Our ability to make money is just one of the many areas of our lives that the internet has changed. You may now earn money online in a variety of ways, including through affiliate blogs and online stores. You’ve probably heard of “dropshipping” if you’ve been looking into the aforementioned methods or if you work in the e-commerce sector already.
What is dropshipping, and how does it vary from conventional e-commerce fulfillment? Dropshipping has gained popularity as a means of making money online. Find out by reading on.
How Does E-commerce Fulfillment Work?
The process of taking consumer orders from your website and distributing the appropriate goods to your customers within the specified timeframe is known as e-commerce fulfillment.
The four standard steps of the e-commerce fulfillment process are as follows:
- Your online store receives a purchase from a customer.
- The order is forwarded to your fulfillment facility.
- The fulfillment center packs and ships the order.
- The delivery is delivered to your customer by the courier of your choice.
Your inventory is kept in a fulfillment center, which also processes and packages orders. If you run a smaller business, this could be your spare room or garage; if you run a larger e-commerce operation, it could be a dedicated warehouse or storage area.
The majority of smaller businesses will complete the orders themselves, but as your business expands and more orders come in, you can choose to outsource the task to a fulfillment agency that can take care of that part of the business for you.
You’ll need to maintain a careful check on stock levels as part of e-commerce fulfillment and order or create more as needed.
How Does Dropshipping Work?
The main distinction between dropshipping and typical e-commerce fulfillment is that you never actually retain the products you sell in stock. A dropshipping website sells goods that they receive from another provider rather than maintaining a storage facility (or spare room!) full of boxes of merchandise to sell online.
Building an internet store for a dropshipping business is similar to building one for a typical e-commerce firm, except orders are passed to your supplier of choice, who handles order fulfillment when they come in.
- Before you begin, be sure to read our article on picking a dropshipping source.
- Pros of eCommerce Fulfilment
- Enables you to produce and sell your own products or to make branded products to display in your online store.
- Due to the fact that the products you sell are unique and cannot be found elsewhere, developing your own brand is simpler.
- More control over the entire process is in your hands. You don’t have to be concerned about your supplier failing to complete customer orders.
Cons of eCommerce Fulfilment
As you need to buy the products you’ll sell or the supplies to make them, as well as build your online store and pay for initial production costs; the initial costs can be quite high.
If your items don’t sell, you’ll need dedicated storage space and the ability to keep them there indefinitely.
Order fulfillment, which includes packing and shipping, can take a long time.
Pros of Dropshipping
- The cost of getting started is low. Your initial overheads are kept low because you don’t have to buy stock or materials.
- To manage your orders, you don’t require a sizable storage facility or fulfillment facility.
- Due to the minimal time and financial commitment needed, you can concentrate on growing your business by using strategies like advertising.
Cons of Dropshipping
It can be challenging to guarantee that the goods being sent to customers are of the highest caliber since you don’t store the goods yourself.
Building a recognizable brand is much more difficult because the products are likely to be shipped in packaging that is either plain or bears the branding of your supplier.
Your brand’s reputation will suffer if your supplier is unable to meet customer orders on time.
Which One to Pursue?
Entrepreneurs can find several opportunities in both dropshipping and conventional eCommerce fulfillment. Which path you choose will depend on your available resources, personal interests, and long-term business objectives.
Since half of the process is outsourced, dropshipping is frequently perceived as being simpler. Dropshipping requires less capital to get off the ground, making it more accessible to a larger population. Additionally, dropshipping companies are quite simple to expand as long as you want them to.
The profit margins are much lower with dropshipping because so much of the process is outsourced. To start, you might choose to take this path in order to save money for an alternative eCommerce product.
Using the eCommerce fulfillment strategy is a viable option if you have the necessary resources and the motivation to put in the work. Although this strategy requires more work, it is appealing because it is simpler to establish a brand and has higher profit margins. In addition to selling branded goods, you can also market your own inventions.
Both of these strategies call for developing a website and creating a brand for your store. Since design expertise is needed in this situation, you might need to hire a specialist if you lack it.
Additional similarities exist between dropshipping and eCommerce fulfillment. You must spend money on marketing and advertising if you want to succeed as much as possible. To increase exposure, advertisements are frequently run on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. In both models, you are in charge of offering customer service.
These two business models are equal in value to one another. Everything comes down to how much time and money you have to invest in the business and your goals.
Bottom Line
Online revenue generation through dropshipping and eCommerce fulfillment are both highly effective. Both strategies should be successful if you have the correct product, good branding, and a sound marketing plan.
In dropshipping, your job as a B2B wholesaler would probably be to provide goods to retailers, complete orders, and ship products directly to customers. Additionally, you could act as a supplier for well-known eCommerce companies.