Which sales channel is Best for your dropshipping business

Key Takeaways

hey everyone it's David with Ober low and it's Q&A time this week we're talking about a question that every drop shipper has asked at some point what's the best sales channel to market my drop shipping store first things first what is a sales channel well a sales channel is any place where you can market and sell your products this can include your e-commerce website physical stores or general marketplaces like Amazon there's also bidding sites like eBay social media platforms like Facebook and many many more now lots of sales channels are not a good fit for every business so how do you work out which one is best for you that's what we'll talk about in this video we'll look at what you need to take into account when choosing a sales channel and we'll look at the potential pros and cons of some of the major sales channels out there for dropshippers here's what you need to consider when choosing a sales channel first who are your target customers do you sell to a wide demographic or are you targeting a very specific niche for example if you sell workout equipment Instagram will be a good sales channel to test out because Fitness is a popular niche on the platform and the platform itself is dominated by younger people who are likely to be more active but if you sell mobility products for older people perhaps a trusted general marketplace like Amazon will be better bottom line knowing exactly who you're targeting is extremely important when choosing a sales channel secondly would somebody buy your product on impulse or are they likely to do some research beforehand for example think about when you go to the store to buy groceries the vegetables that are on your shopping list those are a planned purchase but that little tub of chocolate ice cream that you pick up on the way out that's an impulse buy now Facebook is a great channel to promote impulse buys why because people can see your Facebook ad in their feed click and buy the product within 30 seconds but if you sell more expensive items customers might want to do some research before buying and in this instance having your own e-commerce website that people find while they're doing research might be a better option lastly you need to consider the fees that some sales channels charge for example eBay charges fees to list products and takes a percentage of your sales so you need a margin large enough to pay these Commission fees and still make a profit okay now you need to evaluate the pros and cons of each channel itself let's take a quick look at some of the major sales channels available for job shippers today first up Amazon and eBay the main benefit of these large general marketplaces is that millions of shoppers visit them every day this makes marketing easier but there are some major drawbacks first off you have to pay to access this large network of buyers through commission fees also you're limited and how much you can customize your product pages so building a lasting brand can be extremely difficult another downside to market places like eBay and Amazon is the lack of connection you have to your customers when a customer buys from your own store you're able to start a long-term relationship with market places like eBay and Amazon on the other hand actively prevent this after all it's in their interest to ensure that your business is reliance on their platform building a long-term relationship with customers is key to sustainable business and these large marketplaces are not set up for this next up social media channels like Facebook Instagram and Pinterest the benefit of these sales channels is that you can reach your customers where they spend most of their time online for example you can sell directly from Facebook by adding a shop to your Facebook page this is a great way to simplify your sales process for customers so if you have high levels of engagement on a social platform start using it as a key sales channel lastly you can create your own e-commerce store we think this method is the best primarily because you're in control of your customer experience and the relationships that you can build platforms like Shopify provide many customization options simply choose a design theme and tweak it until you're happy also if your store is built through Shopify the designs will be mobile ready this is super important as nearly a quarter of online purchases are made via mobile device these days Shopify also lets you manage your business from mobile so you can build your brand on the move plus if you're interested in selling your business down the line it's much easier to sell an independently owned ecommerce website to sum up choosing the best drop shipping sales channel very much depends on the individual needs of your business that said having your own e-commerce store gives you the most flexibility and control do you have any questions about drop shipping sales channels let me know in the comments I'll get back to you if you'd like to see more videos like this be sure to hit the subscribe button and turn on that notification bill thanks so much for watching and until next time happy job shipping