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You want to set up an ecommerce, but you don’t have a warehouse where you can store your products.
So, is it possible to sell on the internet without stock? If you want to know the answer, don’t miss this article in which we tell you everything about dropshipping and we give you the tips you need to open your online store without needing to have your own stock.
✅ How do you sell on the internet without Stock?
Selling without stock has a name. It is what we call dropshipping. Dropshipping is a business model which has become extremely popular in recent years and was almost inconceivable 10 years ago. The changing world we find ourselves in and the speed that ecommerce is evolving at has led to the emergence of new forms of business, like dropshipping. But what exactly does this consist of? We give you a brief explanation of this below.
Dropshipping is a business model where the seller has either their own ecommerce or a store on marketplaces. The key to dropshipping is that when the seller receives a purchase, the wholesaler receives the order and ships it directly to the end customer (the seller does not take charge of the shipping). As you can see, if this happens, it means that the products sold by the seller are located in the wholesaler’s warehouse, making it possible to sell on the internet without stock.
The main advantages of dropshipping include the cost savings of storage and delivery costs and access to the thousands of products that you will be able to sell in your online store without the need to invest in stock.
✅ Tips For Selling on the Internet without Stock
So, these are the tips you need to know so that your store heads in the right direction.
Choose which products you are going to sell in your online store
You won’t be able to start selling without some clear and defined products. The first thing you need to do is to study the market and your potential customers. It may seem tedious but, if you want to be successful from the start, it is extremely important that you do this step well. A clear goal will be the first step to start selling on the internet without stock.
Work on your online store
Your ecommerce is the front door for your customers and what they see will help them to decide whether to stay with you or to look for another option they like more. Make an effort to produce an attractive website where your customers want to make purchases. There are lots of tools that allow you to create a website simply and more quickly than a traditional one. For example: Shopify, Prestashop or WordPress (with the WooCommerce plug in).
Choose your dropshipping supplier
Once you have chosen the products you are going to sell and you have the website ready, it’s time to find the ideal dropshipping supplier for you. They will be your business partner, so it is important that you pay attention to the services that they offer you. You will need to:
- Verify the quality of the products in their catalogue
- Compare the shipping conditions
- Carefully study the profit margins you could achieve
There are dropshipping suppliers that have all their stock in Europe and, for this reason, the quality of the products they offer is guaranteed. So now you know, choose your supplier and start selling on the internet without stock. They will do it for you!
Training
Training is always a point in your favour! In addition to expanding your knowledge, it is always a good idea to keep learning about the areas that you apply to your day-to-day work. For example, marketing is an area where you can learn to manage your online store without stock successfully.
Offer a personalised experience
To offer a personalised experience, you need to know your customers well. What they like, what they identify with…You need to know everything about them in order to immerse them in a unique experience. To discover more about the people you are going to sell your products to, you can use tools like Google Analytics or study your competition in depth. This will be a great help to get an idea about who your customers are.
Personalisation is the key to every good marketing strategy and can be done in many ways. We tell you about some of them here:
Email marketing
By properly segmenting your databases, you can ensure the right message reaches the right person. Also, take the opportunity to get close to your consumers and talk to them in the first person, referring to them by name.
Enable your customers to create an account on your website
This way, you can obtain more information about their behaviour. How they purchase, what they like or don’t like. Finding out how they browse your website will help you to improve their experience.
Use tools like chatbots
They are very useful for giving quick answers to your customers’ queries in a personalised way.
There are many actions you can carry out to personalise your potential customers’ experiences, we have just named a few of the best-known ones here.
Craft the product descriptions
A well-crafted product description can be the key factor which determines whether your customer makes the purchase or abandons the basket. That’s why this point is so important. To write a good product description, you must be very specific about the features of your products: What material is it made of? How much does it weigh? What are the dimensions? What ingredients does it contain? Does it come with a warranty? All of these questions (and many more) must be duly answered in the description. In addition, you will be able to take advantage and optimise the texts for a better SEO positioning, something which will also make you more visible in the long-term.
Customer service is key
You should do everything in your power to ensure the customer is satisfied. To do this, offer a personalised customer service and be there to resolve any problems. Customer service is one of the differentiating factors that make consumers choose you again and again and stay loyal to your brand.
Software such as Zendesk offers you a comprehensive customer services solution which is very easy to use and adapts to your business. Something you should bear in mind is that, the more sales you make, the more queries and questions you will receive from your customers.
Customer services is one of the essential aspects when it comes to whether your business is successful or not. For that reason, it is important that you have enough time to answer the customers’ queries or, alternatively, you should hire someone to do it for you.
Trust
Conveying trust to your customers is everything. The security that your online store gives them will be a decisive factor when it comes to making a purchase. Make sure you communicate all the services you offer in your online store. You can do so in various ways, these are our favourites:
Trustmark schemes
There are various schemes that you can request for your ecommerce, so that it conveys security to your consumers. Without a doubt, the most notable ones are Confianza Online and Trusted Shops.
Create a community
When people get to know you and know what you’re like, they end up trusting you. In the past, to gain their trust, you had to make them fall in love with you, become “brand lovers”. In the era of Instagram and social networks, the best advice is to create a community around your brand.
Interact with them, ask them questions, take part in their conversations and, above all, listen to what they want. Although it may be work intensive, this is one of the most effective ways of gaining a loyal community.
Reviews
In the social world we live in, displaying reviews from other customers in your ecommerce is one of the most useful and effective tools that exists. Some people need to know the opinion of other shoppers to take the next step: make a purchase. That’s why your reviews play an important role in the world of ecommerce.
Encourage your customers to leave reviews about their shopping experience and about the product or service. That way, as well as when you build up a large number of opinions, a person’s decision-making at the time of purchase will be much faster, as seeing other people’s experiences conveys transparency and trust.
Returns Policy
Following on from the previous point, the returns policy you offer is also one of the key points that gives your potential customers a feeling of security. Buying something and knowing you can return it without any problems is not the same as not accepting returns. It is extremely useful to put this on your website somewhere it can be seen easily.
Legal requirements
When you decide to set up your online store without stock, it is essential that you bear in mind the legal requirements you have to comply with. To do this, it is best to get advice from an expert advisor in electronic commerce and dropshipping.
These are some of the tips that you should bear in mind before starting to sell without stock. We know that dropshipping is a very appealing option for entrepreneurs and, here at BigBuy, we are leaders in this field. So we can help you, and we can become the ideal partner for your business.
