its platform. While they continue to add extensive tools and features for their website owners, they have also built an online store builder that makes it easy for everyone to create an ecommerce store. Now, Wix has set their sights on strengthening their moat and competing directly with other big companies in the space, including Shopify, Squarespace Commerce, and WooCommerce.
What is Shopify?
Shopify, like Wix, is a cloud based development platform with millions of users. It is an out of the box e-online store builder designed specifically for entrepreneurs to sell products and services online. Many consider Shopify to be the leader of the ecommerce development sector. However, it appears that Wix is going to be a formidable challenger in this arena as it looks to take over a lot of Shopify’s market share.
What is Squarespace Commerce?
Squarespace Commerce is Squarespace’s platform for online businesses. There are over 100,000 Squarespace websites that use the ecommerce plan. Squarespace Commerce is a compilation of features for selling products and managing orders online. By simply integrating a payment processor, you can process credit card transactions, accept PayPal payments, and receive refunds. If exceptional design is your foremost priority, Squarespace Commerce may be the best fit for your needs. But different online store builders are better suited for different concerns. For example, if you have big growth plans for your store, Shopify is great for scalability. But if you’re looking for cost effective options for beginners, then Wix may be your best bet.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce helps you sell products and services from your WordPress site. It’s a free WordPress plugin with additional features available as extensions. WooCommerce is owned by Automattic, the parent arm of WordPress. Automattic is reputable, so when you use it, you’re in good hands. WooCommerce has been around since 2011 and has an experienced development team behind it. It’s no surprise then that WooCommerce keeps getting better and better. And more and more popular. Just like WordPress, WooCommerce is free and open source. So despite its premium feel, it’s completely free for anyone to download, use and modify.
Wix eCommerce Review
Historically Wix has been regarded as a popular solution to create fully personalized, high quality free websites. And it continues to be the leader for anyone who wants to create beautiful professional websites. Nevertheless, Wix is becoming the best website builder on the market with ecommerce functionality. It is not a dedicated online store platform like Shopify, but rather a website builder with extensive tools and features to build an ecommerce store. If Wix is not a dedicated platform for building online businesses, why should I use it?We believe Wix is an excellent choice for launching your first online business, and then taking it to the next level. Wix has many ecommerce plans, catering to the needs of first time retailers to power sellers. And while Wix may have fewer built-in ecommerce features for creating an online shop, it is very easy to use for beginners and has an extensive app market which make it powerful enough to build and scale your online business.
Wix and Dropshipping
Can I Dropship on Wix?
As the demand for Wix ecommerce grew, so did the demand for ways to drop ship using a Wix store. As more and more people become interested in online entrepreneurship, the more they look for out ways to start a business online. Wix now makes it easy to sell online. And while many have the aspirations to sell products and earn extra income, very few know what to sell online or where to find the best dropshipping products. For the last few years, Wix users have been clamoring for a way to use WixStores to run a successful drop shipping business. In fact, if you use the Google search engine, you won’t find a ton on the topic of Wixdrop shipping. But you may be able to find this thread posted a few years ago in Quora. The question drew in many responses, most of which started with “No” or “Not really.” Other users have asked about whether Oberlo or Spocket can be used with Wix. Until a few weeks ago, these responses were all true. There was no way to import dropshipping products in just a few clicks to your Wix ecommerce store. In October, Wix.com and Modalyst released a dropshipping app for WixStores. The app is still new to the market, but it is already generating positive reviews.
Why is Dropshipping with Wix Popular?
Here are the reasons why dropshipping using Wix ecommerce is popular:
No inventory needed
You don’t need to buy inventory upfront and can post images of the inventory to your Wix storefront. The inventory remains with the supplier until you sell the product. When you sell the product, the supplier will ship the order directly to your customer. The only thing you should do is carefully vet the products before listing them to your virtual store on Wix. Generally, if the products are of high quality, they will be easy to sell online.
Easy to manage
You don’t have to monitor your own inventory or sales. There are many apps, like Modalyst, that will do this for you automatically. Similarly, you don’t have to monitor price fluctuations on your website: as the price from the supplier change, the software you use will update it for you.
No shipping logistics
You don’t need to pick, pack and ship orders to your customer. The supplier you work with will do this for you. All you need to do is to start a Wix ecommerce shop and sell products.
Small investment capital needed
Unlike many other businesses, you can start drop shipping for less than $30. As you don’t need to buy inventory upfront, the only capital you’ll need is payment for a website provider. If you do not want to pay that, you can dropship via Amazon or eBay, and you can start your business for free.
No real estate overhead
You don’t need to rent a warehouse to keep your stock. The stock will be warehoused and managed by the dropshipper. Furthermore, you can literally sell products from your home. Many online entrepreneurs set up shop in their living rooms or kitchens; others in coffee shops. You can also hire freelancers to help you if you need the extra capacity.
Many products to choose from
There are millions of products from thousands of suppliers available on platforms like Modalyst. You can find trending products or focus on a specific niche.
Global market opportunity
Ecommerce is becoming more globalized and cross border transactions are easy to do. This means the world can literally be your target audience. Just find suppliers from specific regions or ones that deliver worldwide.
Easy to start a store
You don’t need an advanced degree to be a successful drop shipping online store. You just need the right direction to learn it. You also don’t need to build a website for ecommerce from scratch.
Suppliers are willing
Many suppliers are looking for ways to expand their sales channels. They now understand its a huge business opportunity to work with online boutiques who dropship their products. These are the many reasons behind the popularity of dropshipping. Before we dive into how to set up a Wix dropshipping store using Modalyst, let’s take a moment to review how to create an online store on Wix.
Wix Stores
Wix is one of the hottest platforms right now for building online stores. It has a great range of website friendly templates, which makes creating your online boutique a piece of cake. It’s also seriously improved the backend of its platform. A robust backend enables online entrepreneurs like yourself to use the reporting and analysis tools necessary to grow your business. Plus, you still get all the great customization tools that come with the regular Wix website building platform.
How to Start a Wix Store
Per the Wix ecommerce site, there are 8 steps to create a professional ecommerce website using Wix:
Sign up for Wix
Go to Wix.com to create a free Wix account, or log in to your existing site.
Pick an Online Store Template
Choose from 500+ designer-made templates. Each template is fully customizable and comes with powerful business tools built right in.
Customize Your Site’s Design
Go wild with 1000s of stunning design features. Make your online store fit the style and personality of your brand.
Import Products to Your Online Store
Add physical or digital products to your store catalog, or quickly import product info as a CSV file.
Accept Payments on Your Site
Select your preferred payment methods. Get paid in-full via credit/debit cards, PayPal, in-person and more.
Finalize Online Store Settings
Define the regions you ship to and your rates. Offer real-time tax calculations at checkout using Avalara®.
Publish Your eCommerce Website
Promote your site and let customers know you’re in business. Send an email marketing campaign and create a social post.
Connect Your Own Domain
Look professional online and make it easier for your customers to find you. Get a custom domain name for your store.
Wix Apps
The Wix App Market is filled with over 300 popular web apps, powerful services, and amazing features to enhance your website and grow your business. As a stand-alone e-commerce platform, Wix has extensive functionality. But even that functionality can be limited in certain respects. Wix doesn’t do everything out of the box. Fortunately, there is a growing marketplace of third-party applications that you can add to your Wix website to enhance it. In this market, Wix provides you with a vast selection of apps that extend the functionality of your website or store and are easy to install. Wix apps are similar to Shopify apps or the plugins you add to a WordPress site.
Modalyst is a dropshipping app that can be integrated into Wix stores. Modalyst enables online stores and website storeowners to find unique and quality dropship items that are immediately available for sale.
Modalyst for Wix Dropshipping Businesses
Modalyst allows you to find dropshipping products for your online store and have them sent directly to your customers. We focus on connecting you to the best products and dropship wholesale suppliers globally. Modalyst is the only dropshipping platform with a diverse list of suppliers, including designer wholesale suppliers, US dropship suppliers, and trendy fashion dropshippers with fast shipping products. Modalyst has trending products to sell in over 40 different categories. Modalyst has all the features which you need in a powerful dropshipping platform for ecommerce businesses:
Single, Centralized Platform – manage thousands of suppliers & products in one place
Inventory & Pricing Updates – inventory, imagery, descriptions and pricing are continuously updated
Suppliers Offering Fast and/or Free Shipping!
Automatically Add the Cost of Shipping into the Product Price & Offer Free Shipping to Your Customers
Item Customization – edit descriptions, pricing, variants and imagery before adding products to your store
Pricing Rules – control your markup and margins
Sync Tracking Numbers – orders and tracking numbers are synced with your store
Profit Calculator – see what you will earn on each product in real-time
Setting up your Wix dropshipping business with Modalyst
As we reviewed above, the first step to launching your dropshipping business is to sign up for Wix.com.
Select Your Target Market
Once your Wix store is set up, you must decide on a target market. To get the most out of your dropshipping business, you need to identify a niche market so that you can cater your product offerings to meet the needs of your customers. Through research, you can determine the best products to sell to the target market that you choose, but consider products that cost less than $20 and have no discernible brands, as this will help you maximize earnings and minimize competition.
Use Modalyst to Find Products to Sell on Wix
Signing up with Modalyst to find products to sell is your next step. Browse the Wix app market and select Modalyst, then click “Add”. This will automatically install the app to your Wix site and integrate all of its features. You can initially sign up for free on the Hobby plan, and this will give you full access to the app for Wix dropshipping stores and their marketplace so you can get a feel for how it works.
Adding Products to Your Wix Store
What’s a Wix ecommerce business without products? You can go directly into the Modalyst application to select the products you want to add, but remember to consider your niche market when creating your product list.
Find Products to Dropship on Wix
Choosing the right products to feature in your dropshipping store is essential. Focus on items that have a large number of high ratings, and drop ship suppliers with a feedback score of at least 95%. If possible order a sample from the supplier to see how the purchasing flow works and to determine the quality of the product. You will be working with these dropshipping wholesalers extensively, so make sure you understand their policies as well as how responsive they are with communication.
Import Products to Your Modalyst Account
To add a product, simply click “Add to Import List”. Adding to Import List automatically transfers the product title, description, supplier name, and wholesale pricing. The variants and product images are also included. High resolution images and compelling descriptions will help increase your sales volume and attract customers. Once you review the products in your list, you can sync them all to your online store on Wix in just one-click.
Determine Pricing for Your Wix Dropship Procuts
After adding items to your store, you need to determine the selling price. Use platforms like Amazon to research what is reasonable pricing for items similar to the ones in your catalog. Your goal is to sell items for more than what you pay the supplier for the product and for shipping, but not so high that buyers are not interested. Be sure to link payment options to your store at this time too. Wix payments are ideal as it can track all of your transactions for you and help you create customized templates. However, it is not available in all countries so you may want to consider setting up another payment gateway as well.
Configure Shipping Terms and Rates
At this point, you have to edit your shipping rates to ensure you are providing accurate prices. To do this, look at the size and weights of your products and determine the pricing for both local and international deliveries. Note that this price should also consider the surcharge the supplier may charge for packaging and preparing the product for shipment – you want to make sure you are not on the hook for these costs.
Set up Customer Service
Setting up customer support is an extremely important step, as you want to help your customers make a purchase. Even though you already set up contact information in your store, consider an additional tool like Wix Chat to decrease your response time.
Wix Chat is a great way to build relationships with your visitors. You can help your customers faster, increase sales, and more.
Chat from your desktop or on your phone with the Wix App
Let visitors chat with you on your mobile site
Know instantly when a new visitor comes to your site
Get notified when someone buys a product or books an appointment
With Wix Chat, anyone visiting your site can instantly send you a message and start a chat. Chat back anytime – even from your phone.
Start an Online Dropshipping Store on Wix
Last but not least, it’s time to launch your store using Wix for dropshipping! Up to this point, your site has been password-protected and kept private, but when you are ready to open for business you can unlock it and make it open to the public. Once you hit save the site will be live, so now you can get started with promoting your store on social media and start attracting paying customers. Good luck!
First, congratulations on overcoming one of the biggest hurdles that prevent so many people from having success in dropshipping: getting traffic to your website.
If you are getting web traffic, driving eCommerce sales should naturally follow. If it’s not, don’t fret, you simply need to make a few changes.
Whether you’re using Facebook ads, influencers, Adwords, or whatever, you overcame a huge hurdle, and you’re seeing a ton of website traffic.
Now the key is whether or not you can turn that website traffic into sales conversions.
We have 5 incredibly simple steps that will help you get some online store sales using all of that great website traffic:
1. Your Destination Needs to be Congruent With Your Ad
A simple fact is, you cannot trick anyone into anything anymore.
Years ago we used to get away with so much because people didn’t understand. Twelve years ago, if someone saw a free plus shipping ad, they would have no idea and think they are genuinely getting something for free.
Today, people are a bit savvier when it comes to the internet, so it’s not as easy to fool people, that’s why you’re destination needs to replicate exactly what your ad looks like.
Make sure the colors are the same, the same pictures, and that the offer entirely lines up with what the ad said.
Much of the time, I’ll click a Facebook ad to see where I end up. On the other end, it looks like I was taken to a completely different website from the ad I just clicked.
As a result, I bounce.
Take a look at your bounce rate, and if people are clicking away quickly after hitting your landing page, this could be your problem.
Another thing to remember is, you always want to send your customers to the exact sales page for whatever it is you’re promoting. I’ve clicked so many ads that send me to the main page, and now I have to navigate my way through the site to find what I was initially looking for.
In that period of time, your customers can lose interest and bounce.
Offer your website visitors the path of least resistance and get those visitors to the sale as fast as possible.
2. Your Website Might be too Difficult to Navigate
It’s challenging to provide a shopping experience with an online store, but you need to try your best to make the experience enjoyable and straightforward.
You want to make sure the design of your online store is clean and concise. You don’t need any fancy graphics, colors, or anything that takes away from the products you’re selling.
Now, if you’re getting a ton of website traffic and still not having any sales, you might want to tweak the design of your online store.
Look at it this way; if someone lands on your website and they’ve never been there before, they won’t have a lot of confidence in purchasing with you unless you give them the courage to do so.
Someone might land on your website with the full intention of purchasing one thing, but then they see all the products you have, they try to navigate through your site, find that it’s too difficult, and then leave with nothing.
As I said before, you should be limiting the number of barriers between the sale and your customers. Get them onto the sales page as fast as possible and provide them with the most streamlined process to get them to the checkout.
3. You Need an Optimized Product Page
There are many different ways to optimize product pages, and many ecommerce platforms — including Wix and Shopify — provide so many tools to help with this.
Here are some of the things you should have on your product pages:
Straightforward product title: Keep the title simple and speak to the benefits
A description that sells the benefits of a product: How can the product make someone’s life better
Social proof: You need reviews, purchase history, pop-ups with proof, everything
Urgency: Use a countdown timer or something of that nature
Call to action: You need to push the customer to buy now
4. What About the Checkout?
What do you do if you are experiencing a lot of abandoned checkouts?
If your customers are leaving before paying it means they are likely concerned over the legitimacy of your website, or the checkout process is too involved.
Go through your checkout or ask a family member or friend to do it. Get their honest feedback about whether or not they would trust your checkout process.
The best checkout for getting eCommerce sales will require the least amount of information possible, and you want to hit the customers with trust signals constantly.
Have plenty of security badges, warranty information, return policy, and all the stuff that will make the customer feel less concerned about shopping with you.
5. Tighten Up Your Targeted Advertising
Sometimes your lack of sales might not have anything to do with your website, and it still might be an ad issue.
If your ad is converting into website traffic, you have good copy and excellent graphics; the problem could be in your targeting. If your targeted advertising isn’t narrow enough, you might be getting a ton of traffic to your website, but none of those people are interested in what you’re selling.
For example, if you sell ski and snowboard equipment. Instead of targeting everyone who loves winter sports, you might want to narrow it down to a specific ski brand or professional skier.
Make sure you are using the “narrow down” tab in your Facebook ad targeting dashboard. If you’re targeting two million people, you are getting a lot of web traffic, but you’re wasting your money on people who aren’t interested in your products.
One last example, if you’re selling premium products or something expensive, so you want to make sure you’re targeting web traffic who have the money to buy what you’re selling.
Target countries like the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia with these ads.
Also, keep the age range in mind.
While there might be a lot of people under 24 who ski and snowboard, they likely don’t have the money to buy those products.
Get Some eCommerce Sales!
That’s it!
By no means is this a complete list, there are so many other things that could go wrong with your online store, but this is a great starting point.
If you take a look at these five issues and start tweaking things, you should find yourself increasing your eCommerce sales and putting more money in your pocket.
There are over 100,000 Squarespace websites that use the ecommerce plan. Squarespace Commerce is a compilation of features for selling products and managing orders online. By simply integrating a payment processor, you can process credit card transactions, accept PayPal payments, and receive refunds. If exceptional design is your foremost priority, Squarespace Commerce may be the best fit for your needs. But different online store builders are better suited for different concerns. For example, if you have big growth plans for your store, Shopify is great for scalability. But if you’re looking for cost effective options for beginners, then Wix may be your best bet.
WooCommerce has been around since 2011 and has an experienced development team behind it. It’s no surprise then that WooCommerce keeps getting better and better. And more and more popular. Just like WordPress, WooCommerce is free and open source. So despite its premium feel, it’s completely free for anyone to download, use and modify.
The question drew in many responses, most of which started with “No” or “Not really.” Other users have asked about whether Oberlo or Spocket can be used with Wix. Until a few weeks ago, these responses were all true. There was no way to import dropshipping products in just a few clicks to your Wix ecommerce store. In October, Wix.com and Modalyst released a dropshipping app for WixStores. The app is still new to the market, but it is already generating positive reviews. 
It has a great range of website friendly templates, which makes creating your online boutique a piece of cake. It’s also seriously improved the backend of its platform. A robust backend enables online entrepreneurs like yourself to use the reporting and analysis tools necessary to grow your business. Plus, you still get all the great customization tools that come with the regular Wix website building platform.
Modalyst has all the features which you need in a powerful dropshipping platform for ecommerce businesses:
Focus on items that have a large number of high ratings, and drop ship suppliers with a feedback score of at least 95%. 
If possible 
