Torchbanks estimates that more than one-third of e-commerce enterprises use the drop shopping approach, as reported on Alibaba.com.
Interestingly, an article on Alibaba’s website promotes dropshipping from the Chinese supplier platform. While many associate Ali Express with drop shipping, it is possible to drop ship from Alibaba suppliers, cutting out the middleman.
Experts estimate that drop shipping will be worth $500 billion by 2027, according to Shopify.
Dropshipping is a business concept in which retailers accept customer orders and then forward them to suppliers for fulfillment. With dropshipping, businesses sell a product by purchasing it from a third party, who then sends it to the client.
Dropshipping lowers the cost of starting a business because you do not need to invest in inventory.
One of the disadvantages of dropshipping is that you depend on the supplier to deliver the product, so strong communication is vital.
Another issue, according to the article, is that dropshipping has become highly competitive. Therefore, choosing the right niche and finding a good supplier is critical.
Ariel Ben Solomon is the Growth and Strategy manager at Ecomhunt. He is the host of the Ecomhunt Podcast. Can be followed on Twitter at @ArielBenSolomon
