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If you are planning to launch an e-commerce website, you might come across the term dropshipping and e-commerce fulfillment. While both the concepts have their benefits, you must know the inside-out of both fulfillments before choosing one.
We receive a lot of inquiries about dropshipping, and sometimes people seem a little lost between the concept of dropshipping and e-commerce. Therefore, in this article, we are going to talk about the very basics of dropshipping vs e-commerce.
e-commerce is a platform where you can sell your product via the internet. The process includes accepting orders and shipping products to customers. Third-party shippers like DHL, UPS, and FedEX, deliver your shipment to the customers. It takes four elaborate steps to complete an eCommerce business:
1. The customer places an order through the website.
2. The fulfillment center, which can be your house or a warehouse receives the order, and ships it to the customer.
3. Third parties like UPS and FedEx deliver this order to your customers.
4. If the shopper likes the products, they keep it; else, place a return through the website. The liability of returns is completely yours.
As a customer you sometimes order an item online and end up disappointed by the real thing. If your customer has asked to return an order, we offer solutions for depending on the circumstance.
When you choose to go with the dropshipping business model, you do not have to purchase any sort of inventory. All you need is a website where your customers can place an order, and the rest of the job is taken care of by a dropshipping service provider. The process of the dropshipping follows like this:
1. The customers purchase through your dropshipping store.
2. You transfer this order to the manufacturer or the whole seller.
3. They fulfill the order and ship it to the customers.
4. The dropshipping providers are partially liable for all the returns and cancellations.
With dropshipping, you can easily sell from home. You do not even have to burden yourself with pre-purchasing and managing any inventory.
While dropshippers get a whole variety of products to sell without making a purchase, the manufacturers profit by growing the sales of their product. Most of the companies that provide dropshipping services are usually big retailers or manufacturers.
The key advantage of drop shipping over e-commerce is risk mitigation. There is no risk of slow-moving inventory or product returns.
Dropshipping service providers like vidaXL, allow you to curate and sell specific products online. Not only do you get to expand your inventory any time you wish, but it also lets you come across new audiences and revenues.