A step-by-step guide to starting a branded dropshipping business
The dropshipping business model allows us to sell suppliers’ products without stocking up the inventory. In this business model, we work as an order fulfillment agency. We take orders by marketing products to potential audiences and then place orders with actual buyers’ names and addresses to the supplier companies; they will be responsible for shipping the product. People might receive the products with the actual manufacturer or supplier’s name in this model.
In contrast, Branded dropshipping enables us to stand out in our business in the fiercely competitive dropshipping market. It is a way to dropship unbranded products under your brand without stocking up products or holding any inventory. And ultimately, it allows us to stay ahead of our competitors and enjoy unprecedented sales growth at higher margins.
But what is needed to start a branded dropshipping store? This blog will thoroughly discuss the steps to lay the foundation of a successful branded dropshipping store.
How to start a branded dropshipping business?
The ‘branded dropshipping’ store is way better than the ‘traditional dropshipping business’ model as it lets us deliver unbranded products under our brand name.
We have compiled a five steps guide for discussing the experts tested tips to establish an exceptional branded dropshipping store with lucrative success rates. If you’re planning to start a dropshipping store and want to taste success, you need to look at this branded dropshipping guide.
1. Find a hot product
Brainstorm to find a hot product with higher sales, margins, and lower competition. Product research is the most crucial step to laying the foundation of a successful dropshipping store. What you choose to sell will impact every other effort made to run a branded dropshipping store.
You may try one of the following tricks to get the in-demand product ideas,
- Offline market visits – Visit the nearest wholesale and traditional markets to find the unique products that may are not available in other regions of your targeted market.
- Social media analysis – Analyze the different social media users’ interactions with a particular niche product by scrolling through the SM news feed and social media pages/groups.
- Keyword research – It is another fabulous trick to look at the search volume for a particular product.
- Top sellers – Looking at top sellers on Amazon, AliExpress, or any other top-notch eCommerce platform can help you pick up a hot product or niche for your branded dropshipping store.
2. Create a catchy brand name and logo
It’s time to create a catchy name and logo after finalizing the niche for your dropshipping store. Brand name and logo are crucial in setting up the marketing strategies and catching the targeted audience’s attention.
You may look at the following characteristics while finalizing the brand name for your dropshipping module,
- Short and simple – Don’t create a complicated brand name that may confuse your audience. Choose a short, simple brand name that can easily adjust within marketing pitches and align with the product names and descriptions. Similarly, it becomes complicated to align the lengthy brand names with product meta titles because of the limited character bar.
- Easy to remember – Create a brand name that is easy to pronounce and remember. It will be great to have an easy-to-remember brand name that stays in peoples’ heads for more time.
- Represent the niche – An ideal brand name must represent your chosen niche. It will be a great business loss if people can’t get an idea of your business niche after looking at the brand name.
Logo can help you make the brand name more meaningful and powerful to grab potential customers’ attention. Hiring a professional logo designer to get a unique, catchy, colorful logo design to represent your brand is better.
It is not prohibited to design a logo by yourself if you have the skills. Research color palettes and fonts to find the perfect one for your brand representation. Colors and fonts can trigger viewers for a particular action; you might find the best one to design a professional logo for your dropshipping brand.
Creating a catchy name and logo is not enough to give users a branded website feel. Your branded drop shipping website must have the following web pages with positive UI and UX.
- Home Page
- Category Page
- Product Pages
- Refund Page
- Privacy Policy
- Contact us
3. Find private label suppliers
You need to find the product supplier after establishing the branded dropshipping website. We need to find private-label product suppliers as we’re doing branded drop shipping. White-label products are the only solution to dropship under your brand name.
Private label product suppliers will ship the products to clients under our brand name, making our dropshipping store a brand. Product sourcing apps can help you in finding white-label products. We have compiled a list of a few well-reputed product sourcing apps below. You can use these apps to find white-label products.
- Oberlo
- DSers
- EPROLO
- Drispshipper
- Spocket
- Creative Hub
- Syncee
- AliDropship
After finalizing a product sourcing app for your dropshipping store, you can import the product to your store. Now, write creative, catchy, and unique product descriptions for your products and use high-quality product images and videos. Product images and videos can better describe a product’s features and trigger viewers to purchase.
Ensure to remove the manufacturer company logos from the product images and video; if manufacturers’ or suppliers’ logo is pasted on the video/images.
4. Verify suppliers’ companies
In dropshipping, the business owner doesn’t have the control and checks on product quality as neither your business has inventory nor you’re a manufacturer. It makes suppliers’ companies’ verification crucial before considering their products to display at your store.
You can take the help of business verifying agencies like verifyfull.com to verify a particular supplier’s business details and market reputation. You may need an extra $78 to $168 from your dropshipping business budget to verify white-label product suppliers’ details. But, spending this money will be worthwhile to ensure quality products and grow the business in the longer term.
Dropshippers generally stock a product that got viral with a special order ratio; the business verification process can help you in this scenario to verify the manufacturers’ details and get quality products at incredible prices.
5. Market your business
It’s time to design a marketing strategy to capture your potential audience and establish the brand’s identity. Social media platforms can help you advertise the business and establish the brand identity. Depending on your budget, you may follow the enlisted marketing tactics to establish a brand reputation and enjoy substantial growth.
- Social Media Advertising – social media is a great way to promote a business and find a potential audience from a particular region. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube are some amazing social media platforms that can boost your branded dropshipping business. Again, depending on your products and marketing budget, video advertising can bring more exceptional results than other advertising mediums. You may go for YouTube or TikTok advertising to taste success in no time.
- SEO – You can’t ignore SEO to enjoy free marketing and brand exposure. SEO takes time to bring results, but it’s the only option to enjoy free marketing. You may consider it to achieve long-term goals.
- Influencer marketing – If you can afford you must go for influencer marketing. Approach social media influencers related to your business niche on different social media platforms and make a deal with them to share your promotional content. Influencers’ marketing is distinct and powerful; it is the fastest track for brand building in this digital age.
Is it legitimate to do branded dropshipping?
What is the legal status of branded dropshipping? You may be thinking about the legitimacy of the branded dropshipping model. Well, it’s 100% legal to do branded drop shipping. You can do branded dropshipping on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or any other eCommerce platform. Similarly, you can develop a personalized website on WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, or any other CMS to do branded drop shipping. It is legal in the USA, UK, Europe, and nearly all around the globe until you follow the targeted country and eCommerce platforms’ rules and regulations.
Final Words | A step-by-step guide to starting a branded dropshipping business
The US e-retail market is expected to hit $1 trillion in 2022 first time in history, making it the best time to initiate dropshipping business, whether it’s a branded drop shipping or a general dropshipping model. After covid-19, we have witnessed an unprecedented surge in the e-shopping trend. That’s why it’s better to initiate a dropshipping store now instead of wasting precious time googling dropshipping benefits.
You can develop a successful branded dropshipping store by following the five enlisted steps,
- Find a hot product
- Create a catchy brand name and logo
- Find private label suppliers
- Verify suppliers’ companies
- Market your business
It does not matter which dropshipping model or niche you choose. What matters most is consistency and learning from failures to taste success. Keep going to learn and improve from experiences and failures to pave the road to success for your branded dropshipping business.