5 Expert Reasons Behind Dropshipping Failures
“You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end.”
This quote by Jessica Herrin, the Founder and CEO of Stella & Dot is a powerful reminder why failure is said to be a stepping stone to success. If you’re reading this, either you’re struggling to make it big with dropshipping or at least know of someone who is.
Whatever the case may be, you can always increase the chances of having a successful dropshipping business. The first step to this is by knowing the reasons why other dropshipping businesses have failed:
1. Selecting a WRONG Niche
If you’re investing in saturated markets like apparel and accessories, footwear or other such top-selling industries, it’s bound to fail at one point since you’re not targeting a niche group of people or products.
Focus on selling items that are popular and required yet not in the league with the bestseller products of retail giants like Walmart and Amazon. Sometimes, it’s just that you’re selling your products in the wrong region or country so the trick here is to test and find out for yourself.
2. You Don’t Find the RIGHT Suppliers
Even if you have chosen an under-tapped niche, you may fail in dropshipping if your suppliers are unreliable and untrustworthy. Since dropshipping is a business that relies heavily on suppliers who offer you the products on wholesale and then pack and deliver the order to your customer, you cannot afford to go wrong with this one.
Double check with your supplier to ensure whether a product is in stock when a customer has placed an order for this item or go with more than one supplier to be safe.
3. Unprofessional Websites
Websites are the face of your business so your dropshipping site needs to be treated like any other business store. If customers find that your site is designed poorly with navigational difficulties and lack of intuitiveness, they will hop on to your competitor’s site.
4. Unsatisfactory Customer Services/Support
At a time when retail giants are focussing on free shipping, same-day delivery, 24X7 support and other such user-friendly policies, you too would need to up your game with email marketing, a live chat support and product-based FAQs on your website.
Follow up with the customer until they have received the product within the delivery schedule and are satisfied with the product. The idea here is to add some value to the customer’s life and see to it that all their issues are resolved as quickly and smoothly as possible.
5. Lack of Persistence
It’s easy to set up a dropshipping store but once you have launched it, it needs the same amount of work and patience that any regular business model needs. The risk rate might be less comparatively but you will have to spend on ads, ensure excellent customer service, have a user-friendly website and select a niche that you are passionate about or have some knowledge in. Not to forget, you will have to be patient throughout all this and not give up!
Experiment with marketing channels, products and suppliers and let your dropshipping business scale over time! Happy Dropshipping!
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