When a small business is trying to lure customers away from a larger competitor, the playing field begins on a tilt. First, economies of scale allow larger companies to buy in bulk and run efficient processes for the production of goods. This can dramatically lower their total expense per unit. Also, these companies possess huge advantages in the area of shipping. Larger companies are able to take advantage of warehouses located all around the country and they are often able to pass along the savings to their customers. This all adds up to give larger corporations a competitive advantage.
If you’re looking to take back that edge, consider drop shipping for all your delivery and order fulfillment needs. Companies that cater to small businesses are beginning to take notice of the growing trend of drop shipping. BigCommerce is one of the largest shopping cart software packages in the world, and we at Ordoro have built a great solution to introduce dropshipping into the BigCommerce package. Ordoro makes BigCommerce dropshipping possible!
Dropshipping is the practice of shipping your goods directly from manufacturers all over the country. This allows businesses to eliminate the costly practice of holding inventory in a warehouse. When an order is received, it is passed on to whichever warehouse will complete the order.
Dropshipping is one of the most valuable tactics in which a small business can engage. To begin dropshipping, start by examining your current shipping trends. Where is the bulk of your orders coming from? This will help you determine the ideal locations for warehouses.
The population is mostly concentrated in the Northeast, so if you’re marketing your products nationally, you will probably want to begin a relationship with a dropshipper in the lower Northeast. Companies like WorldWide Brands and Simple Source are in the business of hunting down the best dropshippers. Locate other warehouses around the country that can act as hubs for order “hot spots” around the country.
The ability to drop ship is one of the keys to optimizing your small business, but it is only going to be useful if the demand for your product is high enough to warrant a dropshipping delivery system. Many vendors who began engaging in Ebay drop shipping during the early 00’s discovered the hard way that dropshipping is not necessary for every situation.
If you’ve started suspecting that shipping rates are cutting into your bottom line, dropshipping might be just the solution for you. Are you paying too much to ship goods long distances? Are your customers complaining of late deliveries or long wait periods between order placement and delivery? If you answered yes to any of these questions, look into dropshipping.
Dropshipping is also a great way to increase your product selection without having to buy up all that inventory upfront. Rather than sinking your cash into inventory, you can request your suppliers to ship out the products directly for you as the orders come in.
If you want to try out the Ordoro plugin for BigCommerce dropshipping, please sign up for the free trial offer on our website.