Dropshipping has had a great run when it comes to online business models, but no businesses are built on what happened in the past. The question now becomes if dropshipping will continue to be a great business model for 2019 and the years to come.
Many sites around the web like Fulfilltopia study hard on these issues to make sure that business owners get the best insights on these matters.
Dropshipping has made millions for different entrepreneurs on all parts of the globe. However, today there are many online who say that dropshipping has become too saturated to be very successful.
You hear this in all kinds of different industries, from restaurant owners, Uber drivers, to entrepreneurs of many backgrounds. While it can have some truth in the statement, usually this only means that an industry is becoming more competitive, not simply saturated to the point that everyone should quit.
Strategy
The biggest positives in a dropshipping business haven’t really changed just because there is more competition. That would affect your business, but let’s take it one step at a time.
Dropshipping is famous for being a low-cost and highly profitable business. The reasons behind that have not changed. People are able to run dropshipping businesses at such high margins because they don’t have to carry any inventory of their own.
You’re also free of those pesky shipping costs and delivery problems that other businesses have.
Your biggest concern in 2019 and moving forward would be the marketing of whatever it is you’re trying to sell. In our current marketplace, the biggest sellers have the general items down pat. It’s very hard to compete with Amazon on a basis of variability or selection.
The best way to compete as a dropshipping business in 2019 would be to “niche down”. A niche is a specific targeted area of business that could be very narrow. An example would be fly fishing rods – it doesn’t have to be generic, but you want to target one exact audience.
When you’re targeting an audience like this, all of your branding can be perfectly on point. You are able to send all of your energy and effort towards this one type of customer, and they may get service that is exceptional compared to general websites.
Downsides
There are a lot of problems with dropshipping in the current marketplace, for sure. The quality control issues that have always plagued these businesses is still an issue.
Your online store has to be extremely high-quality to get orders to come in, and all of the logistic struggles will still be the same.
Conclusion
However, even in today’s competitive environment, dropshipping will come with a lot of advantages as well. The fact that you don’t have a physical inventory alone will keep some entrepreneurs interested well into the future past 2019. This is an easy set-up, easy scale business and with that upside, the talented business owners will always be able to overcome challenges and use dropshipping well into the future.
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