Are you thinking of starting an eCommerce business using drop shipping as your fulfillment model? You must understand that dropshipping is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It requires patience and consistency to make it work successfully.
Dropshippers fail because they lack adequate knowledge, understanding, and skills to make their business profitable. They invest in costly Web sites and advertisements, thinking they will make more sales.
If you have not started a dropshipping business yet, it would be wise to join a training program like the Project Pioneer. It is a course and community managed by Connor Shelefontiuk. Connon is a self-made entrepreneur, and he has created this course to help dropshippers avoid some of the most common mistakes.
Following are some of the most common reasons dropshipping stores fail and the solutions offered by Connor Shelefontiuk.
Choosing the wrong niche:
One of the most common reasons that dropshipping stores fail is because they choose the wrong niche. The type of products you sell will determine whether or not your store will be profitable.
If you are planning to open an online boutique, for instance, do some market research and find out if there is a strong demand for what you plan to offer. If you discover that the niche you have chosen is already saturated with numerous drop shippers and big brand names, it would be better to choose another niche.
The Project Pioneer recommends choosing a category before finding a product. Rather than focusing your product research on a single niche.
Lack of market research:
Another reason why most dropshipping stores fail is that they lack market research. Before you start a business, you must take the time to do some market research and find out if there is a strong demand for what you plan to offer.
The Project Pioneer goes one step ahead and encourages you to do the testing. As a result, the potential sales of each product will be obvious. This is the best part about dropshipping business. Rather than getting stuck with extensive inventories of wrong products, you can test them and choose the best one.
Relying on organic traffic channels:
Dropshipping stores also fail because they rely too much on organic traffic channels like SEO and blogging. These are good traffic sources, but if your store is new in the market, it will take some time to start showing results online.
You need to invest in paid traffic channels like Google shopping ads or Facebook Ads. The Project Pioneer doesn’t even talk about SEO much. It gets straight to the point. From the very beginning, you will use Facebook Ads.
Poor PPC management:
When it comes to Facebook ads, it’s one thing to have the budget, but if you don’t know how to set them up and optimize them, you will lose money.
Dropshippers fail to achieve success because they do not know how to manage their PPC campaigns properly. Since you are selling products sourced from other manufacturers, you must spend some time learning about PPC management before starting your store.
The Project Pioneer has step-by-step video lessons that show how to set up Facebook ad campaigns and optimize them for ROAS.
Poor conversion rate:
Dropshippers fail to achieve success because their conversion rates are low. There could be many reasons for this, and you need to figure out the main reasons why customers are not buying from your store.
For instance, your Web site might have a poor design, or it might lack quality content. You need to optimize your Web site for better results.
Connon has dedicated multiple videos showing how to set up highly converting product landing pages.
Not having a proper support system:
Dropshipping stores fail because they do not have a proper support system in place. If customers are looking for assistance regarding your products, how will you deal with them? Do you have enough resources to handle customer complaints and emails? Is your team well trained to provide quality customer service?
No retargeting, cross-selling, or upselling:
Dropshipping stores also fail because they do not adopt the use of retargeting, cross-selling, or upselling. You can easily set up a Facebook pixel to retarget ads for your products and offers on the Web site. Or you can create coupon codes for your most expensive product and deliver it with special discounts to generate more sales. This is covered in the email and SMS module of the Project Pioneer course.
You will learn about the tools and techniques that you can use for subscription-based marketing. You will also learn how to set up retargeting ad campaigns.
Selling hard to ship products:
Dropshipping stores fail because they sell hard-to-ship products like cosmetics and fragrances or big-ticket items like tablets and expensive watches. If you choose these types of products, then shipping will cost a significant amount and it won’t be easy to stay profitable.
Not expanding & trying new products:
Dropshipping stores also fail because they neglect to expand their product line or try new products. You need to ensure that your Web site offers a wide variety of products so you can attract the attention of more customers and boost sales.
The Project Pioneer stresses finding new products as soon as you have started to make profits with one. This allows you to expand at the right time and the right place.
Before starting a dropshipping business, it is crucial to know the top reasons most dropshippers fail. The critical factor is to understand your margins and risk tolerance before starting. Don’t invest too much up front or get in over your head with an inventory. This way, even if sales aren’t what they should be, at least there won’t be any lost money – just time invested.
