Mistakes are inevitable. It’s a part of every business, and dropshipping is not left out. Well, it’s understandable to make mistakes, but why make mistakes that you can avoid? Since you’re not the first in this line of business, many seasoned entrepreneur has made one or two mistakes too.

However, focusing and having an idea of these mistakes can actually make you better in making your own decisions. This is why we’re bringing you some top Shopify dropshipping mistakes to avoid in the coming year 2020.

Fulfilling Orders Manually

C’mon! This is 2019! And it’s going to be 2020 in a few days. Fulfilling orders manually isn’t a real deal; it can be tiring and can waste your time and resources. Well, if you’re new to the business or just starting your store, manual fulfillment may still be okay because you’re dealing with few orders at this stage. However, what happens when the number of orders you’re getting reach hundreds or thousands? Manual fulfillment, at this stage, is really a bad idea. 

Choosing the Wrong Niche

This is another big mistake dropshippers make. Before you even start a dropshipping business, you should have done in-depth research on the particular niche you would like to venture in. If you’ve been choosing niches without enough ideas on them, going into 2020 -you need to stop this-

Whatever Niche you’ll be choosing, make sure you’re very good and accustomed with the basics in the area. Know all the products and everything related to them like the back of your palm. Also be sure the niche you choose adds value. The truth is customers would only part with their money if you offer them value.

Not Leveraging Product Reviews

Ooh! The power of review! Reviews are one of the tools that can give you an idea – an honest one- about a particular product. There are many winning or flashy products out there that their reviews are actually bad. Yes!  Obviously the reviews are from people that have had first hand experiences of these products.

Now, imagine not reading those reviews before placing them on your store too. It might be a disaster, especially if the products have a lot of bad reviews. Therefore, explore and know what others think about a particular product before choosing them for your store.

Depending on a Single Supplier

Remember, in dropshipping, your supplier is an integral part of your business. You most time depends on them to manufacture and ship the products to your customers. This shows how important they’re. Now, imagine your customers place an order for a product, but unfortunately, your supplier is out of this product, and they’re not going to be having it anytime soon.

What happens then? Knowing that your customers are waiting for the fulfillment of their orders. Your options are to either cancel the orders or find a new supplier, which may be quite difficult to do at the eleventh hour since you’re not prepared. You can prevent this by having backup suppliers. 

Having Too Many Suppliers

Well, we just talked about not depending on a single supplier and having backups instead. You may wonder why are we saying you shouldn’t have many suppliers again, right?  Yes, having one supplier may endanger your business, and you may need to find backups. But, the many they are, the more relationships and contacts you’ll need to manage. To be honest with you, it can cause headaches. Therefore, don’t make them too many.

Selling Product without Calculating Margins Properly

What’s the essence of selling if you can’t account for gains at the end of the day. For your business to grow and not die halfway, you need to make sure you’re gaining, which means you have to assure yourself some margins. Literally meaning you have to set a price able to pay your costs and give you something more.

Posting Unrealistic Shipping Costs and Dates

When it comes to shipping, you might never know the exact date your shipment would arrive, especially if you cannot track your order. The truth is the suppliers can only give you estimates also, though most times right.

Therefore being truthful to your customers in line with the shipping is important. If your supplier says it’s going to take 10-20 days, why not give your customers the exact time range instead of telling them it’ll only take eight days. Also, make the shipping costs clear as possible as it could be, never lie about them, and make them aware of their choices.

Forgetting About After-sale Services

Sales don’t just end at the time the goods are shipped to customers. It continues till the customers get their orders. Some dropshippers still make this mistake of forgetting about after-sale services. Whenever you convert a prospect into a client, you should give always give them an after-sale service.

It’s the way you make them trust and come back to you. For instance, customers want to know when they’ll receive their products, or the products are hanging somewhere. Here, an after-sale service – Tracking of the orders- is fundamental.

There you have it!  The top Shopify dropshipping mistakes you need to avoid in this coming year!  The truth is, the market we are in today offers you possibilities to build your dropshipping business and earn some money. However, it is only when you do it right. By noting the above mistakes and working on them, 2020 is undoubtedly going to be great!

Do you need help with your Shopify dropshipping business? Contact us today at Fulfillman. We are leading service provider of Drop Shipping, China sourcing, Warehouse fulfillment, Third Party Logistics, and many more. Our dedicated team will be available to speak with you and discuss your needs. With our state-of-the-art technology, we can help you achieve your short and long-term business goals. An amazing experience awaits you.