Dropshipping, the cousin of eCommerce, has been topping the list of ‘best business ideas’ for quite some time now. This is quite understandable as it is one of the most profitable businesses to start today with minimal efforts from one’s side.
The modus operandi of a dropshipping store is simple - you take orders from your customers on your store’s website and transfer the order details to the supplier. The supplier will take care of shipping the products till the last mile.
The advantages of adopting a dropshipping model are amplified during peak shopping season like BFCM. This is the time when there is a deluge of orders for your store. And it will be almost impossible for a small or even medium-sized business to fulfill all of them on time. This can have a negative impact on your brand.
On the other hand, if you are a drop-shipper, all that you have to take care of is marketing your store and attracting the right customers to purchase the products. All the difficult work will be taken care of by the supplier.
But as they say, every coin has two sides. You might escape from the clutches of inventory and shipping management, but you can’t run away from marketing your store. One of the biggest puzzles that you need to solve during BFCM is attracting customers to your store. This is the time when people are looking for the best deals. They will jump to your competitors without batting an eyelid if they find a better offer.
Under such circumstances, how do you beat the queue and march past your competitors? Let’s find out as this post equips you with some useful strategies to increase sales for your dropshipping store during BFCM 2021 -
Introducing new product ranges and refurbishing your website might not be enough to lure customers to your store. You need to create some strong buzz around your festive sale. Build some limited-time offers and create a sense of FOMO among your customers.
For instance, use a timer on the prominent real estate of your website a week or two before BFCM begins. It will trigger FOMO and produce impulsive buying behavior among your customers. They will be softly pushed to make a purchase before the time runs out.
Also, enable wishlisting of products on your website. Your customer should be able to add products to their wishlist much before the holiday season begins and purchase them when you offer great discounts on them.
Your website is going to be the face of your business. The comfort level of the customers on your website is going to determine whether they are going to place an order or not with your business.
In other words, your website should contain all the right interactive elements to ensure that the users have a seamless experience. For example, it should have sort and filter options, a ‘back to homepage’ button, a powerful search, an intuitive cart, and multiple payment options.
All these elements will make sure that your customers are pushed to place an order. Also, your dropshipping store should be device-agnostic. You never know from where your target audience will be searching for your products. For example, this is the era of smartphones and apps. If you do not have an app for your dropshipping store today, you are bound to miss out on millions of mobile shoppers worldwide.
Building an app today is not a complex task. Platforms like Vajro let you build and launch a mobile app in just a few hours. You can partner with Vajro today if you want to be prepared for the upcoming BFCM season armed with a mobile app.
This is a given since you do not manufacture or store or ship the products. You need to cross-check the quality of products you are planning to sell before you post them on your website. You certainly do not want to be inundated with return orders during peak seasons like BFCM.
So order some product samples from your suppliers. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and see whether you are satisfied with the product quality. If they do not make the cut, leave them even if you get them at steep discounts. Your brand name is more important than short-term margins.
Your dropshipping business revolves around two major stakeholders - Suppliers and Customers. While you can reach the former through a good network, you need to leverage the power of social media to pull the latter. Posting engaging content on your social handles right before the BFCM season begins can build a lot of curiosity around your dropshipping store. If you have a budget then you can play around with paid ads to boost your visibility even further.
Though emails are a great way to reach your customers, they may get ignored during busy seasons like BFCM when every other retailer and drop-shipper might be sending similar emails to your customers. This is where push notifications are useful. They grab the attention of your customers instantly and that too without even the necessity of them opening the app or website. But don’t forget to use a crispy title and colorful imagery to make them click-worthy.
When you build a mobile app with Vajro, creating push notifications becomes a piece of cake. You can effortlessly send push notifications to both iOS and Android users without writing a single piece of code.
You really cannot expect to attract new customers perennially to your website during the BFCM season. Many of your visitors do not have the slightest idea of what they want from your website. And that’s why you should also try pushing your existing customers to make another purchase. It doesn’t matter whether it is your product page or even the order confirmation page, it is necessary to put up sections like ‘frequently bought together’, ‘you may also like’, ‘customers also bought’. These sections are based on your customer’s search history, recommendations based on previous orders, and trending items.
Starting a dropshipping store right now is a great idea if you want to make some money during the BFCM season with minimal capital costs and expenditure. The best part - you can avoid inventory and shipping nightmares. But remember - even dropshipping does not promise you an overnight success. You need to follow the strategies highlighted in this post to have a successful BFCM 2021 season.
To know more about Vajro and how it can help you conquer this BFCM season, contact us now.
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