If you are planning on starting a WordPress dropshipping business, you are in the right place. Dropshipping is a profitable way of making money online and even starting an alternate source of income.
You too can start a WordPress Dropshipping business quickly with the tools available today. In this article, we will be creating a dropshipping store on a WordPress website without touching a single line of code using the dropshipping plugin, AliDropShip.
Dropshipping is a reliable business model that is gaining popularity at a swift pace. There are many things involved in starting a dropshipping business, and if you too want to start your store, don’t worry about it. Here, we will be discussing everything you require and everything you need to do to start a WordPress dropshipping store. Just sit back and read on.
Creating a store might be intimidating at first, but don’t worry about it a lot. Many people have started dropshipping and are very successful with the same. Even if you are worried about finances, you can stop stressing over it since you can start your dropshipping store without any seed fund. Yes, it is possible! Wanna know how? Read on!
If you have just heard about dropshipping and are not sure what happens in a typical dropshipping business, here is a quick explanation for you.
WordPress Dropshipping: What is Dropshipping?
In a typical dropshipping business, you set a store online and start selling products that you do not own to your customers at a price set by you. Here in this business model, your compensation comes from making the product reach the targeted audience easily and bridging the gap between the vendor and the customer.
You can list the product at a price decided by you, which is already registered on the site you are dropshipping from. This way, you bridge the gap between the end customer and the vendor.
How Dropshipping Business Model Works?
In a Dropshipping business, there are three parties involved.
- Product vendor
- Dropshipping business owner
- End customer
The dropshipping business owner sets up an online store and starts listing the products which are already listed by the vendor on the original website. The dropshipping website owner adds its markup fee to the product which is often much higher than the original listing. The customer finds the product from the dropshipping website and places an order. Now the order is forwarded to the original product vendor, and he then ships the ordered product to the end customer. The Dropshipping owner keeps their share in profits and forwards the cost amount to the original vendor.
If this is still a little confusing to you, here is an example. Since you will be starting a dropshipping business, let’s take you as the dropshipping business owner.
You have a website and are selling products from a vendor who lists their products on AliExpress.com(top-rated dropshipping store). You get an order for a vacuum cleaner on your website from, let’s say, Sweden. Now, you forward that order and pay the listing price to the original vendor on AliExpress and then the vendor who is in China delivers the product directly to the customer who is in Sweden. Hence an order is completed successfully.
This way you made the sale on behalf of the supplier or vendor in China to a customer in Sweden without worrying about the product delivery, shipping, packaging, etc. and made a good percentage on the same as well! It sounds like a perfect business model, right? It is!
I am sure with the above example; you have a better understanding of what happens in a dropshipping business.
Perks of Starting a Dropshipping Business
I am sure you see some of the perks of starting a dropshipping business, but why don’t we go ahead and see what all dropshipping has to offer?
Here is a list of all the benefits of starting a dropshipping business.
Global Reach
Since you are selling online, you can start trading on a global scale. You need to make sure the product vendor has a global supply. Often most of the product platforms like AliExpress has a global supply available.
High Profits
Since you are not responsible for packaging, shipping, delivery, or any other stuff, you are technically saving all of that money from being spent on the tasks mentioned above. The original vendor or the seller will be taking care of delivering, packaging, storing of the products, and at the same time, you will focus more on marketing and selling.
Beginner Friendly
Are you a newcomer in website setup and WordPress? No need to worry at all! We will be setting up our website without touching a single piece of code. You need to have a little knowledge of how everything is done and enough motivation and enthusiasm to keep you going.
Rest, everything you need to know is covered in this article. You can start your website quickly with very little capital that is required. You only pay when you receive an order.
No Restrictions
Are you interested in selling car parts? Cool! Are you a tech person and would instead start a tech store? No problem!
Since there are more than 100 million listings of various products on popular platforms like AliExpress.com, you do not have to worry about settling to a niche that you do not like. You can sell anything you want as far as there is a vendor store for the same.
Expansion Possibilities
Every businessperson wants to expand. No doubt in that but most of the time in traditional businesses, the owners are more engaged in maintaining inventories, packaging, shipping, etc. With a dropshipping business, you do not have to worry about all of that. Your vendor will be taking care of that, and you will have more time to expand your store by adding as many more products you want.
These points are the core reasons why more and more people are attracted to dropshipping. Now you know the benefits as well, and I am sure you can’t wait to learn how you can start your dropshipping business.
Let’s see how you can do that!
WordPress Dropshipping: Getting Started with Dropshipping
We will be setting up our Dropshipping store using WordPress. It is one of the most preferred content management systems out there. If you don’t have a live WordPress website, we will have a quick look at how you can set it up. Then we will jump to how you can start dropshipping business on your WordPress website.
Setting Up Your WordPress Website
The first thing to start a dropshipping business is making a website. To start a website easily and quickly, you need WordPress. A super popular and fast CMS which is powering more than 33 percent of the sites out there. WordPress is one of the most preferred CMS on the internet as it powers every third website. We will be setting up our website with WordPress as well. Apart from WordPress, we need two other things. Hosting and Domain.
Domain Selection
The domain is the web address that you type in the search bar of the website. You can look up in the search bar above, and the name between the two dots(.), i.e., wplift is the domain for this website.
Domain plays a considerable role in the branding of your store, and since the name you go with will be the brand. So you need to make sure you select the right name for your domain.
The domain name you go with should reflect what your store is about. When a reader reads the domain name, they must understand and should be able to guess what your store is selling. Think about the products you will be selling and the region you want to sell them. You can combine these keywords to find the perfect name for your online store.
You can try the domains you want by entering them on Godaddy or any domain registrar. If you find the right domain available, you can go ahead and buy that. SiteGround is a good registrar which you can use.
Hosting Plan
You have the domain, and now you need a good hosting. Hosting is the server that keeps your website live and alive. You need the right hosting provider since you are planning to launch an online store.
Your hosting provider must meet all the requirements there are for any online store. It also should have good scalability if you start growing quickly. If your hosting providers’ servers are not scalable and reliable enough, it will impact your site a lot.
Also, the host plays a vital role in the speed and functionality of the website. If your server and host are not effectively configured, you will have a hard time with the speed and smoothness of the website. A drop is just a single second of your website load-time can cost you a lot of traffic and customers.
When it comes to the right hosting provider, there are various options out there. For a reliable hosting for our readers, we always recommend Siteground. Siteground offers multiple hosting plans. You can go ahead and check out their hosting plans and packages on their website.
They also offer the one-click WordPress install, so you do not have to worry about going in the backend and installing WordPress manually. You can do that in just a single click.
Setting Up WordPress
WordPress is the most popular CMSs out there, and you too can use WordPress to set up your dropshipping website. WordPress has more than 66% of the market share in the websites built using a CMS. On top of everything, since WordPress is an open-source project, you do not have to pay anything for it. You get it for free!
If you have selected any popular hosting provider like Siteground, I am sure you would have got the WordPress installer or WordPress pre-installed. If you do not have WordPress pre-installed, you can co-ordinate with your hosting provider and get it installed. Or, if you would instead do it yourself, you can get the WordPress ZIP file here.
Once you get it all together, you will have a login and a password to login to your WordPress dashboard. You can log in by entering /wp-admin along with the domain you selected and then keying in your login credentials. Once you are done, we will go-ahead to the next step that is picking your dropshipping supplier.
Selecting Your Dropshipping Supplier
The next thing you need to do is select the right reliable dropshipping supplier or the vendor. There are quite a few dropshipping suppliers out there like Alibaba, AliExpress, Doba, MegaGood, etc. You need to choose an excellent dropshipping supplier for your business.
Things to check before selecting a dropshipping supplier:
Here are some of the things that you need to make sure of when you are selecting your dropshipping supplier or vendor.
- Reliability – This is one of the essential factors in selecting a dropshipping supplier. A right supplier must be reliable enough so you can sell their products without having to worry about what your users might receive.
- Order Quantity – Some vendors only deliver big orders or have a minimum order quantity. Since you will be dropshipping, you need a supplier who provides single orders as well. This will help you in boosting your dropshipping orders as well.
- Reviews – Reviews tells a lot about who you are dealing with. Check on reliable platforms about the dropshipping business you are going to go with. A considerable part of any dropshipping business relies on the right vendor. If your vendor is not someone who you can depend on, then, you must look for an alternate vendor.
- Return Policy – Although this might vary from vendor to vendor major good stores like AliExpress offers buyers protection which protects you in case there is a dispute in an order.
- Products Availability – Another important aspect is that you should check that the product you are looking for is available on that store or not. If the product is not available or you have a limited range of products, it is not advisable to go with the dropshipping supplier.
- Prices – The price matters a lot. Since you will be having your margin, you need to make sure that the price you are paying is reasonable enough. If the price is a lot, it will reduce your margin for and thus will result in low profits.
AliExpress is one of the most renowned names in the dropshipping industry. It offers reasonable rates, buyer protection, single order option, is reliable and overall a good name in the industry. All this is affected a lot by the product suppliers you choose, but overall, people mostly prefer to go with AliExpress only. Regarding products, there are more than 100 million listings on AliExpress, so you will likely find your product there.
In this tutorial, we will be setting up our store with Dropshipping with AliExpress using AliDropShip.
Choosing the Right Niche
The niche you go with matters a lot. Even if you have some products in your mind, you need to make sure the niche is profitable. So, the first thing you need to do to look into the products you will be selling.
Here are the things you need to check:
Popularity
The first thing you need to check while choosing a niche is checking how popular your niche is. You can also take a look at the popular products on AliExpress. This will give you an idea about what you should be selling. You can also check the popularity of the product niche on Google trends.
Competition
If you are going for a trendy niche like Beauty Products, chances are you will face good competition. You can always check your competition by searching related keywords on Google and visiting the pages that pop up. If there is a lot of competition, try reconsidering. If there is less competition, you can go ahead!
Product Categories and Supply
The product category you are going for must be wide enough to give you enough room to select from various vendors. If you only have a handful of vendors, you might be restricted related to the prices and other factors. So, find a popular product category. Go to AliExpress and enter the product keyword in the search bar. If you have a good amount of results, go for it.
Prices
The prices you get from the vendors tell a lot about the profitability and sustainability of your business. Look for the products which are low in cost and sell for much higher prices in the region you are targeting. Ideally, you should make sure that the price you are getting is at least half of what you plan on selling.
By keeping all the points mentioned above, you will be able to find the right niche for your product. If you want to be double sure, you can check the niche for profitability using the Find Your Niche Tool.
WordPress Dropshipping: Choosing the Best Dropshipping Plugin
Now to make the dropshipping process as easy as possible, you need to select a dropshipping tool. An excellent tool will help you in customizing your store, maximizing orders, keeping most tasks on automation and will help your business grow as well.
There are many dropshipping plugins out there, such as AliDropShip, WooDropShip, Spocket, and they all are reliable enough to set up your dropshipping store. You can choose any plugin you wish based on their features, pricing, reviews, etc.
I will be setting up the AliExpress store with the AliDropShip plugin. It is a very reliable, fast, and highly customizable plugin for WordPress dropshipping. If you are unable to decide on a plugin, you can set up your store with the AliDropShip plugin for WordPress dropshipping.
You can get this plugin here and then you can load this on your website by logging in to your site’s WP Admin Dashboard and then going to Plugins and clicking on Add New. Upload the plugin there and click on the Activate button.
Choosing the Best Dropshipping Theme
The next thing you need to do is selecting a theme for your website. A theme is a layout and the structure of how your website looks and functions. So, you need to pay proper attention to this step.
Since we are setting up our store with AliDropShip, we will be selecting our theme from the list of supported themes which you can browse here. Don’t forget to check our review on the Andy Warhol Dropshipping theme.
There are 10+ themes that you can choose from. You can even see the live demo of the theme, which will give you the correct display of how your theme looks. I recommend going with the Da Vinci theme. It has a clean and sleek look that will look perfect for every theme design. You can choose any theme you want as long it is compatible with AliDropShip.
Choose the theme you want and then Go to Appearance > Themes. Click on the Upload Theme button and select the theme and click on the Install Now button. Once installed, click on the Activate button.
Now you have both the theme and the plugin setup in your dropshipping store.
WordPress Dropshipping: WooCommerce
Many people believe that dropshipping on WordPress can only be done with the help of WooCommerce, as it is the most popular plugin for setting up a store on WordPress, but it is not entirely true.
You can always dropship on your store using WooCommerce, but on the other hand, you can do it without WooCommerce as well. AliDropShip comes in 2 versions. One is AliDropShip and the second one is AliDropShip WOO WooCommerce.
If you are confused about which version to go with, here is how you can select. Just answer these questions.
- Do you have a deep understanding of WooCommerce plugin and how it works?
- Do you have a website set up already with WooCommerce?
If the answer to the above questions is YES, then you can go with AliDropShip Woo Plugin which works along with WooCommerce. If the answer to the above questions is NO, then answer these questions.
- Are you making your website for the first time from scratch?
- Are you not familiar with WooCommerce or eCommerce in general?
- And, are you looking for an easy solution that makes the job fast and less expensive?
If the answer to these questions is YES, then I would strongly recommend you to go with the AliDropShip original plugin. It makes the process a lot easier and faster.
In this tutorial as well, we will be using the AliDropShip original plugin, which functions without WooCommerce plugin.
Setting Up your Dropshipping WordPress Store with AliDropShip
Now, we will be customizing the Dropshipping store using AliExpress. You must have noticed the AliDropShip button on the left menu. Here is where we will customize the store. Let’s start with the store customization.
You can check the full customization step by step instructions here.
Customizing the Store
The first thing you need to do is to alter the contents and the looks of your store.
AliDropShip allows you to customize every part of the website using the settings option. Click on the Customization button on the left and then click on the sub-menu which you want to customize.
You can customize the layout and the contents of the Header, footer, single page, products category, about us, thank you page, checkout page, 404, customer account, and whatnot. You get the liberty to alter every aspect of your WordPress dropshipping store and make it look like the way you want.
Just click on the respective option and change the attribute you want for that specific option. You can do this repeatedly and can keep updating your website whenever required.
Setting Up Currencies, Payments, and Pricing
The next thing you need to do is set up currencies. You can change the default currency and can even enable the geolocation currency option, which displays the money based on the customer’s location. You can make these changes by going to Settings > Currencies and making the desired changes.
The next important thing that needs to be taken care of is setting up Payments. You need to add the required details so that you can accept payments to your online store easily. For this, go to Alidropship > Settings. Now click on the Payments option. Here you will see various boxes for various payment modes. You can set up payments via Paypal, Credit cards, Debit cards, and even COD or Cash on Delivery option for payment. Enter the required details, and you will be good to go.
Now, the last step you need to set up is the pricing and markup. AliDropShip offers various predefined rules for markup and pricing which you can implement with just a single click. You can click on a single button, i.e., Add Recommended, and it will add seven rules for pricing markup automatically. These rules have been proven to be the best mix of price markup.
To set pricing and markup for your products, you need to go to AliDropShip > Settings option and then clicking on the Pricing option.
Here, you can also set a custom formula for a category of products, or you can even add custom markups price percentages.
Adding Products to Your AliExpress Dropshipping Store
Now the store is ready. We have designed the layout, set up the pages, added the currencies, configured payments, and the product pricing markup rules. Now the last thing which is required to do here is adding the products to your store.
Adding products can look an intimidating task, but in fact, it is straightforward to do. You need to download the AliDropShip Google Chrome Extension. With this extension, you will be able to add products to your website easily by just a couple of clicks.
Download the chrome extension and connect it with your store by logging in. Once you have done that, you can now easily add products to your website.
Let’s see how you can do that. First, go to AliExpress.com. You would notice a bar at the top of the page. This is the bar that will help us in adding the products to our website. Start looking for the products you want to add to your website.
Now, once you find the product you wish to add, you need to click on the Import button. All the details related to the product will be imported to your website. If you wish to change the details of the products before they are added to your website, you can change them by clicking on the Edit button and changing the details you want. You can also change the details after you have added the products to your website.
AliDropShip also allows you to add an entire category page to your store too. You need to open the category page on AliExpress.com and to click on the Import button.
WordPress Dropshipping – Going Live With Your Dropshipping Store
Now since you have all the things required to run a dropshipping store, you can launch your dropshipping store and start doing business right away. Do remember to place a dummy order yourself to check if everything is working fine or not.
You can even do a campaign for your website launch or store launch so that you can attract more and more readers and potential customers to your store.
For any dropshipping store, marketing is the most important factor since you are bridging the gap between seller and buyer. So, you need to focus on marketing your store to the end customer a lot.
Let me know your thoughts and what niche you are going to target by commenting it down below.
