Starting a Dropshipping in Nigeria could be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made in your life, this business model has become a very popular business in Nigeria due to the E-commerce solutions emerging every day, & is slowly replacing the typical retail model.
Today, Am going to be explaining from scratch How To Start A Dropshipping in Nigeria this 2019, the processes & Cons/Pros involved in starting and maintaining Dropshipping.
Table of Contents
What Is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a business model whereby you serve as a 3rd party between a buyer and a supplier without having actual stock of the products buyers request from your store.
How to Start Dropshipping in Nigeria 2019
Here is how to start dropshipping in Nigeria 2019:
- Select a Niche
- Find a Supplier
- Select your Product(s)
- Select a Platform
- Advertise
1. Select a Niche
Before starting a dropshipping in Nigeria, the first that should be considered is your dropshipping niche.
Your niche is simply the kind of products you want to put up for dropshipping. It is very important to have a niche in mind before starting a dropshipping.
Many drop shipping businesses have failed due to jumping around from one niche to another because of popularity, doing so will only kill your credibility over time.
Imagine a businessman dropshipping wristwatches and tomorrow he starts dropshipping knives, how does that sound?
would you trust such a person? This is why a niche is very important while starting a dropshipping in Nigeria.
But What Dropshipping Niche Should I Choose?
They are many factors that determine your dropshipping niche, the major ones are;
- Personal Knowledge & Experience of Niche
- How easy are the Niche’s products to market?
- Is the Niche Popular?
Personal Knowledge & Experience of Niche
When it comes to choosing a niche for your dropshipping the first thing you should consider is your personal experience. You can’t sell what you don’t know about, dropshipping is all about marketing really, & you can’t market a product in a niche you’re not knowledgeable about.
How easy are the Niche’s products to market?
Another important factor that you should consider is the marketability of the niche’s products. There are some niches best left out because only the experts in dropshipping can succeed in them.
It is best to start with something easy despite your experience in other expert niches, just make sure it’s connected to your line of work and understanding.
Is The Dropshipping Niche Popular?
If you want to drive sales then choose a popular niche, Period.
2. Find A Supplier
After selecting your dropshipping Niche, the next step is to find a good supplier of your Niche’s products.
In Nigeria when you mention “Dropshipping” the next thing you hear is Alibaba or AliExpress. These two platforms are the places to get in touch with good suppliers from foreign countries.
AliExpress is for beginners, so if you’re just starting and you know you won’t be getting over 200 orders at a time then stick with AliExpress.
With time, once you start expanding you’ll move on to Alibaba.
Do note that depending on your niche you can also find a local supplier here in Nigeria as long as the prices stated are fair and profitable.
Call and if possible meet with your Supplier and explain the terms, if its a foreign supplier then contact them via Video call and discuss prices and delivery time.
But How Do I Choose A Dropshipping Products Supplier For My Niche?
There are 3 important factors to consider before selecting a dropshipping supplier;
- Cost of Products
- Delivery Time & Cost
- Return & Refund Policy
Cost Of Products
This is very important because the prices you get directly & indirectly affect your earnings and the general marketability of your dropshipping Products.
Before choosing a niche, research about the market price of your preferred product and try to ask other normal retailers how much they get the same product from their suppliers.
This factor will help you consider if a supplier is right for your dropshipping or not. If the price is too high then forget about earning.
Delivery Time & Cost
Another important factor you should consider is the delivery time of orders, people tend to expect orders to be delivered between 3 – 7 days maximum.
If your supplier’s delivery time is above 7 days then trust me, it won’t be easy to secure orders on your end.
Some customers will get pissed off and ask for a refund, so you have to make sure delivery time is considered.
To be sure, you can order for the product and see how long it takes to be delivered to you.
Return & Refund Policy
This factor is often overlooked by a lot of beginners that start dropshipping in Nigeria. Dropshipping is a business with little risk but it still has its risk.
Sometimes a customer might want to return a product and that is when you start facing issues. It is very important to know the return/refund policy of your supplier before choosing to do business with them.
3. Select Your Product(s)
One of the biggest mistakes people make while starting a dropshipping in Nigeria is selecting too many products. While starting up, its best to concentrate on 1 or 2 products so you can understand the market.
You could try dropshipping a new trending wristwatch or something under your niche & get customers that trust you.
Its really about building trust at first which is why you should concentrate on fewer products.
But, How Do I Select Dropshipping Product(s)?
There are 3 major factors to consider;
- Popularity of Product
- Ease of Marketability
- Price
Popularity of Product
Just say a popular celebrity in Nigeria wears a newly released Sneakers and its trends. This fact alone would signal you that dropshipping that sneakers at that particular period would be profitable, eh?
Well, that’s just how dropshipping works, or should I say one aspect of dropship Marketing.
The more popular a product is, the easier it would be to sell and thus the more income you’d make.
So, when selecting a product always ask yourself “Is this product popular enough right now?”
Another period you can drive a lot of sales is during festive periods. Certain products sell well at those periods & you should always consider them.
Ease of Marketability
Another important factor that you should consider is the marketability of the products. There are some products best left out because only expert in dropshipping can succeed in them.
It is best to start with something easy, cheap & generally useful at first. This will allow you to test the waters until you’re ready for advanced & more expensive products.
Price
A general rule in Dropshipping is;
The Costlier a Product is, The harder it is to Market
Now, other factors affect the difficulty of driving sales for a product but the price is essentially the first thing to consider.
Like I said in the point before this, if you’re new to drop shipping then select cheap products to understand the business.
Certain products require a bit of experience to drive sales for & these are mostly expensive.
Select A Platform
Without a doubt, dropshipping is only possible when you have an online eCommerce solution or landing page for your products.
before you start selling your product(s), you must a choice of platform that will be easy for you to manage and maintain over time.
But First:
There is something important about dropshipping and selling products generally I want to explain.
In terms of Ecommerce website or solution, their 3 possible combinations of layouts that are used;
- One Product Sale Landing Page
- Direct Store For Multiple Products
- Landing Pages + Store for multiple Products
The one you choose depends on your niche, experience & ability to process orders.
One Product Sale Landing Page
If you have just one product you want to dropship then your best bet is designing a one-page landing page for your product.
You can find some Landing Page samples on Instapage’s Article and understand the concept behind it.
It is just a page with beautifully arranged information about a product.
Advantages Of One Product Sale Landing Page
- Increases conversions (More sales)
- Effectively explain product features to customers
- Build Trust with customers for that specific product
Disadvantages Of One Product Sale Landing Page
- Expensive To create a new Landing Page each time ( Except you can design it yourself )
- Takes Time
- Might confuse customers if done wrong
Direct Store For Multiple Products
This model is very popular because you don’t have to go through the stress of designing landing pages for each product If you have many products you want to dropship then this layout is for you.
Advantages Of Direct Store
- Cheaper for listing multiple products
- Most customers are already used to it
- Easy to maintain & Add new products
Disadvantages Of Direct Store
- Hard to keep track of stock over time
- Insufficient information on some products can reduce the conversion rate
Landing Pages + Store for Multiple Products
Out of all the layouts I’ve listed, this by far the most professional and the one with most conversions.
The problem with the direct store is that potential buyers hardly get as much information, what urges them to buy is the price and convenience.
With a landing page dedicated to each product, you can effectively explain the features and benefits of a product and thus drive more conversions.
I wouldn’t suggest this for beginners though as it takes time and money to design a single landing page.
Best Online Platforms To Start Dropshipping In Nigeria
Note, I won’t tell you how to set up these platforms but I’ll give you general ideas about them and you can use them for a dropshipping niche.
If you would like to learn more, I’ve provided videos for each platform that explains the entire process.
Starting Dropshipping With WordPress
The best and number 1 platform I advise you to start dropshipping on is nonetheless, WordPress. WordPress is a multi-niche platform that allows you to achieve almost any kind of website, dropshipping is not an exception.
Managing a WordPress dropshipping site is not hard and even be done via mobile. The problem is the setting up the site initially can be quite expensive (We do it at a giveaway price here).
There are two ways you can build one for your business, its either you Pay a WordPress developer to do it or you do it yourself.
I’ll be making a comprehensive guide on how to do that soon but you still achieve it with this video below.
Here’s a Video to help those tech Savvy businessmen here
If you can’t follow the video then contact us to build one for you at Affordable price.
2. Shopify
Now if you are not the Tech savvy type and you want to get your dropshipping setup for you immediately then consider Shopify. Shopify is considered the easiest platform to start dropshipping with.
Shopify offers a 14 days trial for your shop and within that period you are allowed to sell. If you find it easy and affordable then you can opt in for a monthly plan.
The cheapest plan currently being offered is $29 a month ( which is N10,000 per month).
If you can afford it then shopify is for you. With WordPress though, you only pay for hosting once a year & it’s generally cheap depending on the company you host on.
The only problem I have with Shopify for starting dropshipping is the monthly fee, other than that its the best platform for dropshipping in Nigeria.
Click Here to get started today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh1RFWVJQ3Y
Advertise Your Dropshipping Products
After setting up your platform and having a list of niche products in mind to dropship, the next step is advertising.
There are several ways to advertise. The most effective method of advertising in terms of dropshipping in Nigeria is Facebook Ads.
Its the cheapest and most effective way to advertise products Digitally in Nigeria due to the large audience and ability to target interest.
There are other platforms like Google Adwords, LinkedIn Ads, etc. that offer similar outreach, in case Facebook Ads doesn’t work well with your niche.
Just find what works for you though. Another thing you can do to advertise is starting a Blog about your products where you write articles about them.
If someone searches on google for the product and reads your full article, theirs a high chance the person might buy from your dropshipping site.
Small Advice
With Advertising covered, all that’s left is to start making money from your dropshipping business.
Something to remember is that at first, it shouldn’t be about making much money. Growing relationships with customers should be your number 1 goal.
What If My Dropshipping Fails?
Well, the dropshipping has really low risk anyways. You should be happy you attempted and the experience you gain in the process can be applied when starting another business.
Benefits starting Dropshipping In Nigeria
- Requires Low Capital to Startup
- Easy to Manage
- No much Technical skill required
- Doesn’t depend on Location
- Easy To Expand
The risk involved in starting a dropshipping in Nigeria
- High Competition with Retail Models (Cheaper offers)
- Potential Loss in Process of Product Return/Refunding
- Requires Time and Effort to build up Successfully
Conclusion
Dropshipping is a very popular business in Nigeria especially now that the unemployment rate is high. To succeed in this business model, you have to be patient and hardworking.
If you easily give up then please don’t even try starting this business in Nigeria.
I hope this guide helps you make up your mind and wish you success.
What are your thoughts on how to start dropshipping in Nigeria 2019 ? Don’t forget to share out to friends and family!
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