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The limitations and challenges for inventory management resources have made many companies opt for a dropshipping business model.
Dropshipping (due to its ease of operation) has become of the convenient ways to start a business in recent years, as it allows business owners to sell their products online.
With the rise of e-commerce platforms, more and more entrepreneurs are heading towards dropshipping to start their businesses.
To facilitate this growing trend, many businesses now offer exclusive drop shipping platforms to other businesses to manage their inventory and shipping logistics. Businesses or individuals seeking to uplift their business or want to offer their platform to other companies can get started with drop shipping app development.
Let’s understand a drop shipping business and the best way to start by exploring the development steps, must-have features, and required tech stack.
What Is Dropshipping?
Drop shipping is a method for selling products online from third-party suppliers. The involved businesses primarily focus on product branding and marketing.
Drop shipping facilitates partnerships between suppliers and online e-commerce brands. The suppliers include wholesalers, retailers, and third-party manufacturers willing to sell their products online with the help of e-commerce platforms.
The different types have been categorized below.
Custom products: This involves product customization and selling them as rebranded products.
Reseller: Businesses search for different available suppliers to enlist and sell their products online and make profits.
Drop-shipping businesses market products under their brand, creating a price difference between the products available in businesses and regular online stores.
How Does Dropshipping Work?
The business model includes three major players: drop shippers, suppliers, and customers. The following below-mentioned process illustrates the working of the business model.
- The customer pays the online store retail price to purchase a product from the website.
- After confirming the customer’s order, the drop shipper forwards the order details to the supplier.
- The supply processes and ships the order to the customer’s address.
Benefits Of Dropshipping App Development
Custom drop-shipping application development offers the following advantages:
1. Less Investment Requirement
When it comes to drop-shipping business, there is no inventory requirement nor need to purchase and stock items. An easier process to build an e-commerce website is sufficient to run a successful business.
2. Easy To Implement
Drop shipping businesses are easier to implement and involve less challenging business operations such as
- Order receipt
- Order packing
- Order tracking
- Inventory management
- Returns of goods handling
- Shipment of goods
- Order processing
- Order delivery
3. Flexibility To Operate From Home
Drop-shipping business offers great flexibility to operate without leaving the comfort of home. Anyone can operate their business online with an internet connection, laptop, and a few recurring costs.
4. Easier Product Selling And Testing
Customer feedback and marketing practices help businesses to test winning products for businesses, where businesses can enlist and recommend top products to customers with more potential sales.
5. Offer Business Growth Opportunities
As there is no requirement for inventory management in drop shipping businesses, the business owners can utilize those funds for other activities, such as marketing, product improvement, etc., which can eventually help them to scale their business.
How To Start Dropshipping App Development?
The following steps can help you to start app development successfully:
1. Choose A Niche
A successful drop-shipping business’s foundation is based on selecting the most profitable niches.
There are many profitable niches in this industry. The selection of the right niche depends on the market and customer segment you are targeting. Selecting a suitable niche for your business can be done by doing a competitive analysis of the successful business available in the particular niche.
The followings are the most profitable niches to start a business.
- Tools and home improvement
- Camera and cellphone accessories
- Gaming
- Kitchen and grocery
- Home and bedroom
- Health and personal care
- Wardrobe and accessories
- Office products
- Car Accessories
2. Determine The Competition In The Market
Identifying your competition will let you analyze their top winning products and their pricing structure for the specific industry. It is worth utilizing tools like Facebook Audience Insights, Google Trends, and Google Keyword Planner to know the top competitors in the specific market.
After identifying your top competitors, you can visit their websites to learn top-performing products and pricing structures to implement them on your website.
3. Focus On Your Brand
An effective branding strategy can let you outrank the competition in the market. Focusing on your brand can create a unique identity among your targeted audience. Craft a solid marketing plan with effective branding and content strategy to scale your business reach effectively.
4. Find A Supplier
Finding a reliable supplier is essential to successfully running a business. A suitable supplier can be selected by reading their reviews regarding shipping services and product quality from other drop shippers.
5. Test The Products You Plan To Sell
Without inventory in a business, you need to order sample products from partnered suppliers and check their quality before listing them to your platform.
Also, requesting products from your supplier will help you understand the estimated delivery time suppliers will take to fulfill the product delivery.
6. Hire An App Development Company
Building a drop shipping app is a complex process only app developers can handle. Offering a simple and easy-to-use interface with the inclusion of all the required features is crucial to offer an enhanced user experience to your customers.
It is advisable to partner with a reliable software development company that can help you with business strategy to publish your app to your targeted market.
The best way to recognize a suitable app development company is to explore their project portfolios and take feedback from their past clients. Here is a detailed guide for hiring an app development company in 2023.
Best Examples Of The Dropshipping App
The leading platforms are as follows:
1. Drop Commerce
The platform offers high-quality products from North American suppliers with guaranteed delivery of orders within 2 to 7 days. The company also provides a full refund if they fail to deliver the order.
| Features | No transaction fees Easy data sync and store management Codes for tracking shipment Conversion in currency Logistics responsibility of DropCommerce 7-day customer support |
| Pros | Dedicated account manager Valuable interface On-time delivery High-quality products Relatively fair pricing Satisfying experience |
| Cons | Only available in Canada and USA Delays in contacting support Limited free trial period |
| Pricing | Advanced: $19.9 Pro: $49.9 Enterprise: $149 |
2. Sprocket
The platform offers a convenient way of adding products from suppliers across the US, Europe, Canada, Asia, Brazil, and more to websites.
Moreover, the platform facilitates reverse image search, where drop shippers can search for any product and their suppliers just with an image.
| Features | Niche products Supplier vetting Fulfilling orders with one-click Auto-updating the inventory Real-time order tracking Chrome extension |
| Pros | Robust UI Easy importing of products Reliable suppliers Responsive customer service Possible to cancel at any time Inventory management Probable quality products Help Center, including articles Branded invoice for the advanced plans |
| Cons | Extra charge for drop-shipping to regions other than the US and EU The free plan is minimal. Checking the inventory is not possible. Hence, problems occur. |
| Pricing | FreeStarter: $24.99 Pro: $49.99 Empire Plan: $99.99 |
3. Zendrop
Made by Drop Shippers for Drop Shippers, Zendrop offers a convenient way for merchants to find and partner with the right suppliers to uplift their business.
The platform streamlines the process with its simple and user-friendly interface for online merchants seeking to explore reliable partners and top-notch services.
| Features | Product Sourcing Private Product Listing Bundles and Subscription Boxes Zendrop Academy Private Labeling United States Fulfillment Custom Branding Real-time Analytics |
| Pros | Very good user interface Highly responsive customer service Fast shipping times Working with reliable companies Interactive and user-friendly website Detailed tutorials/ instructions Applicable service |
| Cons | A little pricey No refund in case of cancellation |
| Pricing | Free Pro: $49 Plus: $79 |
4. Importify
With Importify, business owners can easily import and sell drop-shipping products from 30+ popular marketplaces. Moreover, the platform offers a built-in editor for product descriptions, pricing rules, and profit margins to help drop shippers easily scale their business.
| Features | Pre-Integrated Dropship Suppliers Advanced Product Search Supplier Product Data Reseller Information Sync Inventory and Orders |
| Pros | Clear and easy system to start Useful integrations Quick customer support Possible to edit descriptions Possible training options Free to consult suppliers Uploading huge amounts of inventory as well Mobile-accessible |
| Cons | Pricing can be heavy if your business is small-size. People have some pricing errors. A few stock problems occurred before. User experience may need to be developed. |
| Pricing | Directory account: $0 Drop-shipping software: $99 Retail operating platform: $999 |
5. Modalyst
Modalsit is the best platform for print-on-demand and drop shipping marketplace. The platform offers various tools to help drop shippers customize their line of products along with simplifying processes such as order fulfillment and selling warehouse products.
With the integration of popular platforms like big commerce, anyone can easily access print-on-demand and drop-shipping marketplaces with Modalyst.
Modalsit is the best platform for print-on-demand and drop shipping marketplace. The platform offers various tools to help drop shippers customize their line of products along with simplifying processes such as order fulfillment and selling warehouse products.
| Features | Shopify to Shopify Importer Product Research Product Customization Connecting Existing Products Pricing Rules Auto Assign Collections Automating Orders One-click Import Products Split Variants Easy Supplier Change |
| Pros | Intelligent UI Preferable app for users Outstanding client service Method of price marking Potential override capabilities Instantaneous updating Solutions for seamless integration Free e-book to get you going |
| Cons | There isn’t any inventory management Certain bugs can appear The users have several uploading and importing issues |
| Pricing | Basic: $14.95 Premium: $27.95 Gold: $37.95 |
Must-Have Features For The Dropshipping App
The essential feature of the app is as follows:
1. Shopping Cart
The feature will enable buyers to add and remove products from the app. The shopping cart will act in a dynamic way that will change whenever users will add or remove items. Additionally, shopping carts will be helpful for users to keep their items on hold before making a final purchase.
2. Inventory Management
The feature will offer many useful purposes for the business, including internal accounting, inventory, contact management, and customer service software system.
Also, inventory management integration will let you offer a better platform experience to your customers by informing them in case any product goes out of stock.
3. Payment Processing
Creating a wide variety of payment processing for your platform will let you ensure that your users can pay based on their preferences, such as debit cards, net banking, credit cards, crypto wallets, and E-wallets.
Also, consider adding a cash-on-delivery option for the clients who only prefer to pay after receiving items.
4. Shipping And Delivery Options
Offer your platform a wide range of shipping options to enhance customer experience. The feature will help customers to select from a wide range of delivery methods that are appropriate for their needs during the checkout process.
5. Affiliate Programs
Introducing an affiliate program is the best way to generate traffic to your storefront. Allow individuals to register on your platform as affiliate partners, where you will offer a link to your store products and services.
Your partners will earn a commission for their contribution to acquiring new consumers and completing a purchase. Consider developing a detailed dashboard to help affiliate partners to track their earnings and total sales on your platform.
Tech Stack For Dropshipping App Development
The recommended technology stack for app development is as follows.
| Front-end | CSS, HTML, JavaScript. |
| Databases | Mongo DB, MySQL, Postgres SQL. |
| Storage | AWS S3 and Firebase storage. |
| E-commerce Platforms. | Bigcommerce, Woo-commerce, Shopify, Squarespace |
| Order and inventory management. | Cubana, Order Desk, Inventory planner, Zentail |
| Order and payment processing | PayPal, Stripe, Square. |
| Fulfillment and shipping. | Shipppo, Ship Station, ShipBob |
| Product Information Management | Akeneo, Sales Layer, Plytix |
| Customer Service and Support | TalentPop, Simpler, Gorgias |
| Enterprise resource planning | Netsuite, Oracle, SAP |
| Returns management | Returnly, Loop Returns, Happy Returns. |
| Multichannel platforms | Linnworks, Brightpearl, Cin7 |
| Marketing | Octane AI, Omnisend, Klaviyo. |
| Data and analytics | ShipBob |
Conclusion
Dropshipping is a rapidly growing business model in today’s e-commerce industry. Many entrepreneurs and business owners are seeking to enter this market.
A well-developed e-commerce platform can offer a seamless experience for customers, which can help business owners to establish their businesses successfully.
Developing a successful drop-shipping application can be done by hiring a reliable app development company like Idea Usher. The company employs professional app developers who can help you build and launch your professional drop shipping platform for your business.
Idea Usher can help you develop a customized, scalable, and user-friendly drop-shipping app so your merchants can easily manage their inventory and shipments. Whereas your customers can easily manage and track orders with your app.
Contact us today to learn more about app development services and how we can help you with drop shipping app development.
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FAQ
Q. Which platforms are best for drop shipping?
A. Wix, Lightspeed, WooCommerce, Shopify, and Magento are some of the best platforms for drop shipping.
Q. What is the business model of drop-shipping?
A. A business retail strategy where brands don’t directly sell their products. Instead, drop shippers act as a middleman between customers and suppliers by availing their eCommerce platform to enlist available items for sale.
Q. How popular is dropshipping?
A. Dropshipping market was worth $22.5B in 2022 and can grow at a CAGR of 23.4% from 2023 to 2033.
