How To Start Dropshipping In India- A Comprehensive Guide (2024)

With over 5 lakh sellers on Amazon alone and many on other e-commerce platforms, it is safe to say that the market size of the Indian e-commerce industry is expanding rapidly. This increase in demand needs increased supply from the sellers’ end, resulting in buying bulk products and storing inventory. That is where sellers face inventory management problems; they can’t comprehend which order is going where, when and how. To solve this issue, dropshipping in India has been introduced.

Now, you must be thinking about what dropshipping is and how to start a dropshipping business in India. So, let’s know all about dropshipping.

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is an online retail business where you can sell goods without needing storage space such as a warehouse. As a result, the seller does not need to process shipments or maintain inventory or products.

This setup allows the seller to avail of the services of a manufacturer who makes packages and delivers the product to the customer. Here, the manufacturer acts as a third party, and the dropshipping company acts as the storefront to sell a product or service.

Types of Dropshipping Business Model

Now that you know what dropshipping is, let’s know the different types of dropshipping business in India that you can choose from.

Product Reselling

This is considered the best dropshipping business model for earning profits, and if you have a knack for marketing, then you can positively choose this model. In this dropshipping model, one buys the products directly from the company and makes them available online for the general public. This model helps the customers to choose from a wide variety of products and has unique product line-ups.

Business Extensions

This dropshipping business model is ideal for businesses that want an online presence but can’t because of inadequate funds, knowledge or other reasons. In such cases, the dropshipping company choose them to work with, and whenever any order comes, they are assigned to deliver the order.

Product Creation

As its name suggests, in this dropshipping model, products are created in collaboration between the dropping company and seller, who both bring some parts of the product to assemble one final product. This is usually done in the production of DIY (do it yourself) kits.

Print On Demand

This is one of the most famous dropshipping businesses in India, in this model, companies sell printable items with images and texts on them. Articles like t-shirts, mugs, bedsheets, and clothing are printed in bulk and sold to people. In this model, the products are created when customers have placed orders for a fixed number and then only that number of products is printed.

Difference between Dropshipping and Standard Retail

Basis	Dropshipping	Standard Retail
Meaning	Dropshipping involves overall inventory management from shipment to packaging by a third party, that is a drop shipper.	Standard Retail means the seller has to look over every step from buying from manufacturers, and inventory management to selling customers.
Inventory Management	In the dropshipping business, the dropshippers don’t have to store inventory physically themselves.	In standard retail, the products need to be store physically by the retailers.
Investment	Dropshipping doesn’t require much investment to set up.	Retailers need quite a large amount of initial investment to start operations.
Profits	The dropshipping business doesn’t earn much profit in the initial-stage; but gradually, profits increase.	Retailers earn quite good profits from the large marginal price difference between wholesale and retail prices.
Risk Involved	Dropshipping involves less risk as there is no issue of handling inventories.	Standard retail involves greater risk as one has to buy and store inventory carefully.

Why Start Dropshipping in India?

Dropshipping in India is a productive way to invest in a virtual store or an e-commerce enterprise. As the selling merchant doesn’t need to ship or deliver the products, starting an online store is a reliable business model.

The country’s e-commerce sales are predicted to increase at a yearly rate of 51%, making it the best enterprise for those looking to start a new business. Indian dropshipping is an ideal way to explore the industry, regardless of the items you want to sell in your store.

India is also one of the largest suppliers of raw materials globally. It supplies raw materials to different industries. Hence, there’s plenty of room for new dropshipping entrepreneurs. You can start by working with a local manufacturer to gauge product demand. The manufacturer will be responsible for delivering the orders on time.

How Profitable is Dropshipping in India?

Dropshipping in India can be quite a lucrative and profitable business in India because of many reasons, like

• Cost Effective: You don’t need to invest much money in advance, as it is possible to begin sourcing products from a supplier and a thriving business with minimal cost. Set up an online store without worrying about storage, warehouses, and inventory. You don’t even need to buy the product up-front.

• No Inventory Management: Dropshipping in India is a lucrative business model. In this, the selling merchant is not responsible for handling the costs of product manufacturing and shipping. You just need to focus on marketing the product you’re aiming to sell, reach the right audience, and start making money from every sale you make!

• Online Dealing: India is a developing country where e-commerce businesses are rising every day. In such cases opening an online dropshipping business allows greater exposure to the audience and a chance for better earnings.
  

How to Start Dropshipping in India (Step-by-Step Guide)

Are you unsure about how to start a dropshipping business in India? Well, fear not we have listed a couple of steps that need to be followed to start a successful dropshipping business in India.

Step-1 Select Your Niche

The first and foremost thing that you need to select is your dropshipping business niche. You need to identify the products that you would like to sell and already possess some knowledge about them. If you want to sell school stationery products then you need to know about the latest products, competitors etc. before you choose this niche. And make sure the niche you choose has good demand among people.

Additionally, if you are interested in more than one niche product then you can sell multiple products too. This will diversify your store portfolio, bring customers from various fields and enhance your chances of earning more. 

Step-2 Choose a Supplier

The next thing you need to do is search for a reliable and right supplier for the products you would be selling. Do good market research before choosing a supplier, check out reviews on their website and Google reviews. If you can, contact their buyers and take their feedback.

Ask the supplier how they deal with problems like damaged goods, what’s their fastest delivery timing and how they would assist you in case of late deliveries, refunding for damaged goods etc. Choose a supplier that meets your product requirements, answers your queries without hesitation and provides great customer service.

Step-3 Do the Product Pricing

Now that you have selected the product niche and picked the supplier for the products pricing the products is the next crucial step. You need to quote the price at which you want to sell your products further.

At this point, you need to do some more market research and analyze your competitors’ pricing strategies. You do not want to sell products at higher prices in order to earn greater profits. Keep your product prices equal or a little lower than your competitor’s this way you would create a competitive pricing strategy and can attract more customers. However, in the case of luxury goods price cannot be lowered too much in such case you can market them as a branded and unique product. This will pique customers’ interest in high pricing products, and they will buy them.

Step-4 Set up Your Dropshipping Store

This is the step prior to selling, you need to create your website and set-up the online store. Here you are going to list all your products with their proper description and their prices. Ensure that you describe your products clearly, this not only helps the customers but also increases the chances of sales. For say, if you are selling a table, then in the description, you need to include details like its length, width, height, material used, product guarantee, warranty period etc.

Additionally, if you include keywords in the description, it increases its chances of getting viewed by more customers. Thus, driving more sales.

Step-5 Market and Sell

Once you list your products on the website, make them live online. After that, start promoting and marketing your products on various platforms. You can post on social media, write blogs and attach affiliate links. And once your product starts selling don’t just stop there. Keep analysing the performance of your various products and update their description from time to time adding new keywords and marketing strategies.

Also Read:
How To Start A Dropshipping Business?
Online Reselling Business

Top 5 Dropshippers in India

Finding a reliable, trustworthy, supplier with a wide range of products to provide is not an easy task. However, there are some companies that have been in the dropshipping business in India for a while. These companies are considered the best dropshippers in India that can help you on how to start dropshipping business in India.

1. Shopify

Shopify is a trusted name in the dropshipping business with over 4 million Shopify sellers worldwide. You can open your e-commerce store on this platform and resell your products. Shopify is famous for its business transparency and support service in case of any issues with orders. So, if you want to start dropshipping in India then you can start with the 14-day free trial of Shopify and expand your operations as per choice.

2. Baapstore

Baapstore is another one of the best dropshipping platforms in India, you can go with this platform without any doubt. With over fifty thousand products to choose from you and a transparent business operation, this platform is considered a good choice to sell Indian products. Additionally, the shipping services provided by them are also free, whether you make a purchase for 10 rupees or 10000 rupees. With this platform you also get the flexibility to link e-commerce stores with your social media handles, allowing you to attract more customers.

3. Wholesale Box

Wholesale Box is the marketplace for the big wholesalers, it connects the wholesalers with retailers from overall India. On this platform, you can find any product at wholesale prices. Wholesale Box sell niche-based products and the majority of them are women clothing’s and other apparel. So, if you want to open a clothing store then this drop shipping platform is a good choice.

4. Trade India

Trade India is another dropshipping platform in India. It has a B2B business model, where it connects the wholesalers with the retailers and helps them to fulfil their product demands online. But that’s not the only way this platform helps you, the support team of Trade India helps the seller in setting up their e-commerce store and make their presence known in tmarketplace of dropshipping in India. It has over 3000+ digital marketing solutions to do so.

5. HotHaat

HotHaat is considered one of the first few platforms for dropshipping in India. It has over 30 product categories to choose from and you can use this platform free of cost; however, they charge extra for packaging and shipping of products. Hothaat is famous for its easy-to-use interface, which makes it easier for anyone to operate on this platform without any assistance.

Start Your Dropshipping Business Today

Who doesn’t want to have a profitable business without even doing much, anyone would love to do this right? So why not, with dropshipping business in India you can earn quite a good amount of money by selling products on e-commerce sites. And that’s not the only best part, you don’t even have to get into the process, of manufacturing, packaging or delivery.

So, don’t wait up and start your dropshipping business today, with so many products to offer and even more customers to buy; you will positively find your way. And in case of any confusion do re-read the article.

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