How to Start a Dropshipping Business in India

How to Start a Dropshipping Business in India

 Dropshipping is a form of retail business where the seller accepts customer orders but doesn’t keep goods in stock. This article will teach you to how to start a dropshipping business in India.

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a retail fulfilment method where are stored does not keep the products themselves in stock but instead sell the product using the dropshipping model which purchases the item from a third-party and has it shipped directly to the customer full stop as a result of which the seller doesn’t have to handle the product directly.

Well, the biggest difference between dropshipping and the standard retail model is that the seller doesn’t stop or own inventory purchases inventory as needed from a third party which is usually a wholesaler or manufacturer to fulfil the orders.

Process of Dropshipping

Choosing the Right Supplier

One of the most important tasks for any seller who wants to start a dropshipping business is to pick the right supplier. before one enters the field of dropshipping one must research to attain knowledge about the availability of suppliers and outline the product is supplied.

The person sending much also checks if the supplier is trustworthy before establishing a long-term business relationship.

Create, Share, Collaborate

Work with your team in real-time. create documents together and share the same on WhatsApp, Gmail, etc.

Since India is still new to this drop shipping. One must be cautious and should ensure to check the credibility of every supplier you approach.

Below given are some pointers that can help you get the right supplier

Go for suppliers who manufacture

You must be wary of suppliers who depend on a third-party manufacturer to produce products. Go for suppliers who manufacture the products full stop managing along a chain can make it difficult for you to keep but track and you won’t be able to account for any mishaps.

In case you don’t get suppliers who manufacture you should reach out to distributors. Take a look at their inventories and ensure their authenticity.

Faster Shipping

Go for faster Shipping to be the competition and ask suppliers about the delivery times. This will help you build a good relationship with your supplier. Nowadays the average time for delivery is within a day so you must get your products shipped in at least 3 to 4 days.

Method of Payment

Check your supplier’s charges and methods of payment before you evaluate them. At the beginning of the services, you may be asked for a one-time fee which will, later on, be charged individually for each order.

A fixed monthly subscription field may also be asked by them. A few of them extra minimum order size to check the series was of the seller.

Calculate Profit Margins

You must always calculate the profits you make after paying your supplier. Initially, your profit margins may be low but you must try to be careful to set your prices accordingly. Better profits may come from higher margins.

GST Registration

If you run your dropshipping business as an individual the GST law may not interfere with the business. But in case you are a registered company you will be asked to provide your GSTIN to your supplier for each transaction. This will help you climb input credit later.

Choosing the Right Supplier

Decide Which Products to Sell

After You are done selecting your supplier you can finalize your product. Browse through all the products that you are supplier offers. you may also look forward to discussing and identifying the best selling products.

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In case it is an online store you can use some simple tools and hacks to identify the best selling products. Make sure you make a list of products you can sell and check the variety on another online store like Amazon and Flipkart.

Also Read: How To Start A Stationery Business?

Through this, you may get many ideas for product design descriptions and pricing. You will see that similar products are been sold already through dropshipping. However, there are many varieties to sell for the same product.

Think about what will make your business stand out from the others full stop after that you can ensure good quality and consider rate packaging first you should also keep updating the product to different times of the year. This will take months of research and the study of consumer behavior.

Decide Which Products to Sell

Design your Website

This is a very vital step why some people seem to neglect it. to have a good first impression of your shop online you need to have a well-designed website. A website will make you look incredible and a place where you can be sure to the customers of your brand value and quality. As you finalize the product you will sell you will have to acquire virtual representations for them.

You must then get a domain name and create an attractive and user-friendly website.  It should be an organized one and should be easy enough for customers to handle and to make a better purchase. You can also list all the payment methods and may also receive customer feedback and comments on the website.

Design your Website

Market your Products

Social media marketing can be the best way to start your business. You can take the help of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to kickstart your business.

Becoming a part of groups and societies where people might be interested in your product can also be a way of promoting your products. Try to interact with people and be nice to them so that they will want to check out your product.

You can also run social media campaigns to get customers. Most social media platforms of exposure to brands and services. One can easily get customers if they choose the right plans on these platforms.

Google AdWords and other  SEO Tactics to attract internet users to your website. A well-written SEO strategy can come in handy because it will help attract customers through the right keywords and marketing.

Market your Products

You must share all the relevant details with your customers and also make it a point that your product listing reaches potential customers. Marketing your brand is a very crucial step in gaining success in the dropshipping business.

It doesn’t matter what type of product you have if you have the marketing skills you can make a profit. The clever part is to reach the right audience. 

Also Read: Perfect Business Ideas for Women

Benefits of Dropshipping

There are many benefits to dropshipping and some of them are listed below:

  • Since it is a method of business where the seller doesn’t need to stock products the seller can use the service of the third-party suppliers to manufacture the products and then deliver it.
  •  The seller is free from inventory management and does not need to manufacture products instead the seller takes the orders and notifies the supplier or the manufacturer. After this is task is done. in most cases, the seller never sees the product that is delivered.
  • Dropshipping has many benefits but one must be cautious of the following: India is slowly learning to adapt to this type of business but is slowly gaining momentum stop the seller must ensure. Many companies overlook other company’s offers into how to start a dropshipping business before he enters the world of dropshipping.

Pros of Dropshipping

Low Startup Cost

It requires a lot of capital to stock a warehouse. one can eliminate the risk of going into death to start your business by using dropshipping.

Instead of purchasing intensive inventory and hoping that it sells you can start a dropshipping business with zero inventory and immediately start making money.

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Low Cost of Inventory

A low-cost inventory is the best purpose of Dropshipping you may end up with obsolete inventory forcing you to find ways to reduce your stuff or you’ll end up with two little inventory leading to stock out and lost revenue.

Dropshipping allows you to avoid these issues and focuses on growing your customer base and building your brand.

Low Order Fulfilment Cost

Dropshipping lets a third party take care of the fulfilment cost. Your only job in this arrangement is to make sure they get your customer orders while everything else will be handled by them

Cons of Dropshipping

Poor Customer Service

In case your supplier delivers products late damages them deliver the wrong items are otherwise screws up your customer’s order the customer will take it out on you. As already mentioned this problem to order fulfilment needs time.

You won’t be able to maintain the personal tax that retailers who manage their inventory can provide customers and also won’t be able to quickly solve customer issues without overseeing the inventory yourself. You will have to deal with your suppliers to solve problems for your customers.

You can get stuff as the man in the middle in the process of helping your customers which can lead to issues with your suppliers who may take a long time to do what you ask them to do and with your customers who will quickly get tired of waiting a long time for their problems will be solved.

Also Read: How to start an atta business in India

Relying on Other People’s Stock

Being able to offer new products immediately or stop selling slow-moving products is a major benefit of dropshipping whereas the drawback to this purpose is that you don’t control the supplies inventory.

In case of measure any companies offer run out of stock it means that you run out of stock which will result in longer lead times and lost customers.

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Automation surely does make a difference in running a business whether small or large. It can be tricky and overwhelming at first to switch all the business processes to automation but not with Lio. 

Lio Automation gives you many amazing features that make your work super simple and effective. There are very many features that will help you and your business in various aspects. From connecting and staying in touch with your customers, to working together as a team, and everything in between, Lio Automation will truly make your business run smoothly and make it reach new heights of success.

If you are using Lio Automation for your business processes consider all your data safe and secure all the time. Not only is the data saved in the cloud, but it also offers a data versioning feature in which you can actually see the many changes the document or file has gone through and who has made those changes. You can save the version of the file as required by you. 

Since customers are a big part of any business and staying in touch with them is a crucial job, Lio automation gives you the ability to automate Whatsapp communications. Automating WhatsApp communication is another popular trend that businesses can benefit from. With the help of this, you would be able to save a lot of time, boost your customer retentions and renewals, save a lot of money, have lower operating costs and much more. 

Not just this, Team management and work allocation are made super easy with Lio Automation. You can also work with teams in real-time and see all the changes happening.

Another great feature that Lio Automation offers is colour formatting the sheet. Colour formatting can help bring information and more clarity to the audience. Applying colours to different parts of any data will let you narrate a more effective story that easily catches one’s attention as well.

You can create dashboards for each file which would give you the clear details of your company’s operations, marketing campaigns, sales and other analytics. This is one useful feature that would truly make a difference to your business and help your see all the processes clearly so that you can make well-informed decisions.

You can share invoices and receipts with your customers while also sharing the payment links with them to make the whole transaction process smoother and absolutely hassle-free for everyone. 

There are several other amazing Lio automation features that are made so that you and your business can benefit from them. Excited to know more about it? Start with your Lio automation process for your brand and start your journey to success. 

Step 1: Select the Language you want to work on. Lio on Android

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Step 2: Create your account using your Phone Number or Email Id.

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Verify the OTP and you are good to go.

Step 3: Select a template in which you want to add your data.

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Step 4: All Done? Share and Collaborate with your contacts.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Dropshipping Legal in India?

There isn’t any particular law yet but since it falls under the export section, you would require to make an Import Export Code for your business.

How much money can I earn from Dropshipping?

If you are speaking of dropshipping in India then this would range from profit between 20,000 and 5,000,000 per month.

Do I have to Pay Tax for my Dropshipping Business?

For dropshipping you are required to pay 2 types of taxes:

– Sales tax
– Income Tax

Which Companies offer Dropship?

There are many companies that offer to dropship. Among which the following are recommended:

– Oberlo
– Spocket
– Printify
– Importify

Can Dropshipping be a Full-Time Job?

Like everything dropshipping needs dedication and commitment in case you want it to be a full-time job. With problems to overcome, it can become a full-time job.

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6 Comments

  • Are running a dark store and dropshipping similar concepts?

    • Hello Vandan,
      thankyou for the question.
      Both are similar to an extent. Dropshipping is a business model where one can run their store without even holding an inventory. Once a sale is made, the supplier will directly ship the products from their warehouse to the customer’s doorstep, whereas a dark store is generally a large warehouse that can be used to facilitate a click-to-collect service where a customer collects the item which they have ordered online.

  • It sounds like dropshipping is a challenging yet profitable business. Thank you for this article. Got to learn about a new business idea.

    • Hi Bani,
      thankyou for your valuable feedback. Glad you found this informative.

  • This article is so knowledgeable. You have very clearly outlined the benefits and drawbacks of drop shipping.

    • Hello Kurian,

      I’m really appreciative of these thoughtful remarks.
      Glad this article was instructive for you.

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