Ecommerce and internet retailers are a multi-billion dollar industry, and growing right along with the internet businesses are the drop shipping companies that get the products out to the customers. Establishing solid relationships with companies that will drop ship for you is critical to the success of your business, and finding just the right drop shippers can help your business grow and prosper.
Finding drop shippers begins with knowing what products you want to sell on your website. It will be helpful to stay within a particular product genre such as computer parts or office supplies, but it is extremely important to create a list of the products you want to sell in order to find the right drop shipping companies.
Once you have established a list of the products you want to sell your next step is to decide on which manufacturers you would like to have on your store. At this point you are not worried about the ability to get the products by certain manufacturers; you are simply putting together an outline for what you would like to sell on your site.
Once you have your list of manufacturers it is time to get on the phone and make some calls. Always start your search for drop shipping companies with the manufacturers because if the manufacturers do not drop ship the products themselves, then they will supply you with a complete list of drop shippers that you can talk to.
When you are talking with a drop shipper there are many questions you need to ask and a few things you need to check out as you are investigating whether or not you want to do business with them. The first question to ask is if they blind drop ship. Blind drop shipping is when the drop shipper sends out the product to your clients, but your company name appears on all of the paperwork. Using blind drop shippers will allow you to rightfully claim that you ship from several locations from all over the globe and it can help your company seem a lot more formidable.
Another question to ask is if there is a minimum order size for each drop shipment, and if there are any extra charges that apply to smaller orders that do ship. If there are any restrictions on smaller orders you will have to pass those restrictions on to your customers, and the same goes for any charges associated with smaller orders.
Something that many internet retailers forget to ask is how many different shipping companies a drop shipper deals with. If you are dealing with selling products to businesses, you may find that certain clients can only accept shipments from certain carriers. It sounds like it is a strange way to do business, but you want to be prepared to handle any customer request and offering multiple shipping options is definitely a request to consider.
Finally, it is important to check out the customer service department of any drop shipper you are planning on doing business with. Call them and ask to speak to someone about their customer service policies, and then see if those are policies you can work with. The connection between you and your drop shipper is of no concern to the client, so if your business is held up by a bad customer service department then your business could suffer.
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