How To Start Dropshipping Business in India – Easy Steps

This guide on how to start dropshipping business in India is meant to hold your hand while you experience the vast universe of a drop-shipping business in India. We will address everything from a brief introduction to the intricacies of using drop-shipping to your advantage. Let’s dive into it.

What Is Dropshipping business in India?

Drop shipping is a method of fulfilment used in retail where a store doesn’t keep the products physically in stock. Instead, whenever an order is placed, the purchased item is shipped directly from the wholesaler to the customer. As a result, it eliminates the step of the seller having to directly get involved in product packaging and shipping.

The main difference between the standard retail warehousing model and dropshipping is that in this case, the selling merchant does not stock or own any inventory, thus eliminating expensive inventory keeping and logistic costs.

Benefits of Drop-shipping:

With drop-shipping, you can be free from the trouble of:

• Managing or paying for a storage unit
• Packing and shipping orders
• Keeping a track of inventory
• Handling returns 
• Continuous ordering and managing stock levels

How Does Dropshipping Business Work?

Dropshipping is a way of selling products where you, as the store owner, don’t keep any items in stock. When someone buys something from your store. Then you buy it from a third-party supplier. The supplier ships it directly to the customer.

Your customer pays the price you set, you pay the supplier’s price, and the difference is your profit. You don’t need to handle any products or invest in keeping them in stock. To start selling you need to get in touch with a supplier.

With dropshipping, you build your own website and brand, choose the products you want to sell, and market them. You also decide on prices that make you money and cover shipping costs.

Types of Dropshipping Business

Dropshipping has different ways of starting a business. Let’s look at some:

Product Reselling

This is the most common type of dropshipping. You find products from suppliers and resell them in your store at a markup. This allows you to offer a wide range of items without holding inventory.

Business Extensions

Here, existing businesses use dropshipping to expand their product line without the risks of additional inventory. For example, a clothing store might dropship accessories or shoes to complement their main offerings.

Product Creation

In this model, you partner with suppliers to create custom products. You design the items, and the supplier manufactures and ships them. This is ideal for unique or branded products that reflect your business’s identity.

Print on Demand

Perfect for creative entrepreneurs, print on demand involves selling custom designs printed on various products like t-shirts, mugs, or phone cases. You upload your designs, and when a customer orders, the supplier prints and ships the item directly to them.

How To Start a Dropshipping Business in India?

Now that we have the basics of dropshipping squared away, let’s get into the steps of actually launching a dropshipping business India.

1. Research the Indian Market

To succeed in the Indian dropshipping market, it’s crucial to understand consumer demand and preferences. Analyze market trends, survey potential customers, and identify niches with high potential. For instance, fashion accessories and eco-friendly products are currently trending.

2. Find your niche

• The number 1 step to building a dropshipping business is to figure out the products that you want to sell and who’ll be your buyers.
• Pick a niche that you are naturally interested in. Along with that, make sure that your niche and choice of products have some demand in the market.
• Start with making a list of things that you want to sell and on the side make a note of potential customers who’d be buying them from your store. For example, things like “active wear”, “funky t-shirts”, “cool mobile covers”, etc.
• Once that is done, look on Instagram and Google trends that people consistently search for these products online throughout the year and notice if there’s any trend in it. The idea is to pick niches and products that have consistent or growing demand.

3. Choosing Dropshipping Products

Focus on products that are in demand but have low competition. Use keyword research tools like Google Trends and SEMrush to identify popular items. When considering how to choose dropshipping products, prioritize items that are lightweight, durable, and have a good profit margin. For example, consider tech gadgets, home decor, or fitness gear, which are popular and often have high markups.

4. Study Your Competitors

Conduct a thorough analysis of your competitors to understand their product offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing tactics. Tools like Ahrefs and SpyFu can help you see what keywords and ads your competitors are using. This information will help you identify gaps in the market and ways to differentiate your business. 

5. Find a Reliable Supplier

Partner with reputable suppliers who offer quality products and reliable shipping. Websites like AliExpress, IndiaMart, and TradeIndia are excellent starting points. Verify the supplier’s credibility by checking reviews and ratings. Additionally, ordering samples can help you assess product quality and delivery times.

6. Price Your Dropshipping Products

Set competitive prices that cover your costs and provide a healthy profit margin. Consider the cost of the product, shipping, and any fees associated with your e-commerce platform.

Use tools like Profit Margin Calculator to ensure your pricing strategy is profitable. For example, if a product costs ₹300, you might price it at ₹600 to cover costs and ensure a profit.

7. Create your online store on Blinkstore

Even though you do not need to have a physical inventory of the products, you need to have a virtual catalogue of all your products. Pair it with a responsive platform and a clever domain name and you’ll be good to go!

Sign up on Blinkstore and create your store in less than 10 minutes. Blinkstore not only provides you with your own online storefront but also acts as your dropshipping partner. So with Blinkstore, you do not need a seller or drop shipping partner.

Using Blinkstore, you can launch your own dropshipping business in India and start selling 30+ varieties of products from your own store within minutes. Blinkstore manages the dropshipping business in India on behalf of the sellers and takes care of inventory, shipping, and all operations.

8. Set Up Secure Payment Gateways

Ensure you have secure and convenient payment options for your customers. Popular payment gateways in India include Paytm, Razorpay, and CCAvenue. Offering multiple payment options can enhance customer convenience and boost sales. Additionally, consider offering COD (Cash on Delivery) as it is popular in India.

9. Create a Marketing Plan

Develop a marketing strategy to reach your target audience. Use a mix of social media marketing, content marketing, and paid advertising to attract and convert customers.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads are effective for promoting your products. For instance, running Instagram ads targeting young adults can drive traffic to your fashion accessory store.

10. Choose the E-Commerce Platform

Select a user-friendly e-commerce platform to host your online store. Blinkstore, Shopify, and Magento are popular choices that offer various integrations and features suitable for dropshipping.

Ensure the platform you choose supports seamless integration with your suppliers and offers customization options to reflect your brand identity.

11. Promote! Promote! Promote to make sales

Now that you’ve finalized your, product and platform, it’s time to spread the word. Engage your customers in a smart way to generate lots of interest pre-launch. And start promoting your business online to get paying customers and start making some sweet profits.

Is Dropshipping Business in India Profitable?

Dropshipping is a fantastic concept, one that has a lot of scope for growth and experimentation in India. Dropshipping business in India is very competitive and you’ll need to closely monitor your pricing, choose the right pricing, and keep your business expenses low to make profits. But the short answer is, “Yes, dropshipping business in India is profitable”. Here are a few reasons why:

• Cost-Effective: It eliminates the cost of warehousing and logistics
  
• Low Risk: The risk of loss isn’t as significant since you don’t hold any inventory that might expire.
  
• Automated Functioning: Dropshipping can be automated to a very high degree as all functions involved, i.e. branding, marketing, placing orders, and setting prices can be automated.
  
• Location Independent: You save on rent costs as you don’t need to have a physical office.
  
• Purchasing Power: Another major development seen in the market is the increase in disposable income of various economic groups which results in higher spending power.
  
• Wider Reach: Since dropshipping is essentially dependent on the internet, your business can have a much broader reach across the globe.

Can You Start A Dropshipping Business in India Without Money?

Although you do not need loads of money to start a dropshipping business, you still need to make an investment if you are choosing any platform other than Blinkstore. Yes, it is definitely possible to start a dropshipping business without money in India. The two most crucial things to starting earning money via dropshipping are time and niche. Some platform options:

• Blinkstore
• eBay
• Amazon Dropshipping
• Shopify
• Wix Dropshipping

Blinkstore is the only free dropshipping platform in India among all these platforms. With Blinkstore, you do not need any upfront investment to set up for the online store and in listing products to sell. But you’ll need to make investments in marketing and growing your business online.

How To Promote Your Dropshipping Business in India?

• Running Ads on Instagram & Facebook: This includes influencer shoutouts, story ads, and Facebook posts.
• Pay-Per-Click Ads: Google is the biggest platform for PPC ads and you can get featured in Google shopping and in Google search results.
  
• Pinterest Advertising: create an aesthetic pins board featuring your products and promote it on other social media channels
  
• YouTube Advertising: create your own channel and post informative videos on relevant topics featuring your products. You could also pay influencers to promote your product on their channel.
  
• Reviews and word-of-mouth: Get your customers’ reviews and testimonials to promote positive word of mouth.
  
• Social Media Content: Create great content on your social media that gets organic reach and engagement. Once people start engaging with your social media content, then you can start positioning your products in the posts and promoting them to get sales.

Top 5 Dropshipping Business In India

• Blinkstore: Blinkstore offers the complete platform to launch your own e-commerce store and it comes vertically integrated with print-on-demand dropshipping. It has 30+ products in the print-on-demand catalogue that you can design and start selling online within a few minutes at zero upfront investment. Also, Blinkstore provides premium features like custom domain, Google Analytics Integration, and Facebook Pixel Integrations for free.
  
• Indiamart: Indiamart is a huge online B2B platform, where you can find all major dropshippers, suppliers, and manufacturers for your online dropshipping business.
  
• Baapstore: Baapstore is one of India’s most trusted platforms to start a dropshipping business. This platform provides a variety of product catalogs for you to sell on your online store, online marketplaces, social media, or any other medium. 
  
• ExportersIndia: Exporters India is also a B2B marketplace, where online retailers can find dropshipping service providers for a variety of products across India. There you can contact suppliers directly for your requirements and fulfil the orders customers place on your website directly.
  
• Dropship Zone: Dropship Zone is an Indian dropshipping company focused on providing specialized services to drop shippers.  They have a wide range of hottest selling products in India. Because they source products directly from the manufacturer, it gives you the opportunity to earn a high-profit margin. 
  
• Wholesale Box: Wholesale Box is one of the earliest, fully dedicated dropshipping platforms, and probably one of the top wholesale dropshippers in India. When you place an order as a wholesaler, you have to buy the bunch, but if you register yourself as a drop shipper, you can buy a single product and ship it to your customer directly.

Dropshipping business ideas and products in India

With Blinkstore, thousands of entrepreneurs are building their online business and you can be the next if you have an idea or a brand concept in your mind. There are many ideas on drop-shipping business in India. You can:

• Sell apparels online
• Sell mobile covers, gaming pads, mouse pads, and other accessories
• Sell home decor and kitchen use products in India
• Sell cushion covers, mugs, wall posters, notebooks, etc.

Here are some of the products that you can easily drop ship anywhere in India. This list includes:

1. T-shirts
2. Hoodies
3. Water bottles
4. Cushion covers
5. Joggers
6. Coasters
7. Mouse pads
8. Gaming Pads
9. Mugs
10. Kids clothing
11. Home decor items
12. Face masks
13. Laptop skins
14. Essentials oils and candles
15. Greens and plants
16. Pet supply
17. Medical supplies
18. Electronics
19. Fashion and clothing
20. Health and wellness supplements
21. Books and music
22. Electronic items and many more.

How to Start Dropshipping Business in India with Blinkstore

Step 1: Signup on Blinkstore

Sign up on Blinkstore with your google account or by manually entering your email address.

Step 2: Create your store and upload designs on products of your choice

Click on Create Store and enter the name you want to pick for your store or drop-shipping business. Your store will be live on store-name.blinkstore.in subdomain for the time being. You can also connect it with your own custom domain. Once your store is created, you can customise it to fit your branding.

Step 3: Start selling and Blinkstore will take care of all the dropshipping operations for you

From the Blinkstore catalogue of print-on-demand products, choose the products that you want to sell. Now upload your designs on them and list them on your store. That’s all! you are now good to go and start selling anywhere in India at your own profit margins. As soon as you make a sale, your profits will appear in the payout section from where you can withdraw it to your bank account.

Conclusion

Your new store may or may not be an internet sensation in the first few months of inception but you gotta be patient and make the right moves. If your products don’t sell well at first, try switching niches and reassessing your marketing strategies.

Take the initial period for experimentation and find a strategy that works for you. Trial and error with products, vendors, platforms, and marketing strategies will definitely result in you finding your dropshipping sweet spot. All in all, your understanding of how to start a dropshipping business in India is complete and you can confidently launch your dropshipping business in India today!

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