Dropshipping: who takes care of the customer when the agent lets you down?
The order is in Shopify. The shoes are somewhere else. The customer still comes to you when something goes wrong.
ORIGINAL EPISODE: Dropshipping som testlabb för e-handel #111 · · Audio in Swedish
Fredrik Ankarsköld describes a flip-flop store he helped run: the ads took off, but deliveries lagged and the next batch could come from a different manufacturer. In episode 111, I ask about the agent, quality and what remained of the margin. It is a fairly messy story about taking responsibility for the entire purchase.
Start with what you are actually building.
Dropshipping fundamentally describes a setup where you sell a product another party holds and ships to the customer. It says nothing on its own about whether the offer is good, the product holds up or the customer gets what she was promised. Those questions remain to be solved.
In the conversation, we also consider working with a supplier closer to the customer. I use the term nearshipping for that setup. The idea is to test sales without buying your own stock, but with a Swedish or European party at the other end.
A nearer warehouse may be worth investigating. Still check how inventory information updates, who answers when something goes wrong and which delivery information you can give the customer. Those tasks need an owner even without your own stock.
Listen at this point · 00:00Fredrik wanted to test all the way to purchase.
Fredrik describes dropshipping as a way to learn and test a product without starting with a large capital commitment. He had experience building sophisticated stores and needed to simplify rather than add more features.
That is an interesting trap. You can spend a lot of time making the store feel finished before learning whether the offer works. In his account, someone with more experience of the setup helped bring the complexity down.
At the same time, product quality and the promise to the customer cannot be simplified away. A quick test is still a real store when someone places a real order. Your experiment has become part of someone else’s everyday life.
Listen at this point · 01:40It is hard selling more of something that never leaves the warehouse.
The store sold flip-flops. Fredrik describes the first deliveries dragging on and contact with the agent failing to provide the answers they needed. Sales started moving, but so did concern about what was happening with the orders.
They changed agents and tried to improve control. Later, another problem arose: products could be bought from different manufacturers even though they had found a version they wanted to keep. A customer happy the first time could get a different feel from the next pair.
There is something central here for anyone wanting to build a brand. Repurchase relies on the customer recognising what she appreciated. If quality varies, some of the work you put into earning trust disappears.
Listen at this point · 13:26State a delivery time you can stand behind.
One point we reach is the difference between a long delivery time and a different delivery time from the one promised. Someone may accept that a product takes time if that is clear before buying. That differs from continuing to wait after a clear promise.
I want that communication taken seriously. If you know it may take longer, the customer needs to know. Otherwise you risk buying the first order with a promise the rest of the business has to pay for.
That also applies to how you respond when something goes wrong. The conversation turns to complaints and missing deliveries. These are part of running e-commerce, rather than interruptions alongside it.
Listen at this point · 19:24A trending product gives you more questions to investigate.
Fredrik describes looking for products and ads that already seemed to have gained traction. I question what happens when several people find the same product and competition catches up. There is a real tension between those perspectives.
An ad active for a long time may be worth studying. It does not give you the seller’s complete economics. You also need to understand the market, other options and what you can do to justify the customer choosing you.
We discuss studying how the product sells in other countries. Use that to understand the offer: what is demonstrated, which questions get answered and what alternatives does the customer have here? A product popular with someone else is material for research.
Listen at this point · 09:30Count what surrounds the sales.
When we sum up the attempt, we return to costs. Ads, product purchases, the agent’s work, training and their own time need a place in the picture. A sales figure makes it easy to skip much of that.
Fredrik describes using what remained to build something more long term. His account also contains a clear lesson for him: wanting better control over the connection to manufacturing in future.
I want to know what they would do differently next time. That is where the review becomes useful for someone considering an agent, product choice and how much time to give the attempt.
Listen at this point · 38:40You learn quickly when the whole chain is your problem.
Towards the end, we discuss dropshipping as a practical school. You need to get product choice, site, copy, advertising, logistics and customer service working in the same attempt. A weakness in one part quickly shows somewhere else.
That is why I think the experience can be interesting even when someone later takes another role or builds a product brand of their own. A person who has done the work has encountered more of the business than a curve in an ad account.
If you try the model, product quality, delivery information and customer service need to be in the test from the start. The customer placed a real order. She should get what you promised even while you are still trying to understand the business.
Listen at this point · 45:30This article is based on the conversation and adapted for reading.