International dropshipping is the best way to target the global marketplace without physically expanding your brand abroad. Products or services that don’t sell particularly well might be a hit in another country, but first, you’ll need to find your footing in the dropshipping game.
With international dropshipping, your brand isn’t tied down to physical location. Although it might sound a little too good to be true, you absolutely CAN become financially independent with dropshipping. However, this does not mean that you don’t need a solid plan of action.
You will need a reliable dropshipping application to do this. Syncee is the perfect choice for this because it is a B2B Platform for Dropshippers, Retailers, and Suppliers. On Syncee Marketplace you will only find verified suppliers from all over the world. Syncee integrates with the top ecommerce platforms: Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Appy Pie’s AppMakr, BigCommerce, Woocommerce, Ecwid, EKM, Jumpseller, KMO Shops, Shoprenter. A Shopify migration company can assist you in seamlessly transferring your store from your current platform to Shopify, ensuring that your products, customer data, and design elements are effectively migrated. In addition, if you want to manage your retail team in Shopify you can use Shopify time clock software as one of the best solutions for staff management.
The competition out there is fierce, and if you want your brand to succeed, you’ll have to map out an actionable, step-by-step approach to tackle international dropshipping. But since speed is the aim of the shipping game, let’s not waste another second and dive right into the essential elements you need to succeed with dropshipping!
The Ultimate International Dropshipping Guide for Beginners
Step1 – Start by Targeting a Few Markets
Before you start your international dropshipping business, you need to research the markets. Where will your products work best? Which countries offer the most promising ROI?
In this step, analytics tools like Google Trends can help you research market demands. To get started, just type in your keyword (your product) and see what the demand looks like in specific markets. This is your first step in weeding out the countries that won’t be a good fit to sell your product.
Step 2 – Analyse Your Competition
Once you’ve singled out some countries to focus on, you want to do an in-depth analysis of each. There could potentially already be a plethora of existing online stores that cater to the same market need that you have in mind.
Keep in mind that high levels of competition don’t always mean you need to back off. It’s all about ensuring that you beat your competitors in the marketing field. If you properly position yourself in the market with quality content that resonates with the local audience, you can break into the market with ease.
Step 3 – Consider Various Dropshipping Suppliers
Your dropshipping business needs to be reliable if it’s going to be successful. And this is directly linked to the reliability of your suppliers. If your suppliers can’t deliver the products to your target markets, you’ll be in hot water pretty fast.
Modern consumers want to place their orders today and receive their parcels yesterday. And extra shipping fees? They’re simply not willing to pay for it.
It’s vitally important to ensure that your supplier provides affordable shipping options to every country that you target.
Your suppliers also need to provide tracking information so you can keep tabs on exactly where your shipment goes. To filter out the better suppliers for your business, you can use a dropshipping tool DSers. With its Supplier Optimizer feature, you can always find the most suitable supplier for your products.
Essentially, when considering a shipping supplier, you need to keep the following in mind:
- Shipping options
- Rates
- Coverage
- Mapping or tracking tools
- Delivery timeframes
- Fees
- Package sizes
- Policies
In some cases, selecting individual third-party companies for local shipments may be necessary, especially if you want to offer lightning-fast shipping. For example, Dropoff couriers offer same-day, local delivery for businesses all over the United States.
Step 4 – Sort Out Your Payment Gateways
We’re betting you’ve experienced the frustration of payment issues with an online store in the past. And the sad thing is that you probably never returned to that eCommerce store to give them another shot.
The last thing you want is your customers feeling the same about your brand. And you can do this by integrating effective and efficient payment gateways in your eCommerce store. You’ll need to do some research here, as well as not all gateways work in all territories.
Step 5 – Localize Your Offerings for Each Country
No two countries have the same traditions, history, or culture. What sells like hotcakes in India might be a total mission Germany.
It’s best to have your content localized by professional language services provider to ensure that it’s culturally acceptable in the market you’re targeting. And you need to treat each market you target individually, localizing the content according to that specific market’s needs.
Localization goes above and beyond merely translating your message. It’s a cultural adaptation of your brand’s message that could see various elements being altered in order to accommodate the culture and language of the target market.
Step 6 – Don’t Forget the Reviews
One of the biggest influencers of brand success is reputation. And as an international dropshipping brand, your reputation can make or break your efforts. After all, it’s one of the only ways people will tell that you’re an online store worth supporting.
Keep in mind that your customer reviews need to be translated to the local language too. It’s worthless to have reviews on your store if the target audience can’t understand the content.
Step 7 – Rock at Customer Service
Angry customers = negative feedback. And nasty rumors about your brand can reap havoc on your brand’s reputation if they run rampant on the web.
One of the first things you need to concentrate on is excellent communication. If you don’t speak the local language, the language barrier can cause all sorts of problems. If there’s nobody on your team that can deal with customer queries in the local language, it’s best to consider outsourcing your customer service function for that specific market.
Step 8 – Get Clued Up on the Local Laws and Regulations of Your Target Market
Every country has its own set of requirements and laws concerning international shipments. This, you need to gain an in-depth knowledge of the local laws and import regulations for every country you target.
Some countries, for example, require all international sellers to keep incoming order details on file. Failing to file the shipment information can see you facing severe penalties and fines. But getting familiar with the regulations can help you avoid sticky situations like these and will keep your brand out of trouble with the authorities.
Step 9 – Get Insurance
There are various risks involved with shipping since the cargoes containing your packages need to travel by land, air, and sea to get to their destination. Depending on where the package is headed, there will always be some sort of risk involved. More often than not, these risks include shipment delays and processing errors.
Insurance can help you make up for losses that can’t be covered. It’s wise to do some research here as various insurance companies offer different policies that have additional requirements and coverage. You might be tempted to go for the first, cheapest option, but instead, opt for one that provides the most comprehensive cover and reliable service.
Step 10 – Figure Out Your Plan for Packaging
Did you know that the majority of consumers place a high value on the packaging and presentation of the product they bought? This means that your products must be packaged neatly while still complying with shipping requirements.
Perhaps you’re keen on designing your own creative packaging to make the packages more attractive to your customers. Something lightweight yet protective is the best option since it ensures your products can travel further at the cheapest shipping rates.
Step 11 – Get Your Socials in the Game Too
After you’ve targeted a specific location to target and you’ve got most of the other international shipping admin sorted, you need to ensure your marketing efforts line up with your ideas for international dropshipping.
If your service isn’t available in certain countries, make sure your social media advertising campaigns don’t target these regions.
Step 12 – Consider Intercepting the Product
If you order some products from your store and then send them to your clients personally, it’s a great way of ‘intercepting’ the package and ensuring you’re offsetting some of the challenges that international shipping is often associated with.
Many eCommerce businesses use this approach for dropshipping because there are various benefits involved.
For starters, you have an opportunity to repackage your products before they reach your customers. Now, if your supplier already offers attractive packaging, this isn’t really a benefit you’d be keen on reaping. But oftentimes, dropshipping suppliers use less-than-amazing packaging to ship products. And if you resend these packages to yourself, you have some time to spruce them up and ship them to your customer. Another benefit of shipping the products to yourself is that you can do quality checks before they reach your customers.
But there are also drawbacks to this approach. If someone orders a product that’s sourced from China, and the customer is based in South Africa, but you’re based in the United States, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to ship it to yourself first before sending it off to the customer again. However, if you’re based in the United States and have customers here, the strategy gives you an opportunity to improve the reputation of your brand.
Wrapping Up
Researching suppliers and packaging might seem tedious, but it’s one of the best ways to get ahead in the international dropshipping game. The fact of the matter is that international shipping can be tricky because there are many odds and ends involved in the process and regulations surrounding it. Luckily, programs like Dropship Lifestyle can provide valuable insights and guidance on how to optimize your dropshipping business for success.
You should now that every effort will result in extra opportunities for your brand. Using analytical tools to determine the best locations to target, sourcing the best suppliers, being smart with your social media marketing strategies, and localizing your content to captivate the target audience are just some ways for you to overcome the challenges often involved in dropshipping.