Shopster's Dropshippers, eCommerce, and Selling Online Blog

Dropshippers give retailers an advantage

Dropshippers can help you expand your current product selection or give you a base product offering to start selling.  Finding respectable dropship suppliers gives you an advantage:

You don't have to worry about the supply chain side of your business.

Shopster seeks out and integrates with dropshippers that meet our stringent criteria.  You benefit from the relationships we build with an ever-growing list of suppliers.  They need to have good products, reliable inventory, accurate data, and excellent fulfillment rates and times.  That means that you don't have to spend time making sure that the warehouse is processing your orders and shipping directly to your customers.  So, you can focus on the marketing and sales aspects of your business.

With money getting a little tight, there's something to be said for not physically stocking and managing your own products.  Utilize the quality dropshippers Shopster has integrated into our online warehouse.

Advertising Strategies in the New Economy

By Michael Topham

Extending the idea of the "End of Interruption" that industry thought-leader Seth Godin has been expounding, Practical eCommerce's Armando Roggio published a great article on new tactics for online advertising.

If you're not familiar with the idea, it can be summarized by a few basic points:

1. Traditional advertising was built around interrupting the consumer - thrusting your message in their faces without their tacit approval.
2. People are growing immune to these interruptions.
3. New Media (generally the Internet-based media) doesn't work like ads do in (1).
4. People now have choice in what they see and how they see it.
5. Advertisers now need permission to interrupt... or they need to work their message into the media such that the consumer wants to see it.

That's nowhere near as eloquent as Godin puts it, but those are the basics.  Roggio assumes the End of Interruption and builds a case for new tactics for advertisers by splitting interruption-style ads from the two new kinds of ads:

I divide these useful and effective ads into two rough categories, (1) ads that consumers are looking for, and (2) ads that tell authentic stories.

And that's where the value is for retailers (who should also be advertisers if they're going to get any business).  Head on over to Practical eCommerce to read the whole article and get the tips you need to build a successful ad campaign in the new economy:
PeC Traffic Report: Advertising in the Post-Interruption World

Also, check out Seth Godin's blog for more articles about Permission Marketing.  (Like this one.)

Sales Channel Holiday Stats - eBay vs Amazon

By Michael Topham

So, how exactly did eBay and Amazon stack up against each other this Christmas?  comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, released some numbers back on December 30th.  (Read their full press release here.)

There are two interesting takeaways (for our purposes):
1.  eBay had more unique visitors than Amazon properties (85442000 versus 76240000)
2.  Amazon's traffic grew 7% over last years while eBay's fell 4%

So, eBay's still the leading buyer destination, but Amazon is catching up.  We do have to take that little tidbit with a grain of salt, though.  Those stats are for all Amazon "sites" (I'm not sure of what all that entails, but there are a few different consumer destinations owned by Amazon).  They're not just stats for Amazon Market - which is where the average retailer can sell.

What does this mean for retailers?  eBay is still a great third-party sales channel.  Don't abandon it just because Amazon is capturing a larger consumer share.  However, don't be remiss in investigating the potential that Amazon Market can offer your business.  More and more consumers are heading there - and the sellers won't be far behind.

New Year, New Sales Channels to Consider

By Michael Topham

I've talked a little about alternatives to eBay (here).  It seems like with a new year, we should consider new ways to make money online.  But, I'll get to that after a quick change in topic. It looks like there's going to be two trends as we wade through the economic worries.

1. Retailers pouring less money into their businesses.
2. More amateur retailers coming online to make a couple extra bucks to compensate for the effects on their wallets.

That's where the savvy retailer will see opportunity this year.  First off, keep building your business.  While fair-weather sellers remove themselves from the market, take their place and build a legitimate, lasting business so you're all set up when consumer confidence returns (and it will).  Second, know your competition.  There are going to be droves of inexperienced sellers coming into the market.  Create your business strategy with that in mind.  Put in the due diligence, hard work, and perseverance and you'll realize real profit in 2009.

There's a great opportunity for motivated sellers right now.  Anyone getting the Shopster monthly newsletter will see a great quote from Thomas Edison: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."  I've been using that tidbit of wisdom to represent the theme of building a thriving business in a down economy.  But, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't give you some advice on how to capitalize on the opportunity ahead.

The following is a list of eBay alternatives borrowed from a recent ecommerce-guide.com article. (Editor suggestion: Subscribe to their RSS feed - it has a ton of info for anyone selling online.)  You can extend your sales reach by using Shopster as your product source to sell via these growing channels:

1. eBid.net
2. iOffer.com
3. Atomic Mall

Try not to focus all of your effort on building a single sales channel.  While your own branded online storefront is the best bet for lasting business, diversify your income potential by utilizing the buyers that visit the above sites.  Think of it as bringing your business to the consumer until they know where to find you.

Have other ideas or feedback on the suggestions above?  Please help us out by leaving a comment.
To read ecommerce-guide's article, January 14th's "This Week in Alternative News", click here.

The Benefits of Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a business strategy best utilized by those who want to sell online, but are unable to invest in purchasing inventory, or the storage space to keep it. In basic terms, to dropship is to sells goods on behalf of a supplier who then fills the order and ships it to the purchasing customer on behalf of the seller.

There are several benefits to dropshipping, but the two main ones are: no upfront inventory to purchase and a low start up cost. Dropshipping is ideal for those who want to start a business, but can not afford high start up costs. For example, with Shopster you can begin to sell products online for as little as $49.95 a month.

Other benefits of dropshipping include:

• Allows the retailer to focus on making sales, and making more money. As it is the supplier that packs and ships orders, once a sale is made the retailer does not have to do anything except focus on making more sales.
• Dropshipping can reduce shipping and handling costs. As the product is delivered directly to the customer it does not have to be shipped to the retailer. Thus saving the cost of that one delivery. The savings can then be passed onto the customer by the retailer. 
• It gives retailers the opportunity to test out new products lines without having to buy the inventory up front.

One criticism of dropshipping is that at times it can be challenging to find competitive pricing on an item, especially if it is popular. The base price on dropshipped products is not as competitive as wholesale or bulk, but for the most part the prices are cheaper than what you would find in a store, and the retailer can still offer competitive pricing.

Finding well priced dropship products is possible with research and a competitive niche or growing market opportunity. Watch out for over saturated markets, like the Nintendo Wii for example. While these items are popular with buyers, there are thousands of sellers trying to offer the product at the lowest price, resulting in small (if any) margins.

Happy selling!

Make more Money – become an affiliate

One of the best ways to make more money online is to increase the number of revenue streams you utilize. As an online seller that means selling from more than one sales channel. But it can also mean becoming an affiliate partner with another website.

Affiliate marketing is a form of online marketing which uses one website to drive traffic to another website. The benefit for you is that the company in which you advertise on behalf of typically pays you for that traffic.

For example, The Shopster Affiliate Program offers you $5 for every lead you generate and up to $70 for every one of those leads that becomes a subscriber.

The steps you have to take to become an affiliate are fairly simple, although each individual step may take some time.

Step 1: Research different companies that have an affiliate program

You can find several different companies by Googling “Affiliate Program Directories”

Step 2: Set up an affiliates account

Step 3: Add the advertisement to your storefront

Becoming an affiliate is a great option for those who already have traffic coming to their site. If you have no traffic coming to your site, then there is no one to click on your advertisements. And if no one is clicking on the advertisements, then that ad is not generating any revenue for you.

I also suggest that the company you partner with should offer something that is similar to what you are offering. If you are using AdWords to advertise then you know that having a targeted keyword is important. You want people clicking on your ad that are actually looking for the products you sell. If they click on your ad expecting something other than what they get they will not likely shop at your store.

The same strategy applies to affiliate marketing. If your store sells Perfume, but your advertising is for Nintendo Wii’s you will not likely get many clicks as your customers did not come to your store for Nintendo Wii’s. Instead, you should have ads for women’s accessories such as Jewelry. The leap from Perfume to Jewelry is not that large as both are for women, both are accessories, and both can be gifts.

As with any business strategy affiliate marketing takes time and work. But with the right plan, it can be a very profitable compliment to your existing online business.

eBay is having a sale

Good news for all you retailers that sell on eBay, eBay is having a sale!

For the rest of the month eBay is offering sellers who list 1 and 3 day Auction-style items 50% off the Insertion Fees per item listed. That can mean huge savings if you are listing multiple products.

The only caveat is that the seller must have a 12 month Detailed Seller Rating of 4.5 or higher on all criteria. But don’t worry if you are a new seller, you may still be eligible.

If you haven’t sold on eBay before this may be a great opportunity for you to get your hands wet. Shopster makes selling on eBay easier by giving you access to over 1,000,000 products, and an eBay listing manager tool. Sign up for Shopster’s 7 day free trial and give it a try.