A drop shipping web store can be created and run from a laptop.
Many entrepreneurs think about starting an online retail store but find the cost of purchasing wholesale inventory cost-prohibitive. An affordable alternative is drop shipping, which eliminates the need to store inventory or ship products to your customers; to make a profit, distributor prices are marked up and orders are handled by the drop shipper you choose. To create a drop shipping web store, you will need to do a bit of planning.
Instructions
1. Choose a niche for your drop shipping web store; with all the online retailers consumers have to choose from, specialization will differentiate your business. For instance, you can choose to create a web store that sells home electronics, designer perfume, kids shoes, sports video games or cell phones.
2. Purchase a domain name from a registrar such as 1And1 or Go Daddy. Make sure your domain is relevant to your niche. For example, if you plan to drop ship celebrity-created perfumes, "CelebrityScents.com" would be an appropriate domain name.
3. Decide what platform you will use for your web store; ensure it comes with payment processing, design templates, a shopping cart and hosting. Examples of such providers include ProStores, Core Commerce and PappaShops.
4. Open accounts with drop shipping companies that sell products in your niche, such as DHGate, Doba, Sale Hoo or World Wide Brands. Some drop shipping companies charge a fee to access their product catalog, while others allow a free trial.
5. Develop a marketing plan for your drop ship web store. This may include launching a promotional blog to connect with potential customers, setting up social networking accounts, placing ads on websites and blogs your target market frequents and listing your web store in online shopping directories.
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