Online businesses are becoming the most common business model in the U.S., mainly because of the pandemic. Although the online business world is getting the exposure it needed many years ago, the influx of millions of new online business owners has left the entire industry much more competitive than it was before.
Consumers worldwide spent over $700 billion last year on online retail, an increase of over 30% from 2019. People are adapting to the pandemic, and one of the main reasons so many business owners are flocking to the online retail market is its accessibility. Anyone can access and start an online business, and it’ll only take a matter of hours.
However, as a dropshipper, you might have seen the problem with this surge of new business owners in the market. There’s a huge potential for them to become disruptors in the industry. Our solution for that is to grow your dropshipping business before that happens.
Being Ahead of the Curve
This strategy is an old one, and it was started by companies such as Amazon about a decade ago. It’s all about rushing to become the biggest company in the market before a disruption can even touch you. So when you get to that point, your revenue will never take a hit big enough. But getting to that point is the problem. So how do you exactly get ahead of the curve right now? You can start by investing in digital marketing.
Digital Marketing Is Key
For many online businesses out there, digital marketing is key to their growth. If you haven’t been pouring any money into it, then you’re missing out a lot.
The main digital marketing strategies you invest in is social media and influencer marketing. You should also consider looking for excellent SEO services on the Internet as part of your blogging campaign. All of these are cheap options to grow your sales as a dropshipping business.
Remember that it’s all about exposure when it comes to dropshipping. You’re not selling revolutionary products, nor are you inventing them. You’re merely expediting the selling process between consumer and manufacturer. By investing in digital marketing strategies, you’re giving your company the exposure it needs to increase sales.
Leverage Review Sites
The world of online retail is driven by the power of validation. This means that consumer and expert reviews are more important than before.
The majority of consumers read reviews before they purchase a product, and a study has shown that good reviews can increase the probability of purchase by a staggering 270%. This is much higher than the likelihood of sales from the digital marketing strategies we’ve mentioned above.
The strength of leveraging review sites is real, and it’s very effective for many online retailers out there. You should consider giving free products to consumers so that they may review them. This will increase your sales of a particular product overnight.
Expanding and Penetrating to a New Market
You can’t grow if you’re only selling one product in your business. Some products can be seasonal, like snow shovels. This means that if it’s not winter season, no one is going to buy snow shovels from you. So by the end of the day, penetrating a new market should be one of your top priorities this year if you want your business to grow. You should start by researching.
Research New Markets
Before you start expanding to newer markets, you’ll have to do your homework first. It’s all about researching the market beforehand. Check at trends, the highest selling products, and marketing strategies specific to that market. You’ll have to know what works before you dive right into it because diving in blind can mean thousands of dollars lost when you try to penetrate the market.
Offer Bundles
As a way to test the waters of the new market you’re joining, consider offering the new products as part of a bundle. This is where you can get a lot of feedback from the new product you are selling and whether your target audience is willing to buy such products from you.
An increase in sales, specifically on bundled items, can already tell you that the market is ready to receive you. But a decrease in sales means that you should not take another step further. If that’s the case, it’s time to return to the drawing board and choose a new market.
Growing your dropshipping business is an uphill battle, but it isn’t an impossible battle to win. Investing your money in the key points mentioned above has a high success rate of increasing your conversion rate and the likelihood of a purchase from consumers. Once these two things increase, you should receive tremendous growth over time from your investments.
