It seems that people never cared about personal health and wellness as much as today. We are seeing a constant increase in the number of supplements manufactured, but also the number of users buying them.
All that made dropshipping supplements an industry that can potentially be a huge success. But before you start dreaming about earning big, you will need to invest a lot of time and effort into developing your business.
In this article, we are focusing on the actual dropshipping supplements cost. Keep reading to learn more about what’s needed to start this business, and discover whether it is the right decision.
The Basics of Dropshipping
It doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves of the basics of dropshipping: [1]
- You start an e-commerce business and choose the products to sell in your store, as well as their prices.
- Users order from your store. Once you receive an order, you forward the request to the supplier you work with for that particular product. You usually pay a wholesale price for the ordered supplement.
- The supplier sends the product to the user on your behalf.
Your earnings lie in the difference between the supplement’s price and the manufacturer’s cost and all other expenses.
Starting a Dropshipping Company
You will often find opinions that dropshipping is an excellent way to start a business cheaply. [2] That is usually true because you can establish dropshipping e-commerce with minimal investments.
The first thing you need to do is register a company. You want to do business legally, so make sure to check out laws and regulations in your state or country. Apart from being a sole proprietor, you can also partner with another or multiple persons and start e-commerce together.
The initial expenses will also include registering a domain and hosting for your website. The good news is that you don’t have to look for an office because you can work from home, at least in the beginning.
Additionally, you don’t even need a warehouse. Dropshipping involves working with suppliers, which eliminates the need for having a product inventory. However, you should always be on the line with suppliers to ensure their inventory has the supplements you picked available.
The two main resources to invest in the very beginning are time and effort. However, the actual dropshipping supplement cost might be increased by other expenses down the road.
Choosing the Supplements to Sell
The statistics indicate that 68% of adults in the US take supplements regularly. [3] It is a huge potential, but if you want to maximize sales, you need to choose the right products.
- Vitamins, minerals, and multivitamins
- Probiotics
- Beauty supplements
- Weight loss products
- Sports nutrition
- Herbal-based supplements and superfoods
You also need to follow the latest trends in the industry. [1] The current statistics indicate that capsules sell more than soft gels, and vitamins are most popular among the users.
Picking the Right Suppliers
Once you identify the supplements you want to sell, it is time to choose the suppliers. You need to be careful during this process as it can affect your entire business.
The first step is doing extensive research. [4] Start by looking at where your desired supplements, and compare what the suppliers offer. You can often choose between domestic and companies located abroad, and the odds are that you will work with multiple suppliers. The factors to consider include the products they offer, delivery time, and the supplement price.
Once you have a shortlist of suppliers, go ahead and contact them. The idea is to establish a relationship, but also see if they are professional. Your potential partners should respond quickly and politely.
Additionally, you may want to deliver samples from the desired suppliers. That will test their delivery time, packaging quality, and other details that might affect your partnership.
If a supplier meets your needs, you can proceed to negotiate an agreement. Apart from the wholesale supplement price, you might need to pay a membership fee or additional expenses. Make sure to calculate all costs and ensure you can still profit when selling a supplement.
Setting Up a Website
At this point, you should have a list of suppliers and supplements to sell ready. Now, it is time to set up your e-commerce. If you have the necessary tech knowledge, you might do it yourself.
Alternatively, you will need to contact an expert. The problem is that it is another expense, and paying someone for an e-commerce setup can be expensive.
If you go down this route, make sure they teach you how to add the products to the shop or edit existing descriptions. That way, you pay for the initial setup, but you update the website yourself. It is a method of saving money because you will only need the help of experts in case of issues or redesigning the site.
How to Optimize Customer Service
When creating a website, your primary consideration should be user experience. Everything starts with creating a user-friendly website. [5] That might include easy navigation and simple design, quick loading speeds, and a simple checkout process. Responsive website design is imperative because many users use portable devices to browse the web.
There are many ways to improve customer service, but your focus should be on the basics. [6] For starters, you should respond to all questions that users might have efficiently. The website can include a contact form or an e-mail address for customers to get in touch.
Additionally, you can communicate with the users via social media. Multichannel strategy can attract more customers and create additional exposure. However, the crucial thing is to provide prompt answers. Specify opening hours and make sure to answer within minutes during that time. You might consider connecting your smartphone to e-mail and other accounts to increase responsiveness.
Users should have multiple payment options, including credit cards and e-wallets. That can increase your conversion rate because different customers might favor different payment methods. By offering multiple options, you will meet all preferences.
How Much Should the Product Cost?
Setting up product prices is a crucial consideration for any e-commerce business, and that includes supplements. Before you can choose a price, it is vital to calculate the entire supplement dropshipping cost. That includes the price charged by the supplier, as well as shipping options and other expenses.
In the beginning, you might not have any employees. Once you pay off the initial investments, you might consider expanding your business, and you might not be able to handle everything yourself. If you employ staff, make sure to calculate their earnings when setting the product cost, too.
You might want to visit the website of the competitors and analyze their prices. Since you only entered the dropshipping industry, consider offering lower prices than the competition. Even if your earnings per sale are lower, you can attract more customers.
What Are Your Fulfillment Options?
The next thing to consider is how you plan the products to reach the end-user. The easiest way might be to sign up for automatic online order fulfillment, such as Amazon FBA. [7] These services allow you to sell products while they take care of packing and shipping.
If you organize things yourself, start with various shipping methods. You can work with UPS, FedEx, USPS, and other services that offer shipping calculators. [8] Those can help you to calculate the shipping costs accurately.
What about your shipping rates? Do you plan to charge handling and shipping costs to your customers to earn more? Will the shipping be flat-rate or depend on the order size? If the order value is big, do you have the option of granting free or discounted shipping?
If you work with us at SMP Nutra, we offer fulfillment services and would be able to pick and pack your products for you.
Investing in Marketing
You officially opened the store, and you are ready for the first order. It is now time to focus on marketing efforts to spread the word about your business.
If you have a marketing budget, you can use Google Ads or promote the company’s social pages. Alternatively, you can also send guest posts to other websites and ask them for a link to your store in return or post useful content to your social pages to attract followers.
Handling Returns and Refunds
You can do everything right, but there is a possibility that the user might not like the product. They might have changed their mind and realize they don’t need the supplement or realize they ordered the wrong item. That is why you need to have a clear policy regarding refunds and returns. [9]
For starters, consider whether you will accept returns. Most companies allow users to return the supplement if it is unopened and in the original packaging. Additionally, they might expect a refund if they meet the policy request, and send the product back within the deadline you specify.
If you allow refunds, consider whether you pay for shipping or the user. In the case of the former, that can be another dropshipping supplement cost. Instead of refunds, you can offer store credit or exchange for another product. Whatever the terms of your shipping policy, make sure to state them clearly on your website.
Manufacture Your Supplements With SMP Nutra
At SMP Nutra, we do not offer dropshipping services. However, we are poised to help bolster your online store with some of the best private label stock formulas you can find on the market.
References
- https://greendropship.com/blog/dropship-nutritional-supplements-everything-you-need-to-know/
- http://www.ondemandfulfillment.com/what-to-know-before-dropshipping-supplements/
- http://nutricompany.com/news/the-top-4-categories-of-supplements-used-in-the-united-states/
- https://www.oberlo.com/blog/dropschipping-suppliers
- https://www.lifehack.org/498154/7-ways-to-improve-user-experience-in-ecommerce
- https://acquire.io/blog/ecommerce-customer-service/
- https://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon/benefits.html
- https://www.shopify.com/blog/shipping-and-fulfillment
- https://www.oberlo.com/blog/handle-refunds