The biggest difference between “dropshipping” and standard online retail, is that with dropshipping, the store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it buys it from a third party who then ship it directly to the customer. This means that you, as the store, will never see or handle the product. This method has a number of positives and negatives. Positives include that it is relatively quick and easy to get started as you don’t have the added headache of managing stock and shipping. Another benefit is that you can stock a wide range of products. But, dropshipping typically has low margins and you face high competition. 

How much budget should I allocate to get my web shop up and running?

Creating and running an online shop costs money, there is no point in beating around the bush with this one. Just like opening a physical store, you will have outgoing costs including buying the web domain, hosting, web health insurance, plus the cost to design and program the shop.

Once you have your new online shop, to forget marketing would be a critical error. It is simply not enough to have a website, you must invest in marketing to gain a brand awareness, to drive traffic and encourage sales. In terms of a budget, allocate at least the same as the cost for the initial set up, if not more.

Do I really need to have a social media presence for my business? 

Combining social media with web shopping is a match made in heaven and it is an effective strategy for e-commerce businesses. According to a study from Smart Insights, over half of companies using social media marketing find it increases revenue and the sales of their products.

Further to boosting profits, social media allows brands the opportunity to engage with their customers and get feedback on the products. Plus, it’s a significant driver of traffic for websites.