A Complete Guide to Starting a Shopify Dropshipping Store in 2024

Nowadays, the demand for shopping online using Shopify dropshipping stores has increased more than ever. People cannot always physically go to the stores to buy the products they need. This is why it is convenient and safe to buy things needed in everyday life from different Shopify dropshipping stores.

Shopping from Shopify dropshipping stores does not require too much effort and is less time-consuming. As a customer, you can place your order using a few simple steps, and after waiting for a few business days, your desired product reaches your doorstep.

How do Shopify dropshipping stores work?

Shopify dropshipping stores are much easier to run than brick-and-mortar stores. As a seller, you don't have to keep the products in stock as you get them from third-party suppliers after the customer places the order, and then the product is shipped directly to the location of the buyer.

The best thing about running a Shopify dropshipping store is that you need minimum investment as you don't have to buy the products by making upfront payments, nor must you own the products that you are willing to sell. As an individual or an agency, you can independently experiment with this business model as it has minimum risk.

Many people don't have enough resources to invest in buying products before they start getting orders from their customers. This is the restriction that was eliminated by the dropshipping business model embraced by Shopify.

Without having to own or rent a huge warehouse to stock the products, similar to cloud computing, managing a Shopify dropshipping store is an attractive idea for many new e-commerce entrepreneurs.

A crucial point to consider when working on your Shopify dropshipping store is finding good suppliers and connecting your store to them using apps like Oberlo.

You will want to find trending best-selling products for your target customers. The Oberlo app, owned by Shopify, lets you connect your store to AliExpress, a marketplace based in China and owned by Alibaba. 

You find millions of products on AliExpress, and you can see the sales statistics of each product as well as the reputation of each supplier directly on AliExpress. Likewise, Oberlo shows you the sales statistics of products from AliExpress sold on Shopify stores by other dropshippers.

Oberlo offers an automated and optimized app where you are instantly notified as a store owner as soon as the customer places an order.

To fulfill your buyer's demand, you must read the specific order details carefully and buy the product from your supplier with the help of the Oberlo app. Your supplier will ship the order directly to your customer, so you don't have to worry about the logistics.

 Latest statistics and trends about Shopify dropshipping stores

Below is a table showing the revenue and the users of Shopify stores from different countries around the world. These are the latest statistics and trends given by Shopify itself for 2021.

Most profitable Shopify dropshipping store niches

As the old saying goes: “If you can measure it, you can improve it”. Numerous free online tools can be used to measure the demand for products in the market.

The most profitable e-commerce niches of this year are listed below:

1. Women's clothing: Between 2021 and 2025, it is predicted that this niche will grow by 7.2% annually. And by 2025, the women's clothing industry is expected to reach 55% of the market share.

2. Vehicle accessories: It is advisable to choose an accessory-heavy niche. Buyers are less cost-conscious about buying accessories to make their most expensive cars more comfortable. You can enjoy a wider profit margin in this niche.

3. Phone and camera accessories: People are a lot less cost-conscious about purchasing accessories for their expensive smartphones, laptops, and TV.

4. Home improvement tools: The special thing about this niche is that it has lots of styles and variations, which means that its demand in the market is high. For example, if you look for indoor and outdoor lighting, you will find them in millions of different innovative styles. Customers would be attracted to use them to improve their houses.

5. Gaming accessories: The gaming industry is bound to grow in the coming years, and so is the demand for its accessories.

6. Bedroom, office, and home decor: Bedding is one of the most personalized product categories. Indeed, almost everyone on Earth spends at least 4 to 10 hours a day sleeping. There is a risk that the customer may not be satisfied with the comfort level or size of the bedding ordered online, which can result in higher chances of returns.
   
   It is not advisable to select this niche for your Shopify dropshipping stores. Instead, you must focus more on the wall decoration items and lighting options for bedrooms with higher demand.
   
   
7. Grocery and kitchen appliances: This is an everyday use item in high demand. There is hardly any home on Earth that does not rely on groceries and other edible items or food preparation appliances. You can sell kitchen accessories, the main thing is not to sell food as it is riskier.

8. Personal hygiene and health care: Constant awareness created by organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), has led to an increased demand for products like hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and bleaches. This does not mean that it is good to sell these products because you might have problems promoting them on Facebook Ads or other platforms due to their advertising policies. 
   
   However, the demand for hygiene products is expected to continue to be strong in the years to come. You could sell some safe accessories related to this niche.
   
   Also, when you are dropshipping, you shouldn't be selling products that require special permission or that people put on their skin because they might have allergic reactions. The safety aspect should be the number 1 priority, especially since you don't have constant quality control with your dropshipping supplier.

9. Baby accessories: Both parents never hesitate to make the best investments to make their baby comfortable. This is why the demand for baby accessories and products in Shopify stores is high, as parents prefer to shop online than visit the stores physically.
   
   However, we do not recommend you sell products for babies as it’s too risky when doing dropshipping. Imagine what could happen to the baby if your product is defective. You do not have any proper quality control on the products sent by your Chinese supplier. Instead, you could focus on selling products only used by the mom, for example, a diaper bag.

Trending Products for Shopify dropshipping stores

If you are new to e-commerce, the list below might inspire you in your research of the products that you could sell on your Shopify dropshipping store:

1. Automatic soap dispenser: When you come home from outside, it is advisable not to touch anything but go straight to the tap to wash your hands. Automatic soap dispensers are instant germ killers. Nowadays, great awareness is created about viral diseases, so the demand for these touchless soap dispensers has skyrocketed.

2. Air fryers: There is a big difference between conventional fryers and air fryers. Conventional fryers needed a large quantity of oil to fry the food properly, and it was really difficult to clean them after that. Every year around Christmas time, there is a high demand for air fryers as cooks want to get rid of the mess of frying food manually.
   
   However, look at the delivery cost considering the important weight, and ensure the product meets safety standards before selling this type of device.

3. Air purifying plants: More and more people suffer from eye and nose allergies. The demand for large-leafed plants is high in the market because they remove allergens from the air.
   
   To prevent damages, the buyer has to make an extra payment for special shipping, and it is better to find a supplier close to your customers. Indeed, you certainly don't want to send a plant from China to the USA with a few weeks' delivery time.

4. Air purifier: This product is really necessary for every factory, home, and office, especially if a few members of your family or staff are smokers and others are not. Since 2018, the demand for this product has been increasing in the market, so it can be profitable for you. As usual, pay attention to the weight for shipping and compliance with safety standards.  

5. Bedside lamps: This premium product is both aesthetic and functional. As they don't need any installation, bedside lamps are best to be gifted to a loved one. There is a great variation in such lamps, so they are more profitable in niche marketing.

6. Doormat: The doormat is not an innovative product, but it still has a community of customers who like the aesthetic aspect and don't focus on the product's functionality.

7. Dog bed: Some people have sensitive skin, and allowing dogs to sleep in your bed or lay on your furniture can cause allergies. A dog bed is the most comfortable option for countries with cold climates. Over the past few years, the demand for dog beds has exploded, and people are searching for them all the time.

How to launch a Shopify dropshipping store from scratch?

If you are new to the e-commerce industry and are willing to launch an online store, here are some simple steps you can follow to start your Shopify dropshipping store:

Step 1: Invest time and money

Let's get this straight, starting a new Shopify dropshipping store requires a lot of your attention. You have to spend a lot of time on it to increase your chances of success. You will also need to invest money to pay for your Shopify subscription or your hosting service if you use WooCommerce.

On top of that, you have to pay your suppliers for the products. Your biggest costs will probably be in marketing, especially if you use paid advertising like Google or Facebook Ads. So you need to budget a few hundred to a few thousand US dollars or equivalent to get started.

Step 2: Research thoroughly the SEO strategy of your competitors

To understand the performance of your competitors, you must sign up for their newsletter, focus on their social media ads, use free online competitor research tools and focus on the top 10 results from Google. I advise you to adopt an SEO strategy to have sales without marketing costs instead of focusing only on social networks.

Step 3: Choose a compatible supplier for your store

You have to choose a supplier who can offer “fast” shipping so that your customers don't have to wait longer than a couple of weeks before they can get their product.

When you are successful, you can try to reduce delivery times even further to improve your customer experience, for example, by using a warehouse or fulfillment center in your customer's country or a dropshipping agent who can deliver faster. This is recommended when you are handling a large number of orders and therefore have validated the success of your product.

Step No 4: Design your store properly

Shopify offers you many free and paid themes to help you design a beautiful dropshipping store. You can use Burst, their free stock photos service for your images. If you’re not a designer, use Hatchful, their free logo maker. You don't have to be a professional designer or web developer to start your e-commerce business.

How to manage a Shopify dropshipping store?

Step 1: Manage the finances of your store

You should apply for a business credit card, such as American Express, before starting your Shopify dropshipping business. When you build your dropshipping store with Shopify, a top advantage that you get is that you can receive and make payments in almost all currencies. You must find out if your location requires a business license. If yes, you must apply for it in advance.

Step 2: Develop and maintain the SEO

You must make sure that you are using online tools, such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics, to maintain the SEO of your Shopify dropshipping store. You have to analyze your site data to see what you can improve and target your SEO efforts on what people want to buy.

Step 3: Market your products

Here are 5 of the easiest and most effective ways to market the products you sell on your Shopify dropshipping store:

• Create a business profile on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook and post regularly using influencer marketing.
• Join online communities, such as forums and Facebook groups.
• Content creation on SEO-friendly platforms, such as a YouTube channel or a Pinterest profile.
• Increase social proof on your site with customer reviews and user-generated content.
• Use paid ads to get sales quickly, like Google Ads or Facebook Ads.

5 most useful tips and tricks that every Shopify dropshipping store owner must know

1. Focus on creating value: If your Shopify dropshipping stores sell kitchen appliances, such as electric kettles, air fryers, and non-stick pans, you must add relevant recipes in your blog section to get more organic traffic. See what can help your potential customers and create content around it.  
   
   Don't promote your products all the time. Help your customers first, and they will find your products. Of course, you can still promote from time to time.

2. Offer a free sample: If you have selected the personal hygiene and beauty products niche for your store, you must offer a small number of free samples to your customers to let them try the product and understand its utility.  

3. Add a third-party payment provider: Unfortunately, Shopify Payments does not support the financing for pharmaceutical, surgical and dental products. If you have chosen such products, you will have to utilize the services of a third-party payment provider like Stripe. It is always good to offer several payment solutions to your customers to increase the conversion rate.  

4. Develop the personality of your brand: For example, if you have chosen a very personalized niche for your store, such as clothing, it is good that you tell your brand story to gain the maximum attention of your audience and to keep them engaged.

5. Narrow your audience: You must remember that focusing on a specific age group for your audience and keeping the products relevant to that age group can make your store memorable to the customers.

Conclusion

Running a Shopify dropshipping store is one of the best solutions to start your entrepreneurial journey. As your store becomes successful, you can also employ other people, such as content writers, video editors, digital marketers, and SEO experts. 

You are your boss when you run a Shopify dropshipping store as a freelancer. Such stores are also good for the growth of the nation's economy.

About The Author

Ecombridges

Sebastian is the founder of Ecombridges and an expert in online business and blogging. After getting his Master's in Business Engineering, he worked in IT and sales for Big Tech. Since then, he's managed a diverse portfolio of SaaS software, blogging businesses, e-commerce stores while also doing freelance consulting for small businesses.

On Ecombridges, he shares in-depth tutorials and insightful product reviews based on his firsthand experience. He recommends tools and strategies he trusts and uses in his online businesses, ensuring you receive genuine and actionable advice.

Dive into the blog, subscribe to the newsletter, or join the Academy to access free step-by-step tutorials and video courses helping you launch your online business.

See author's posts