Dropshipping 101: How to get more customers and drive sales
Getting more customers for your dropshipping business is challenging. Although dropshipping can bring multiple benefits, such as low barrier to entry and minimal upfront cost, it is not an easy job. If you're new to selling online, you could quickly drain your time and money without seeing any meaningful returns.
According to Vantage Market Research, the global dropshipping market is expected to grow at a rate of 29.00% between 2025 and 2035. But here's the reality: rapid growth means rapid competition. You need to give potential customers a compelling reason to choose you over countless other online merchants.
In this guide, we will walk you through everything you need to launch your dropshipping store for success. From setting up your storefront to retaining customers, we'll break down each step so you can start attracting customers and generating sales with confidence.
Let’s dive in!
The foundation: Prepare your dropshipping storefront
The first step is always the most difficult. Although dropshipping costs next to nothing to get started, you still need to do a little digging to get up and running. After all, you can't build a house without a solid foundation.
Here’s what you need to do first:
Know your audience and market
Before anything else, answer two key questions: What will you sell, and who will buy it?
It’s easy to chase every new trend you see on social media, but that often leads to stiff competition from other people who also sell the same thing. Instead, see what's getting more attention than the other. If interest in a category is growing, that means the demand is getting high, and potential for early sales opportunities.
Understanding your customer persona helps you make smarter decisions on what products to choose and what messages to deliver. Not to mention the segmentation you are going to target when you run your ad campaigns later on.
Take the time to research your niche. Study competitors, identify market gaps, and look for areas to add unique value. The more familiar you are with your audience and niche, the easier it becomes to identify products that truly meet their needs. Once you have a clear picture of the market demand, move on to selecting the right products and suppliers for your store.
💡 A quick way to research the current market is to search the relevant keyword on social media. For example:
On Facebook, simply type “free worldwide shipping + [Name of the products]” in the search bar. Then, filter the results by “Reels”. Most of the videos that show up will be from competitors that sell those products.
On TikTok, look for the hashtags that are attracting views under the TikTok Creative Center.
On Reddit, look for the subreddits of your niche and see what people often ask about.
On Google, check Google Trends to see if people are searching for the product.
Pick your products, suppliers, and shipping carriers
Now that you understand your market and target customers, it’s time to choose the products and suppliers that align with your niche.
Most people will make the mistake of choosing the suppliers first before the products. But this is backwards. Each supplier focuses on different types of products, so locking in a supplier too early limits your choices. Furthermore, you might miss out on better products that your customers want simply because your supplier doesn't carry them.
When choosing your products, some green flags to look for include:
Light and small: The larger the items, the more shipping fees your customers have to pay. Furthermore, a small item does not equal a light item. Make sure to check both dimensions and weight.
Perceived value: Products that look premium or solve specific problems can command better prices. It’s even better if they're inexpensive to source.
Language manual availability: For electronic products, make sure the instructions manual is in English or the language of your target customers. These types of products tend to break down, and customer complaints are something you want to avoid.
Exclusivity: People want something unique, not more of the same. This is why it’s not always good to follow the trendy products on social media.
Potential for upsell/cross-sell: Look for products that people are likely to buy multiple units of. Volume discount and product bundle are great ways to boost your AOV.
Durability: Make sure the product is not easily breakable during shipping. The last thing you want is customers opening their package only to find a product broken or damaged.
As for your suppliers, there are some factors you need to verify before doing business with them:
Confirm they offer dropshipping: Double-check to see whether they actually do dropshipping. Even on famous dropshipping apps like AliExpress or AutoDS, some suppliers don’t do dropshipping. Finding this out after you have orders can quickly turn into a nightmare.
Test their communication: Make sure they can communicate clearly in English (or your preferred language) and respond to messages promptly. Good communication is crucial when you need to resolve issues relating to customers.
Check sample orders: Order samples to evaluate product quality, shipping speed, and packaging firsthand. You can also develop better relationships by offering specific feedback with evidence. Suppliers will take your concerns seriously and often improve their service for future orders.
For every one of your chosen products, look for more than one supplier. Having two or more suppliers will help you increase your order fulfillment ratio. If one supplier runs out of your product, there's a good chance the other supplier has it.
Moreover, it’s safer not to rely on only one supplier. If they stop working with you, raise their prices, or go out of business, your online store could be at risk.
Choosing which shipping carriers to deliver your products is also important for a seamless customer shopping experience. Remember, mail carriers have their own shipping policy, rates, and shipping time. So, compare different carriers carefully by reading reviews from past merchants and chatting with their customer support to find the best fit for your target market.
Set up your online store
Your online store is the face of your dropshipping business, and it’s where all your website visitors will end up. That’s why it’s so important to create a welcoming experience that encourages people to shop.
Customers will rely on what they see and read on your site, so make sure to include all the important information they need, like:
High-quality product visual: You can use media resources from your suppliers. But, they can not be as you expected. Instead, take the photos by yourself or hire a photographer. Show multiple angles so customers can see the whole product. Include user-generated content or short videos when possible.
Compelling description: Many merchants only list their product features. But what customers want to buy is the value that products can provide to them. Highlight the products’ benefits and how the product can solve their problem. Use a tone of voice that matches your brand personality and values.
Reliable social proof: Customers tend to believe what other buyers say more than what brands claim. Display genuine testimonials and reviews to build trust and credibility. If possible, show user-generated contents that demonstrate your product in action.
Secured verification: There’s no excuse for poor fraud prevention and weak security. Display trust badges, SSL certificates on your site. Use recognized payment methods and clearly communicate your data protection policies to reassure customers that their information is safe. To avoid getting scammed with fake orders, consider using the validation checkout feature.
Transparent return and shipping policy: When you work on your return policy, it is better to refer to your suppliers first about how they deal with returns. You may get charged with some additional fees here and there, but the trust and reputation that follows often outweigh these costs. Moreover, be open about your shipping time. If you ship to your customer from different suppliers, something like “Estimated delivery: 7–15 business days” should do the work. If it’s coming from overseas, adding a small note like “Ships directly from our partner warehouse” helps build trust.
Flexible payment methods: If you sell globally, consider using the payment providers of the market you are targeting. Customers are more likely to complete purchases when their preferred payment method is available. For example, while PayPal is popular in Canada and the U.K., Stripe is more well-known in the U.S. market.
The catalyst: Drive traffic and get your first dropshipping sales
Customers won't know about your dropshipping business if you don't engage with them where they are.
Here are two powerful methods to drive targeted traffic to your store:
Leverage social media to reach your target audience
According to Data Reportal, 93.8% of the world’s internet users, regardless of age, now use social media each month. With nearly everyone online competing for attention, simply having a social media presence isn't enough anymore.
Here’s what you can do to make your dropshipping business stand out:
Pick your platform carefully: There are hundreds of social media platforms out there, and it’s just impossible to be on all of them. Let your target audience guide your choice. Research where your ideal customers spend their time by searching for relevant keywords and hashtags. Look for a high engagement rate and frequent upload posts.
Optimize user-generated content: Customer photos, reviews, and testimonials are marketing gold. Encourage your customers to leave feedback through contests, using rewards such as discounts, coupons, and store credit. User-generated content is also a good way for you to foster a genuine connection with your customers.
Use relevant and high-quality media: Visual consistency is crucial for building brand recognition. Every image, video, and graphic you share should reflect your brand's personality and speak directly to your target audience's preferences and values.
Engage with similar accounts: Like the name indicates, social media is for people to socialize and find their communities. By engaging with similar accounts and content, you show authenticity that goes beyond a faceless brand trying to make sales. Thoughtful comments and shares also increase your visibility, build credibility, and attract customers.
Optimize paid advertising
Ad campaigns are the quickest way to show your products to people who are most likely to buy. Many platforms offer advertising options, but the two most popular channels are Facebook and Google Ads.
With Facebook’s Ads Manager platform, you will be able to advertise on the two biggest social media channels: Facebook and Instagram. You can tailor your product ads with your audience segmentation, such as demographics, interests, and behaviors. Moreover, you can also choose from various formats (image, video, carousel, or collection) or placements (Feeds, stories, reels) to see which one converts most effectively.
For Google Ads, the powerhouse search engine lets you advertise directly on Google and YouTube. However, what makes it different is the ability to reach consumers in three distinct ways: search ads, Google Display Network, and YouTube ads. Similar to Facebook’s Ads Manager, you can set your audience based on specific behaviors, demographics, or interests.
The investment: Develop sustainable long-term growth
Generating your first dropshipping sales through targeted traffic is an exciting milestone, but it's only the starting point.
The real profitability comes when you build systems that turn one-time buyers into repeat customers and create predictable, scalable growth.
Let’s look at how to maintain the momentum:
Develop a dropshipping SEO strategy
SEO, an acronym for search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your website to increase its ranking on search engine results pages.
If your store isn’t optimized for search engines, your customers will never find your products. With the introduction of Generative Shopping, the competition for visibility is even more intense. This means that investing time in a solid SEO strategy is now a must-have to capture organic traffic and convert sales.
The goal is to get your product pages ranking for keywords your customers are searching for. But here's a smart strategy: start a blog. Writing helpful articles related to your products is an excellent way to attract visitors and build authority in your niche.
For example, if you sell kitchenware, you could write articles about:
How to organize your kitchen on a budget.
Best kitchen tools for small apartments.
Top 5 medieval-themed kitchenware for your house.
Finding these topics is easier than you think. Using tools like Semrush or Keyword.io, simply plug the product keywords into the tool, and you'll see a list of related queries to the topic.
Set up profitable pricing offers
Pricing can make or break your dropshipping business. After all, the prices you choose influence everything, from your profit margins to how customers perceive your brand.
To price your dropshipping products profitably, follow these 5 steps:
Understand your market and audience: Here’s where your research step shows value. When you know what segments you want to target, it’s easier to price your products relatively to how much they are willing to pay.
Define your minimum retail price: You should calculate a retail price for your product. Although each supplier will have a Minimum Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for each product, account for your own expenses and desired profit margin.
Know your product niche: Some products will have different factors that affect their pricing. For instance, widely available products often have a lower price compared to exclusive products with high demand. Additionally, some items will sell better in specific seasons.
Research your competitors: Since other dropshippers may sell the same items, keep a close eye on how they price their products. However, avoid simply lowering your price as it can hurt your brand perception. Instead, focus on adding perceived value so customers feel your offer is worth paying for.
Set your markup: After considering all factors above, determine your pricing formula. You can refer to your competitors by looking at their retail price and estimated wholesale price. Regardless, make sure it passes your break-even point.
A tip to make your offers more attractive is to use quantity discounts that encourage larger purchases without lowering your product’s perceived value. By offering small incentives as customers buy additional units, you can boost your revenue while giving shoppers a reason to stock up.
The loop: Customer retention & lifetime value
After getting customers, most merchants make the mistake of ignoring their dropshipping site. As a result, they must rely on ads to attract new customers each time.
This is an expensive and inefficient way to run a business. According to Business Wire, today’s merchants, on average, now lose $29 for every new customer acquired. That’s why smart merchants are turning to customer retention to maintain their profitability.
There are two ways to avoid this costly mistake and maximize your customer lifetime value:
Take advantage of email marketing
Email and SMS provide a personal way to connect with customers. They let you create a more personalized experience for your customers, which encourages repeat purchases.
However, it is not easy to get people to sign up or open a customer account on your site. Offer something valuable to motivate people to register, such as store credit, discounts, or coupons.
Since each customer will be at a different stage of the purchase journey, consider segmenting your audience. You can divide your customers based on these factors:
Customer demographics: Location, age group, …
Purchasing behaviors: Order frequency, abandoned checkout, …
Email engagement: Opened, clicked, subscribers, …
And other custom attributes that you label your customers.
Then, set up automated email sequences for different purposes to engage with customers. For example:
Welcome email: Greet individuals who have just registered. Introduce your store and reward them to encourage their next visit.
Abandoned cart & checkout email: Send an email to remind potential customers to complete their purchase.
Post-purchase email: Show your appreciation toward customers. You can suggest products that they might like, or a small reward as a token for their next purchase.
Promotional email: Let customers know about your latest seasonal sales campaigns, as well as restock announcements, collection highlights, or VIP offers.
To set up email automation from your Shopify admin, go to Marketing, then select Automations and View templates. From this section, you can choose from the available templates or create your own custom automation using Shopify Flow, which is available on all plans. Just a heads up, you will need Shopify Email to use these templates.
Pay attention to the post-purchase journey
The sale doesn't end at checkout. To get customers back to your dropshipping business, map out every possible breakdown at each step of their post-purchase experience.
The first issue is your supplier’s mistake. Due to the nature of dropshipping, you're bound to have fulfillment errors from time to time. However, it is more important to know what to do after that:
Take responsibility: No matter how picky you are when choosing suppliers, you must take responsibility when problems arise. Never allow customers to contact your suppliers directly. This can lead to confusion, even negative reviews that damage your brand. Instead, let customers know that you recognize the issues and explain what steps you are taking to resolve them.
Fix the experience of your customers: No one likes issues to arise. But it’s how you make it up to your customers that matters. Offer solutions like replacements or full refunds to make things right. Before processing returns, verify complaints are legitimate by requesting unboxing videos or product photos to avoid fraudulent claims.
Contact the supplier: When things are solved, contact your supplier about the situation. Any reputable supplier will pay to fix its own errors, including shipping charges for returning items. However, if the supplier continues to make these errors, it may be time to consider finding a different supplier.
The second issue is your customer support. Great customer service is the heart of a successful dropshipping business. Since you cannot control the quality of your suppliers and products, having outstanding customer support becomes even more crucial. Here are the key elements that define top-notch customer service:
Responsiveness: Speed matters when customers have questions or concerns. So, provide a centralized location to host an FAQ page that they can easily look up. If you are busy with your 9-to-5, consider setting up an automated chatbot that handles common inquiries 24/7 and guides customers to relevant resources.
Personalization: Treat every customer interaction as an opportunity to build a relationship, not just close a ticket. Use their name, acknowledge their frustration when things go wrong, and show genuine care about resolving their issues.
Accessibility: Different customers prefer different communication methods. Offer support through email, live chat, and social media DMs so customers can reach you where they're most comfortable.
The third one is a lack of loyalty programs. Most dropshippers focus solely on acquiring new customers and forget about the ones who already bought from them. Loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases by rewarding customers for their continued support. Consider offering points or store credit for every purchase that can be redeemed for discounts, providing exclusive early access to new products, or creating a tiered VIP system where frequent shoppers unlock special perks.
Final words
Success in dropshipping doesn't happen overnight. Getting more customers for your dropshipping business really comes down to doing the basics well and staying consistent: Start by setting up a solid foundation with quality products and reliable suppliers. Then, bring in traffic through smart marketing. Finally, focus on keeping those customers coming back for more.
Dropshipping is competitive, but with the strategies we've covered in this guide, you have what it takes to stand out. Remember, every successful dropshipper started exactly where you are right now. The only difference? They actually got started.
Your first sale is out there waiting for you. Go get it!
FAQs
Harry Nguyen
Digital Marketing Specialist at Qikify
Hi, I’m Harry, your friendly neighborhood marketer at Qikify. I am all about providing E-commerce merchants like you with the best insights and industry tips to help you grow your online stores and drive more sales.
Out of office, I like working out at a gym and learning about all things E-commerce and Marketing.
Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m always up for a coffee chat with other marketing folks and store owners to exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations.
