How to create a dropshipping website in 2024?

There are multiple niches and product groups, but the steps of creating dropshipping website in 2024 are similar for all of them.

Here is the breakdown of the process, which explains, how to create a dropshipping store from scratch, and what potential problems to keep in mind to make your website efficient. 

8 steps of creating a dropshipping website or store

We suggest that you already know the core principles of dropshipping and read our guide for dropshipping beginners. It is possible that you now have plans to start a dropshipping store. The steps we describe below illustrate how to avoid rookie mistakes and not forget important details.

1. Define initial investment

Determine, how much are you building to spend for developing a dropshipping store from scratch. This regards both time and money. Dropshipping brings profits, but it isn’t magic: the income are highly defined by your work and commitment. You may perceive it as a side-job or a full-time project, as a source of additional income or as the main method to earn a living. The best way is to start small and then grow your store steadily. Dropshipping works very well with this approach, as it demands less initial investment than a typical online store with its own inventory. 

Note, that the initial phase of building you store consumes the most resources. Later, when you get your eCommerce project up and running, less time is required to maintain and grow it. Realistically, you can expect to spend 10-15 hours per week, which means, that you can run your store without leaving your nine-to-five job. But do not expect that your online business will promptly replace your regular income. Usually, this level of profitability can be reached in about a year.

2. Find your dropshipping niche

To create a dropshipping website, first pick a niche related to some field that you already understand well, and do some market research to find out, what is currently actively bought. Check Google Trends and the market analysis of popular products. Concentrating on small niches is beneficial for two reasons. First, they often have a more active and dedicated audience, so it is easier to attract new customers. Second, you will have less competition in comparison to exploring wider markets. Do not be afraid to work with narrow niches (for example, offering yoga equipment or iPhone cases). 

3. Conduct market research

Collect information about your competitors. Pay attention to what methods they use and how they achieved success. It is important to include in your search both big market participants and small eCommerce projects similar to yours. Use specialized tools, like Similarweb, to learn, how your competitors present themselves in the web, their optimization methods, and traffic sources. Explore their social media and subscribe to their updates. Follow their actions and react fast to their actions with your own offers. Pay attention to the prices they offer. Use all these data to highlight your competitive advantage. 

4. Picking the right supplier

Another question that must be answered to create an online store with drop shipping, is choosing the most reliable supplier. One of the widely popular solutions is dropshipping with AliExpress or eBay, but many niche-specific suppliers exist as well. Widely-used platforms, such as AliExpress, are more convenient for beginners, as you can spare yourself time by using plugins and syncing tools. To choose a particular supplier, carefully read reviews and pay attention to delivery options and branding opportunities. Some suppliers, who see dropshippers and resellers as their main target audience, offer white-label items and custom packaging. This means, that the item and its packaging will be marked with your brand, which will increase its recognition among customers. 

5. Establishing a store website

Now we have reached the most interesting part: describing, how to set up your store and create a dropshipping business on the website. Managing a website can seem complicated, but here is the pleasantly surprising news: it is not necessary to be a developer or a programmer to do this. Nowadays, many solutions exist on the market, that allow creating a web-store without programming. For example, you project can be built on WordPress with one of the many appropriate templates, and enhance it with modules for providing payments, filtering and searching items, etc. Another solution is to buy a dropshipping store, which is ready to launch. This way the initial investment gets higher, but your main task will be limited to filling the inventory with goods and conducting a marketing campaign. 

6. Follow legal and financial requirements

Do not forget to deal with legal and financial aspects related to developing an eCommerce project. Details can vary, depending on what country are you situated in, but in any case, you must choose an organizational structure. This defines, how will you pay taxes from your profits. In the US, the optimal choice is a sole proprietorship or a LLC. Many beginner entrepreneurs choose the first option as the simplest in regards to the required paperwork. Moreover, to legally conduct business in the US, it is required to get an EIN – employer identification number, which is similar to SSN, but for the company. If you are in some other country, consult the local lawyer or search for information online to understand the legal requirements for running a business. 

Keep the financial aspect of your activity organized from the beginning. As with the legal aspect, the specifics depend on what country you are in, but here is some universal advice: your personal and business financial resources should remain separated, and you should keep a thorough register of all your operations. Set up a separate business account for all payments and purchases. 

7. Promoting your store

It does not matter if you have your own custom website or a ready made dropshipping store, to make it profitable you have to invest in the market. There are several methods for promoting a dropshipping store, and you should use several of them simultaneously:

• Run a campaign with paid ads on Facebook or Google. 
• Work with influencers to earn customers’ trust. 
• Develop a content marketing strategy. 
• Use social media to create a community around your products. 
• Explore the specific strategies of mobile marketing, because more and more people use their smartphones for online shopping instead of PCs. 
• Use the complex approach to make your marketing effective. 

8. Analyze and improve

For your dropshipping business to succeed, you need not only to know, how to build dropshipping website, but also how to improve it and keep up with competitors. Here are the key aspects you need constantly pay attention to: 

• Visitors’ activity. How many visitors eventually make a purchase? Do they do it from desktop or mobile? If they do not finish the purchase, what stops them? 
• Sales. What products are bought more often? What ad channels are more effective? How much is the mean purchase? What products are often bought together? Do customers return, or do most of them buy only once? 
• Profit markings. What is the relation between profits and expenditures? Which products are the most profitable? How do the numbers change from month to month? 

Even if you are a complete beginner, these steps will help you to establish your first store. Use them as a guideline and you will be on the road to success. 

Custom or pre-made dropshipping store?

Here is one more question, that requires some specific attention. As we have mentioned above, you can buy a ready made dropshipping websites or build your own one. Each of these options has its advantages and disadvantages.

Here are the most significant positives when you buy a store to use it right away: 

• The most of the job is done for you. No need to browse supplier lists or compare website hosters. 
• You can start selling right away, so you will some profits very soon. 
• Some pre-made stores include built-in solutions that automate processes for you. Thus, you won’t need to worry about shipping, syncing information, informing your customer about a delivery, or filing your inventory. 

However, a turnkey dropship website for sale can have some disadvantages: 

• You cannot freely change the layout and design of your dropshipping store. If you want to customize the store later, it can get problematic, and some turnkey stores limit the choice of suppliers as well. 
• The price of such products can be pretty high. You will require a higher initial investment, and if the business does not work out well, you may lose that money. 
• The popularity of dropshipping attracts scammers and fraudsters. There is a website that offers to buy a dropshipping store, but then the buyers find out, that the product does not exist at all, does not function, or is an illegitimate rip-off of an existing store. 

As you see, the disadvantages of buying a pre-made store can be easily avoided, if you pay enough attention to the choice process and decide consciously, which dropshipping website to buy. If you can afford a bit higher initial investment and want to start your business fast, a pre-made store is an option for you. If you must keep a limited budget or want to explore all aspects of building a business from scratch, it is entirely possible to do it successfully as well, albeit your store will develop slower. Now you know, how to build a profitable eCommerce dropshipping store. This advice will help you to establish an online-business and get your first profits within a few months. Dropshipipng is a business model, that you can flexibly adjust to your needs, goals and resources. Use it to improve your financial situation and develop your store into a stable source of profit, no matter, what niche have you chosen.