What We’re Reading: Drop Shipping, AI, Voice of the Customer

This week we’re reading about all different types of retail topics. Check out articles about the adoption of drop shipping by retailers, what shoppers want from artificial intelligence, and how to create a Voice of the Customer program. You don’t want to miss out on these insightful articles!  (more…)

How to Avoid Common Drop Shipping Problems

(This post was originally published on July 2, 2012. We’ve updated it for accuracy and completeness.)

Many types of retailers use drop shipping as a powerful strategy. It works well for merchants where purchasing inventory is risky or not affordable. It even works for established retailers looking to diversify their product line.

While drop shipping can increase sales, it can also have its share of problems.

If you’re considering drop shipping, you need to understand these issues. Learn how to avoid these costly mistakes that many learn the hard way. (more…)

Drop Shipping 101: An Introductory Drop Shipping Guide

Are you considering diversifying your product line? Are you trying to launch a new business? Do you want to guarantee that you’ll always have stock?

If you said yes to any of these, you’ll need to invest in new, or more inventory. But, procuring inventory takes a lot of resources including money, time, and proper management.

This can be a big risk for your business. It might be worth it if you didn’t have to buy your inventory upfront and only pay for what you sell. But, is that even possible?

Actually, it is! It’s called drop shipping. In this post, we’ll introduce you to drop shipping 101. Our introductory drop shipping guide shows you what drop shipping is and how merchants can use it. (more…)

Magento Drop Shipping: What it is and How to Set it Up.

As a seller using Magento, you’re always looking for ways to grow your online business. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new seller just starting off or if you’re an established seller already swamped with orders. Either way, you need to find a way to sell more products and then ship them to your customers.

Enter Magento drop shipping.

Drop shipping is a fulfillment process in which you sell items from your Magento storefront that are then shipped to your customer by a 3^rd party, usually a wholesaler or manufacturer who stores the inventory. Drop shipping can be a great way to expand your product line, streamline your order and inventory management processes, or kick-start your new online business.

Drop shipping for Magento, however, can be a confusing and tricky process.  In this post we’ll discuss the pros and cons of drop shipping. We’ll then give you examples of a few different drop ship solutions that you can use for your Magento webstore. (more…)

Using Multi-Channel Management to Overcome Drop Shipping Challenges

The drop ship fulfillment method can help a company’s bottom line because it eliminates the need to carry product inventory. Instead, when a buyer places an order for an item, the order is sent directly to the supplier (which can be a manufacturer or a wholesaler) and that supplier is responsible for shipping the item to the buyer. The supplier is completely invisible to the buyer. The company’s profit from the transaction is the difference between the wholesale and retail price. Drop ship is rapidly becoming common practice and company’s need to know how this option will work in their multi-channel environment.

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