Drop shippers are a useful bunch. There are a lot of positives that come along with engaging reliable drop shippers. This is especially true for new merchants who lack the space (and money) to store products and the manpower to deal with packing and shipping arrangements. Some more established ecommerce web hosting shopping cart names already provide integration with at least one drop shipper. multi vendor shopping cart integration is rare, though. One important thing to be aware of though, is that the shopping cart cost is usually abstracted from the fees for the drop shipping service.

A couple of things you should consider before selecting a drop shipper. These matters should be addressed early in order to help prevent problems later…

If you are going to make use of the services of drop shippers, you have to comprehends that they are the supply chain to your business. You can either source your own drop shipper(s) or opt for one that is integrated with your ecommerce web hosting shopping cart provider. Suffice to say, the drop shipper you decide on should not only be reliable but competitive and trustworthy as well.  Along with these 3 characteristics, here are some elements that you would do well to decide on:

Inventory

A product needs to be in stock in order for you to make a sale. Needless to say, healthy and stable inventory levels are crucial. This means, stock information needs to be up-to-date (real-time) and exact.

As such, product information included by drop shippers (to be displayed on the product page) should be sufficient and accurate. This is because you do not have access to the physical products and so will not be privy to any information save that which is provided by the drop shipper. Commonly requested information: availability of alternative colors, dimensions and weight, material used.

Price

A competitive drop ship price (very close to wholesale, preferably) is the key to selling at higher margins. Keep in mind, you need to take into account competitors’ pricing before you can make up your mind on your own. You should also include in possible future discounts into your pricing calculations.

Just like inventory levels, product prices should be regular.

Variety

It sounds cliched but variety is the spice of life. A good drop shipper should have a significant database of drop ship products. A person may only buy one T-shirt if a variety of sizes are available, but he/she may buy more if the T-shirt comes in different colors as well. Psychologically speaking, it also supports a buyer make up their mind by doing a quick comparison.

Return Policy

You have to understand that your drop shipper’s return policy automatically becomes your return policy. Have a better look at your drop shippers’ return policies and make sure they are professional before you select to adopt them. If you accept to their policies, make sure you evidently express these return policies to your customers on your Terms & Conditions, Shipping or Return Policy or FAQ pages.

Customer Support

A professional drop shippers get back to you within 1 business day, 2 at the most. In some cases things do go wrong, even with the best drop shippers, such as an item being delivered in the wrong quantity, or perhaps in the wrong color. When something like this happens, it is vital that the situation be remedied as quickly as possible. A fast response time is vital. The faster you hear back from your drop shipper, the relatively fast you can intercommunicate the latest situation to your customer in turn.