The concept of “dropshipping”, as well as the very method of delivering goods to the end buyer, originated in the USA. The first mention of dropshipping dates back to 1920, but at that time it was not yet connected with the modern concept – when we perceive a retailer who does not actually have the goods in stock. Then dropshipping in the USA was not so popular as today.
The first dropshippers called themselves businessmen who supplied private American households with coal, offering to buy it at a good price, but they did not have the coal itself. The businessmen then bought the coal from suppliers. The suppliers, in turn, were not happy with these middlemen, because there were uncertain timelines for shipping the goods.
100 years have passed, and the problems in dropshipping remain the same:
- Availability of goods
- Price
- Speed of shipment
But today they can be solved with a creative approach not like back then. A great example of this is Ali2Woo and eBay2Woo plugins that can automate most dropshipping processes.
How did dropshipping evolve?
Dropshipping began its rapid development in the 20s, but in the late 60s it came to a halt – dropshipping became just a tool for wholesalers.
In the early 2000s, dropshipping was reborn, but this time on the Internet: it served the B2C-sphere in the consumer goods sales segment. Also, the trend of the dropshipping rebirth is related to the fact that there was a high price fork between China and the rest of the markets. Back then you could buy a product in China for $1 and sell it for $50. Now we also see a similar picture, but of course not as large-scale and not with all categories of goods.
After 2 years, was created the first dropshipping portal, which exists to this day – Doba. Since 2010 there was a sharp jump in dropshipping as a model of working with goods. This was due to the fact that:
- There was a definite crisis that digitalization brought with it – many businesses began to rebuild.
- The large price fork with China continued to allow for earning on the price difference – entrepreneurs began to do business with China in earnest.
- Penetration of technology in life – the Internet became available to almost everyone, mobile Internet became available.
- The evolution of dropshipping has led to the emergence of marketplaces. A marketplace, in a sense, can be called a “big dropshipper”, which trades other people’s goods.
- Omnichannelism. The consumer now wants to see a large assortment in the window, wants to compare products by price, wants convenient delivery and return guarantees, wants to buy when and where it is convenient for him or her. Consumer behavior as a whole has become completely different.
There is a lot of money in the dropshipping market. Dropshipping businesses will grow because they have been modified. It is important to understand this and to properly distribute functions between the supplier and the website that sells the goods. Today service is important in dropshipping because the client expects a loyal attitude to him or her. This must not be forgotten.
What can help to maintain qualitative service for the clients?
Ali2Woo is an excellent dropshipping plugin for maintaining qualitative service for clients. Moreover, with them, it is easier to start dropshipping business. With it, you can engage customers and encourage sales, import only products with the fastest delivery time, fulfill and track orders automatically as well as import products and reviews in different AliExpress languages. Ali2Woo is a powerful dropshipping plugin both for new and experienced dropshippers.
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