If you have a product to sell but lack a platform, we have a solution: Dropshipping. What is it and how does it work? Let’s find out together this way of selling and buying.
If you are a manufacturer or supplier of items that you think are in line with our catalogue, we have good news for you: ProduceShop has been working as a dropshipper with third-party sellers for years.
How does the Dropshipping sales mechanism work? What are the advantages for you (and for us, and for customers)?
In the following article you will find some more information, and remember: if you are curious or interested, please do not hesitate to contact us directly as a company, so that we can start discussing interesting collaboration opportunities together.
How Dropshipping works
It is not a complex mechanism; basically, it is a contractual agreement between a supplier and an intermediary (called dropshipper), i.e. the one who provides the customer with the platform from which orders are placed (e.g. ProduceShop). When the latter receives the order, it promptly – when not automatically – transmits it to the supplier, who then dispatches it directly to the end customer, without going through the intermediary again.
The dropshipper will then take care of:
- publish and then sell the supplier’s products on its eCommerce site or marketplaces;
- sell the product to the end customer (who may be a private individual or a retailer);
- send the order to the supplier with customer data and shipping address for delivery of the order;
- invoice and collect the total amount of the order;
- pay the supplier for the agreed amount.
There is therefore a division of tasks and responsibilities; the supplier takes care of the production or procurement part, with the associated storage, packaging, logistics and shipping duties, while the seller is in charge of sponsoring, market creation, marketing and order management.
Your advantages as a supplier
By choosing to rely on a platform such as ProduceShop to sell your products, you will have a number of advantages; not only the fact that you are working in synergy with a retailer with European reach, which has enjoyed the best reviews on the web for years. To list some benefits you will gain:
- shared inventory management
- gain in terms of online presence, both brand and product side
- no marketing and sponsorship costs (often high)
- possibility of opening up to foreign markets
- assistance in customer service
- synergy in the customer experience side, working together on product development
- Then remember: ProduceShop has a vision related to green, sustainability, social responsibility; if you feel you share these values with us, we can work together to spread them also in the spirit of our customers.
Benefits also for customers
Clearly, you as customers can also benefit from this sales dynamic.
From the point of view of interaction, the relationship remains the same: the user interacts with the seller, in the person of the intermediary, without knowing whether the product is in stock or dropshipping (unless specifically indicated, often for items to be produced on demand).
The fundamental advantages, which are not immediately perceived, are twofold: savings, which result from the absence of retailer stocking costs, and greater choice. By not having to submit to the dynamics of warehousing, in fact, the platform reselling the articles can easily present a larger catalogue, bringing the supplier’s entire offer to the user.
In conclusion
Relying on a dropshipper who can already boast a good customer base can result in a huge leap in quality for smaller companies.
Our advice is to try and consider the option, especially if you do not want to take on a complex and ramified marketing and digital system.
Sources:
- Corporate PR
- Marketing and Procurement depts at ProduceShop (https://mbkfincom)