A Full Guide to Start AliExpress Dropshipping Business in India

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Do you own a small business? Are you interested in moving it to AliExpress Dropshipping business in India? Congratulations, you are reading the right article. This article will guide you on how you can start your dropshipping business in India with AliExpress and an overall review of this online marketplace.

Table of Contents

Are you willing to start your own dropshipping business in India with AliExpress? Read on.

This article is nothing but a detailed guide on introducing your business on the AliExpress e-commerce platform.

AliExpress is a user-friendly platform to start with. Take a look at its easy-operating features below-

It’s no longer needed to have a substantial business investment on this platform compared to the others. You don’t have to set-up a physical store since you’ll operate your business online.
The overhead expense will also reduce as there is no cost involvement of managing warehouse.
You have the fullest freedom in changing the location of your business.
The necessary tips and hacks in the form of guidebooks, articles, and videos on business operations in this platform are available online for free.

Now let’s focus on some of the prime aspects dropshipping-

How to Define Dropshipping Business?

Dropshipping business is a method where business owners/retailers don’t have a stock of products that they sell.

Despite they pass on the incoming order to the manufacturers or in some cases to the other retailers and wholesalers. Then they ship the said product to the customers directly.

Here the stark difference from other selling methods is a retailer doesn’t require to set-up stock/inventory of products which they sell neither have they have to purchase it. Warehouse maintenance is not also required in the dropshipping business.

What is special about AliExpress Dropshipping?

AliExpress dropshipping is largely used by e-Commerce marketing entrepreneurs. It gives you the fullest freedom of using their content directly on your own website.

Also, you can choose the product which you want to sell and decide the marked price on your own.

AliExpress dropshipping accepts your order and ships the product straight from the warehouse to the customers’ address.

All these said points make AliExpress one of the popular and less-risky dropshipping methods for the budding entrepreneurs.

How Does it Work?

Below are the ways how AliExpress dropshipping works-

You need to have a business website on a platform e.g. Shopify. Choose products from the AliExpress dropshipping marketplace and add them to your website using applications like Oberlo.
Using these apps will not only sync your products with your site and the marketplace but also keep you posted when the seller makes any changes.
These apps also help you with the tracking code through which customers track their orders after shipment.
Once you accept the order from the customer you pass it on to the seller and they ship the product directly from AliExpress marketplace to the customer.

Why would you Choose AliExpress Dropshipping over others?

The soaring popularity of e-Commerce sites states how drastically the shopping behavior of the customers has been evolving.

To grab more audience attraction and higher sales, these e-Commerce sites use varied techniques to satisfy their customers. One of such successful marketing method is dropshipping.

Basically, it’s a type of management system where retailers don’t keep a goods’ stock rather send the order to other retailers. The manufacturers ship it to the customers.

AliExpress is one of the trendiest fashion e-Commerce websites which promotes the drop shipping technique. Due to its easy-to-operate features, it’s become one of the most favorite selling places for marketers and manufacturers.

The platform doesn’t charge additionally for trying out multiple products. There is no financial restriction for testing the entire business models.

Sellers have to put up the image and product description on the site so that people can connect with it. It’s recommendable that you should always use genuine information.

Dropshipping is a straightforward process where you have to add customer’s addresses and contact info while buying a good.

10 Reasons why AliExpress Dropshipping is the best choice for your e-Commerce business:

It has a reasonably lower start-up cost than that of others.
Absolutely no requirement for stock or inventory.
There is no need for warehouse renting, managing, or related operational cost.
There is no requirement for warehouse staff and maintenance.
Dropshipping can be operated through smartphones, PC, or tabs.
You can be the sole decision-maker for your business.
You can work from anywhere you want.
Once you choose AliExpress Dropshipping you can select from a wide array of products to sell from the marketplace.
You can automate your product importing capacity in a highly personalized way.
This platform enables you to get access to the global platform.

AliExpress’s Premium Shipping Option

AliExpress ships goods across the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and several other countries within 7-14 days.

The name of the shipping option is ePacket Delivery. Using this service can generate higher customer satisfaction while using AliExpress dropshipping.

How to Choose an AliExpress Dropshipping Supplier?

While using AliExpress dropshipping chances are there wrong stuff gets delivered to customers. This happens as you can’t see things before the order is shipped with AliExpress dropshipping.

This is the reason why you should lack on retaining customers’ faith. Thus, it’s essential to select dependable suppliers on AliExpress dropshipping.

Below are some important guidelines you should consider before you choose your supplier on AliExpress Dropshipping:

1. Don’t go for cost-effective suppliers

It might confuse you while choosing a supplier on AliExpress Dropshipping that there are suppliers with different price tags against the same product delivery. This is not the scenario. It’s the difference in the product material that decides the pricing of the suppliers.

However, if you choose a supplier with a lesser price, you might be risking on customer satisfaction. There is no way you should compromise on the quality over the costing while you are selling the good.

While setting up a successful business on AliExpress dropshipping you must have a comparative study on the suppliers before you make the final selection.

2. Always opt for suppliers with 95% and above rating

Before choosing your supplier it is recommended that you must go through the feedback. In any online business (esp. e-Commerce) rating system holds major importance.

So, read what other people say about a supplier and then stick to a high-ranking holder.

3. Be more attentive while selecting any branded product

Finding expensive, branded products are rare on AliExpress. It’s illegal to sell dupe or damaged products. If you think any of such products, you can directly report to the platform.

Certainly, there are branded products available on this platform. AliExpress has tie-up with brands like Lenovo and others. These brands use this platform for showcasing offers and promotions.

But you should always take a step with caution so that you can make a well-informed decision.

4. The responsiveness of the supplier matters

The best part of this platform is you can contact the supplier and weigh their working procedure from their reply. You can have a conversation with them about dropshipping and have a look at whether they are replying manually or using chatbots. Have a close look at whether they can solve your query and how impromptu they are with their answer.

5. Select suppliers with the best delivery capacity and alternatives

‘Delivery experience’ speaks the last word in your AliExpress dropshipping business. Delivery timing also calculated in this category. Always select suppliers with a premium delivery option i.e. ePacket shipping.

Take note of whether suppliers are offering a shipment tracking code to customers within 2 weeks of the delivery. These factors will determine a successful e-Commerce dropshipping business with AliExpress.

6. Order samples to decide product quality

Before choosing a supplier and placing a bulk order, buy a few samples for yourself in the first place. Have a close look at whether the supplier is delivering on time and along with the physical condition of the products.

The samples which you order must be the same one that you are planning to sell on this platform. Only after quality check take a step forward to sell the products with AliExpress dropshipping.

Refund & Return Policies

AliExpress doesn’t have a return option. Therefore, you will have to provide the return and refund policy on your own. There are two standard use-cases of return are-

1. The customer didn’t get the ordered deliverables

This is the scenario where you need to speak to your supplier to fix it. The solution is to switch to a new delivery provider. In any case, if they fail to address the issue, ask the client whether they want a replacement or a refund.

2. Damaged products

It happens sometimes that products get damaged during transition. This is where you have to click the image of the product at first to initiate the refund process for the customers. In case you feel it’s a faulty packaged product, speak directly to the supplier on the same.

Select the Right Product to Sell with AliExpress Dropshipping

Since AliExpress has a gamut of products to offer to find the right one for selling is crucial. Depending upon the product you can essay your success story as a seller on this platform.

Go through the following tips to select the correct product on AliExpress dropshipping

1. Deep research on AliExpress dropshipping product ideas

Even before you start finding products on this platform, it’s highly recommended to choose your niche. You can also take help from other online selling sites to have a clear product idea. There are multiple alike platforms to get this idea from such as-

Amazon Best Sellers
eBay Daily Deals
Oberlo’s List of What to Sell Online
LightInTheBox Top Sellers List

2. Take help from social Shopping sites

There are leading social shopping sites as well from where you can get an idea about product selection e.g. Polyvore owns a list of 100 million products and Wanelo has a stock of 30 million. Instagram, Pinterest, and Fancy also can help you with the same.

Create an account on these said platforms to have a quick overview of this. You can also get an idea of Google trends data which could help you in optimizing your store as well.

3. Check out more ideas on product selling online

Always go with the audience while selling anything online. But for that, you need to identify on which platform you can have the most number of audience for your product. You should visit multiple community sites to fulfilling this purpose.

You need to find products that customers are looking for online, yet they are unable to find those easily. The demand and supply gap is the particular area on which you need to have keen attention while selling goods on AliExpress dropshipping.

The tricks you can give a try are-

Select the genre for AliExpress dropshipping product ideas. Discover the ‘Stay Away’ categories to decide the best product for selling.
Find out the products with the most demand.
Choose the marked price for your selling goods.
Choose products that last longer
Be conscious of the pros and cons of multiple marketing channels.
Use Google Trends and Keyword Tools.

Advantages of Selling with AliExpress dropshipping

From the above discussion it is by far understood that dropshipping has become a signification business venture of the e-Commerce business owners.

AliExpress has become a popular selling platform owing to the growth in the e-Commerce ecosystem. However, there are multiple steps involved while selling with AliExpress. There are multiple advantages of selling with AliExpress. Some of the key advantages are-

1. Moderate pricing

Most of the e-Commerce websites are quite pocket-pinching while charging their customers. AliExpress is no same. They have kept moderate pricing for individual products

which make dropshipping affordable on this platform.

2. Multiple suppliers

For delivering a single product you will find a number of suppliers here. That’s why there are individual prices against the same product offering. It makes your choice easier with which price quote you are likely to sell your product. Have a look at the product quality as it might vary from supplier to supplier.

3. Rating System

Since the suppliers get the rating from the sellers on this platform it becomes easy to select your supplier in this way. This is also helpful for determining product quality and future reference purposes as well.

4. Awareness on dropshipping

Before entering this venture you should have a clear concept about dropshipping. Sellers in this platform are well aware of the concept. Choosing the dropshipping option ensures confirmed delivery of any particular stuff to your mentioned address. This aspect makes it an effortless venture.

5. Rules of shipment

The flexibility of dropshipping regulations makes it a popular venture. All you have to do is choose the ‘dropshipping’ from dropshipping and put the correct delivery address in the description box. In the case of inferior quality e-Commerce sites has easy replacement and refund policy to address the same.

Disadvantages with AliExpress Dropshipping

1. Profit margin is relatively lower than traditional

Since the platform doesn’t require capital investments, more and more merchants have their online store on AliExpress dropshipping.

They can sell products keeping the profit margin lower in an attempt to achieve higher sales. But practically this act can harm your business ROI.

2. Difficulty with shipping an order

Ignoring the shipment rules might result in delivering defecting or damaged products to your customers. This can take a toll on your customer satisfaction.

3. Potential glitches from the suppliers’ end

You are accountable to the customers even on a single mistake commenced by the suppliers. Choosing small or low-budget suppliers can give a lot of shipment pain like inferior packaging, untimely delivery, and even dispute in goods. This can have an adverse effect on your brand image.

7 Steps to Start your AliExpress Dropshipping Store

AliExpress is one of the top e-Commerce platforms that are offering dropshipping techniques. A person can source their goods as drop shipper by abiding by following rules-

Step 1: Choose the exact product that you will dropship. The selection of products varies in your niche.

Step 2: Choosing your niche will categorize your products according to selling/reselling criteria.

Step 3: Once you select the criteria you are ready to add products to your list. Go through the product description accurately and analyze them well before adding them to your list.

Step 4: While selling a product you should always concentrate on writing the exact information under the product description category. The product description should be crisp, factual, and attractive.

Step 5: In the product description, you should always keep a place for product delivery date and tracking information for your customers.

Step 6: Offering attractive discounts are an effective business method to lure customers.

Step 7: Maintain an excel sheet containing the product list including the price that AliExpress is charging and the related AliExpress product links of your website.

Conclusion

Always remember success doesn’t come easily you have to earn it. Similarly setting up a store on AliExpress dropshipping is not enough for longer sustenance.

You have to work hard and work diligently to upscale your sales. There might be multiple drawbacks of the dropshipping model but certainly, this is one of the stress-free methods for successful business development (esp. for e-Commerce).

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