The best drop shipping companies in eCommerce are suppliers that offer efficient shipping services, have flexible pricing structures (enabling you good room to apply profitable markup and remain competitive), and are also reliable and technologically compatible with your preferred ecommerce platform. The best drop shipping companies also have agreeable and reasonable payment terms – that do not stifle your pricing strategy and business model. Below are some examples of some of the best drop shipping companies for ecommerce.
Best Drop Shipping Companies for eCommerce
AliExpress: This is a global online retail platform with a formidable range of products. The drop shipping supplier also boasts competitive prices.
Alibaba: This is a well-established B2B ecommerce platform that connects businesses with manufacturers and wholesalers globally. Alibaba has bulk order capabilities and offer wholesale prices
SaleHoo: This is more of an digital directory of verified wholesalers, manufacturers, and drop shipping suppliers. It’s a popular platform for finding reliable drop shipping suppliers.
Worldwide Brands: This is another comprehensive directory of certified drop shipping suppliers and wholesalers. The platform curates suppliers that deal in high quality and authentic products.
Doba: Doba connects retailers with suppliers and offers a wide range of products. The platform has capabilities for automating order management.
Sunrise Wholesale: This is a both a wholesale company and a drop shipping supplier. Sunrise Wholesale provides a good array of products for drop shippers to choose from. The platform also offers competitive pricing.
Wholesale2b: This is an integrated platform that links businesses with a number of drop shipping suppliers. The platform simplifies product sourcing as well as order fulfilment.
Megagoods: Another reputable brand in drop shipping. The brand focuses on drop shippable electronic product supplies.
Wholesale Central: An online directory where drop shippers can find wholesale suppliers to connect with. The platform offers a wide spectrum of products and facilitates seamless product sourcing for drop shippers.
Modalyst: Modalyst specialises in connecting ecommerce retailers with savvy and trendy fashion products from a range of global suppliers.
Spocket: Spocket is both a drop shipping directory as well as drop shipping app. The brand connects drop shippers and retailers with suppliers from all over the globe, covering a rich range of product categories. Spocket emphasises quality products and efficient shipping.
CJDropshipping: This platform provides a gateway to a generous array of products. The platform also offers order fulfilment and customization services for drop shippers.
CROV: CROV is an online marketplace that enables drop shippers to search, browse and identify suitable global suppliers for their drop shipping businesses.
Let’s Define Drop Shipping
Drop shipping is an ecommerce business where the drop shipper focuses on the front end aspects of ecommerce such as setting an ecommerce website to display, promote and sell inventory there – without the need to stock any products.
Drop shippers partner with product suppliers to handle the front end aspect of ecommerce while suppliers handle the backend aspects such as shipment and fulfillment.
Drop shipping is a great model of low investment way of getting into ecommerce.
Key Considerations Choosing The Best Drop Shipping Supplier
Choosing the right and the best drop shipping supplier for your business is an important step of laying down a solid foundation for drop shipping business. The capability of your business to sell quality products, and ship orders efficiently – and achieve overall customer satisfaction hinges on the right choice of a drop shipping supplier.
In the section below we will explore some key considerations that go into choosing the best drop shipping supplier.
Product Quality: Does the supplier offer high-quality products that match the expectations of your customers?
You may want to request some samples to ascertain this before you commit to any sort of partnership. Remember your business is as viable as the quality of the products you are selling.
Reliability: Does the supplier you are considering have a reliable track record for efficient shipping and order fulfilment?
To ascertain this, check reviews and testimonials from other drop shippers using the same supplier. Also check reviews on review platforms such as Trustpilot.
Product Range: Does the supplier offer a diverse product range that meets the needs and standards of your target market.
Having a good range of a variety of products is critical for scaling and adapting your drop shipping business models to evolving and volatile markets and consumer trends.
Pricing and Fees: Can you afford the products such that you can add your mark up and still remain competitive? To answer this question you need to compare pricing structures and fees across different suppliers to secure your competitiveness.
Shipping Options and Times: This is crucial for meeting customer expectations. Does the supplier offer reasonable shipping rates and a good number of shipping options? To manage customer expectations, and avoid complaints you must work with drop shipping suppliers with a good track record on the efficiency of their shipping.
Communication and Support: A good drop shipping supplier must be responsive when it comes to support and communication. You need to settle for a supplier who can answer your inquiries promptly to ensure a seamless and efficient drop shipping partnership.
It is often helpful if the supplier has a hands-on-deck ticket based support system and if their support service is available via email, telephone and live chat.
Integration and Technology: Does the supplier offer a user-friendly interface? Is their platform compatible with the ecommerce platform that you want to use? Smooth integration and streamlined product importing and inventory management and checkout enable efficient order management.
Shopify is a leading premium ecommerce platform with a robust ecommerce website builder interace, solid security features and flexible pricing. For $1 only in the first 3 months, the Basic Shopify plan has all the essentials features you need to get started with drop shipping.
Drop Shipping Business Builder
eCommerceProLab has simplified the process of matching drop shipping products, drop shipping apps and compatible ecommerce platforms. Our drop shipping business builder enables you to search our vast database of drop shipping product categories. The builder will then give you a list of suppliers for that product as well as a corresponding drop shipping app and the ecommerce platforms compatible with the apps and the suppliers. This simplifies your ground work in putting together the different pieces of your drop shipping business puzzle. Check our Drop Shipping Business Builder Here.
Return Policies: Don’t rush past this one. Take time to understand the supplier’s return policies. Make sure their return policies are fair and transparent and that they align with the return policies of your business.
A hassle-free return process is a critical part of fostering a positive shopping experience for your customers.
Location and Currency: I have seen a number of drop shippers in Africa complain about certain drop shipping suppliers that can take too long to deliver products to customers – such as AliExpress for example.
The issue here is to consider if the supplier’s location is such that they can get products timeously to your customers.
For shipment efficiency, it is better to settle for a supplier that is located within or not too far from your market base – or has means to get products delivered as per the preferred turn around of the customers.
Also make sure the supplier you are considering deals in the currency that is workable for your business model and operations.
Regulatory and Compliance: Part of your due diligence in identifying the best drop shipping supplier for your business is to check if the supplier you are considering complies with relevant laws and regulations that govern the standards and the sale of the product you want to deal in.
Check issues such as product safety standards, trademarks, and any other applicable legal requirements.
Scalability: To future proof your business, consider a supplier that has capacity to grow with your business.
Should your drop shipping business grow and the demand for our products goes up, is the supplier in a position to meet your growing demand for the product without compromising on quality – if so, to what extent?
Reviews and Reputation: Nothing beats getting real world experiences of business who have dealt first hand with the supplier that you are considering to partner with. Do your best to gather as much feedback as possible from the drop shipping community and other platforms.
Shopify is another great place to get hands-on sentiments about particular suppliers.
The platform allows drop shippers to leave reviews and star ratings of drop shipping apps and suppliers on its platform.
Also check what people are saying about the supplier on social media and review sites so you can satisfy yourself that you are in a position to make an adequately informed decision.
Final Thoughts
The list of drop shipping suppliers we have included in this guide is not by any chance exhaustive. That said, the suppliers we have listed are some of the most reputable and widely used drop shippers. These are also top performing suppliers on ecommerce platforms such as Shopify.
By carefully applying the considerations for choosing the best drop shipping suppliers, you will be on track to identify and select a reputable and well established drop shipping supplier that aligns with your niche, business goals and provides a foundation for enduring ecommerce success.
