How To Start An Online Store With No Products Of Your Own - A Guide To Dropshipping With Shopify

ecommerce store dropshipping shopify

If you are looking into getting your big break in e-commerce or retail, then you have probably already compared providers and decided on one. And really, the e-commerce industry is booming and now is as good a time as any. Shopify is one of the most popular and effective e-commerce service providers out there. It answers all the questions that come up when you think of how to start an online e-commerce store. 

But, some of us often struggle with inventory. After all, deciding what you can sell in your e-commerce store can be such a deal-breaker for people. This is where drop shipping comes in! Believe it or not, you don’t ever have to worry about inventory with a drop shipping based e-commerce store

What Is Drop Shipping? 

The simplest way to describe this manner of running a business is serving the purpose of being the middleman. Ideally, when you receive an order you simply forward that to the supplier and they then deliver the requested goods to the location specified. You can essentially run an entire ecommerce business without having to worry about inventory at all. There are even apps that help you simplify the process and merge multiple suppliers with your e-commerce store, making it easier for both the customers and you. 

How Shopify Can Help 

Here’s the million dollar question: where does Shopify come in? Shopify is essentially your guide to start your e-commerce business in the first place. Everything you’ll need for running an ecommerce store, Shopify can provide. It removes much of the anxiety behind how to start an online store, since the product is so simple to use you need little to no technical experience. And besides, Shopify support is available around the clock for if you ever run into some issues. 

Combining Drop Shipping And Shopify 

It doesn’t take much to join two and two here. Dropshipping is the best business model for a budding entrepreneur or aspiring retailer. Shopify is your gateway to set up an e-commerce store with all of the necessary tools where your skills can finally pay off.

Combining the two means, first off, not ever worrying about your inventory. Excess inventory is not an issue you’ll ever have to deal with since only the products you get orders for are getting delivered. It’s a novel business model, no doubt. And very different from traditional e-commerce wherein bulk manufacturing or wholesale orders are needed to make any profit at all. Further, with Shopify the process of managing your already minimized inventory is made simpler. 

Steps To Getting Started 

With Shopify and Dropshipping, you can start your store in a few simple steps! 

• Pick A Name 

The name of your store should be three things: creative, easy to recall/memorize, and simple. There are even business name generators online that you can use. Once you pick a name, either by yourself or by a generator, you’ll have to make sure it’s available at all. Use a search engine for this and also check what domain is being used by said name. 

Shopify Account 

Visit the Shopify website and create an account for yourself. The process is a one-click and simple one: simply enter your email address in the top bar on the home page and you’re good to go. Enter a password and the name of your e-commerce store. Shopify then poses some questions that will help ascertain your understanding of e-commerce and how much help you would be needing. 

• Configure Settings 

At this stage, you set up payment, establish rates and policies, and receive payments. The most important of the lot is the payment- go to the settings page and click on payments. Set up a PayPal account if you have one. For shipping, Shopify recommends going for ‘Free Shipping’ and simply upping the price of the products a little to make up for it. This helps market your products well. You can pick the same in the shipping tab. 

As for the policies- Shopify makes this easier by generating a standard privacy policy, terms and conditions, and a refund policy. On the settings page, click on the Checkout tab. Go to the bottom of the page and click generate- and it’s done. 

• Launch The Store 

On Shopify settings, click on Sales Channels and then click on ‘Add an online store’. That’s it! you’re done! 

Designing And Selling 

Pick themes from the Shopify store to make your e-commerce store look appealing and hold a customers attention. This is vital. You’ll also have to try various marketing techniques to get customers on your site, so try everything from Facebook or TikTok to Instagram and Threads. The trick is to not stop because this is definitely a gradual process. 

Use a dropshipping app such as Oberlo, which is seamlessly integrated with Shopify. Once you do this, add a category to your store. Then simply visit the Oberlo app and search products you wish to sell and click on import. They will automatically be added to your store. Oberlo takes away the issue of finding suppliers for you! Oberlo is owned by Shopify, so you can rest assured that the app does what it promises. 

Final Thoughts On A Shopify Dropshipping Business

Make your first sale and congratulate yourself on a successful e-commerce dropshipping business! It could end up being one of the most profitable ventures you've ever started!


I hope you enjoyed this blog post about how to start a profitable online e-commerce store with Shopify and dropshipping.

Interested in more articles about running an ecommerce business?

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