Dropshipping Logistics 101: A Basic Guide
Mar 25th, 2020 5 Min Read
Businesses tag efficiency as a major priority. For retailers, this means constantly searching for various business models that would optimize their entire order fulfillment workflow while satisfying their clients’ demands. These days, e-commerce businesses are turning to drop shipping logistics for selling and shipping products to maximize profits, given that they can sell and deliver orders without having to store inventory and handle deliveries.
But just how exactly does this business model work? When is dropshipping prohibited? Is dropshipping even profitable in 2020?
How Does Drop Shipping Work?
Online retailers either adopt the dropshipping business model or add drop shipping as a fulfillment option. Dropshipping, after all, relies on the wholesalers or manufacturers that produce, inventory, and ship the products directly to the client. Simply put, an e-commerce seller takes orders and forwards them to the suppliers, who then will deliver the goods at the clients’ doorstep. Retailers act as the mediator and handle customer support and marketing of the goods. On the other hand, it is the dropshipping suppliers who handle the entire order fulfillment process.
Fulfillment vs. Dropshipping Companies
People often use dropshipping fulfillment companies interchangeably with dropshipping businesses. Both use an outsourced order fulfillment solution; however, they are not the same.
A drop shipping fulfillment center requires purchasing inventory in volumes and does not manufacture or produce the product. On the other hand, a drop-ship direct firm only lists and sells products that they do not own or manufacture and has suppliers that produce, pack, and ship the products ordered directly to the customer.
How Profitable is Dropshipping Business?
CSA scores are calculated on the scale of 0 to100; “100” showing the worst and “0” showing the best performance. The question “how many CSA points makes it a bad score?” is regularly asked. There’s no one answer, but here are different thresholds based on different categories:
The dropshipping business model is attractive for many, given its many advantages, such as:
Low Capital Expenditure and Operating Costs
Dropshipping eliminates the need for a large amount of startup capital since there are no warehouses to buy or lease, and no inventory to stock up on. E-commerce sellers can focus on marketing their brand and products they sell rather than shell out funds for storage and stocks, two of the biggest expenses in retailing.
Manufacturers have reported an increase of 53% in their profit margins with drop shipping while online retailers have recorded a reduction of 50% in their costs, thanks to the elimination of costs related to inventory and storage.
More Flexibility
Dropshipping takes out the challenges of physical inventory, which in turn provides online retailers with more flexibility to update their inventories swiftly and at a cheaper cost. Plus, online retailers can quickly offer products that are selling fast in their competitors’ eCommerce platforms without the risk of being stuck with inventories of slow-moving products. This business model, however, is not without its downside that entrepreneurs who want to venture in dropshipping should know.
Less Inventory Control
There’s a drawback in being able to offer new products quickly or pulling out slow-selling ones from the platform: there’s little control over the drop shipper’s inventory. What this means is sellers cannot offer stocks when their suppliers run out of them, as handling inventories is the responsibility of someone else. Retailers are blind to the full supply chain and have zero influence on the supply chain operations of suppliers.
Customer Dissatisfaction
Customer satisfaction relies heavily on the performance of suppliers. Retailers must be prepared for dissatisfied customers if a dropshipping company fails to deliver products on time, provides damaged products, or has the wrong merchandise, even if the fault lies with the supplier. Every error on the part of the dropshipping firm could negatively affect the seller’s performance.
Smaller Profit Margins
Retailers are unable to avail wholesale prices of manufacturers, which results in a smaller overall profit margin. To achieve optimal profit margins via the dropshipping models, sellers will have to sell higher volumes of products than what they could have produced and stored themselves.
Is Dropshipping Legal?
There’s nothing illegal about the dropshipping business model. In fact, there are plenty of dropshipping direct companies operating in the United States. These companies are regulated as they are required to keep a USA reseller permit in good standing. Foreign-based dropshipping entities have different tax regulatory requirements as well.
More and more online retailers are looking into dropshipping to maximize their profits. Just like with any other business model, this inventory and shipping logistics have its pros and cons, which any startups or existing enterprises should weigh carefully.
DispatchTrack is a leading provider of SaaS solutions that enable end-to-end optimization of operations and customer experiences in last-mile delivery. The company’s platform includes modular tools for self-scheduling, route optimization, customer communication, real-time tracking and ETA, proof of delivery, and delivery network intelligence and analytics. With customers across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia, DispatchTrack is used by thousands of businesses of all sizes, and many multi-billion-dollar enterprises across a wide range of industries including furniture, appliances, building supplies, food, and beverage. More than 60 million scheduled delivery experiences are powered by DispatchTrack each year. For more information, visit www.dispatchtrack.com
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