Shoplazza | Quick Guide: Pandemic Dropshipping with SKUowner

Written by Luk.Chan | May 26, 2022 4:15:00 AM

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

Table of content:

What is SKUowner?
Why SKUowner stands out?
Types of Dropshipping apps
Why AliExpress?
Post-pandemic impact to dropshipping business?
What can Dropshippers do to reposition themselves to stay successful?
How do I use SKUowner to dropship?

Stay tuned with our next topic “2021 full guide to global Dropshipping operation!”

Towards the possible end of global COVID-19 confinement and a drastic change with profound impacts over online shopping behaviours, we feel the unstoppable coming wave of revolution.

Recently, I got a few repeated questions from several well-known Facebook Dropshipping community groups, “Which dropship App do you use?”, “Which dropship app is free, why do most of them charge a subscription?”

To answer these questions, I often replied with a simple recommendation, also a solution where you find the balance between the functionality and the cost-efficiency. “Try to take a look at SKoUowner, a featured Dropshipping plug-in from Shoplazza, and it does most of the dropshipping functions while it is completely free-of-charge.”

What is SKUowner?

SKUowner is a featured plug-in developed by Shoplazza and designed specifically to cater to the key needs of global Dropshippers, such as low cost to maintain, tap-and-click to sync product feeds, clean dashboard, tracking shipment, and supporting multiple stores with one account.

Yes, you can have them all at SKUowner, and it is completely free-of-charge since this featured plug-in was fully designed and developed by Shoplazza aiming to support Dropshippers more efficiently execute their business or help existing merchants to explore and expand new eCommerce territories.

Why SKUowner stands out?

Here are some key features we concluded from SKUowner as a top plugin for Dropshipping.

Feed’s crawler.
Free access to global users.
Straightforward dashboard.
A two-click auto feeds sync feature.
Able to sync products feeds from multiple sources, AliExpress, Amazon and Shopify.
As a self-developed built-in plugin, it is completely free to integrate to your store and free to use, no limit on number of product syncs.

Types of Dropshipping Apps

In fact, there are abundant Apps specialized to offer Dropshipping services in the market. But before we talk about Dropshipping business, let me quickly walk you through the exiting types of Dropshipping Apps.

Type 1. Dropshipping App based on AliExpress and offer a ray of product recommendations

1	Subscription:	Merchants are usually charged with a periodical subscription fee in order to access the App and related data.
2	Key features:	Offering a selection of recommended products, featured products, hot selling products by screening off the products that are not selected by the App. Most of the apps offer product sync (product feeds synchronized from AliExpress to merchant’s online store). Most of the apps offer automated ordering system, when customers place an order to you, the order information goes directly to your selected sellers from AliExpress, all you need to do is to monitor the fulfillment process and aftersales services.
3	Key drawbacks:	Expensive subscriptions increase monthly or annual threshold. It is hard to judge whether the recommended products would be hot selling items. Many Dropshippers feedbacked to us, in most of the cases, they’d have to pay for another fulfillment center subscription fees in order to use its fulfillment services or automated inventory system if you do trade on volume. In these cases, you need to pay for two or more subscriptions.
4	Examples:	Oberlo AliDropship Plug-in DSers

Type 2. Dropshipping App based on AliExpress while offer a small marketplace

Just to quickly give you a full picture for this genre of Apps. Merchants are offered with

1	Subscription:	Merchants are usually charged with a periodical subscription fee, in many cases, the base starting plans are much higher than the ones operate product sourcing only from AliExpress.
2	Key features:	Offering a selection of featured products from merchants residing across different continents and countries, such as jewelry, handcrafts, hand-made garments, artistic products etc.
3	Key drawbacks:	The subscription tends to be expensive. The selection of products from AliExpress may not reflect the most recent hot selling products.
4	Examples:	Modalyst Spocket

Type 3. Dropshipping App based on AliExpress while offering physical or virtual automated fulfillment center services

1	Subscription:	Merchants are usually charged with a periodical subscription fee Some of the apps with no upfront subscription costs, but it charges through each package either with a standard fee or the cost vary with different parameters.
2	Key features:	Offering global fulfillment center services with a global shipping network. Offering a small selection of products available across different fulfillment centers, Dropshippers can select from those collections for efficient and quick delivery.
3	Key drawbacks:	Not ideal for large volume trading due to the costs. Very limited collection offered from each fulfillment center at different locations.
4	Examples:	CJ Dropshipping HyperSKU

Type 4. FBA & Walmart Dropshipping

1	Subscription:	It may result a monthly or annual App subscription fee.
2	Key features:	Merchant won’t need to bear the warehouse costs. Amazon seller will fulfill orders with FBA. Merchants and shoppers can track the order throughout the shipment cycle. With Amazon and Walmart global warehouse network, Dropshippers can choose to sell the available goods at particular region with more fulfillment and ground delivery efficiency.
3	Key drawbacks:	Expensive. Hard for merchants to reach threshold. Complicated process.
4	Examples:	Amazon Walmart Dropship vendor program

Why AliExpress is most popular global procurement source?

AliExpress is currently one of the world’s largest eCommerce platform owned by Alibaba, evidently, another world’s largest B2B platform. Meanwhile, AliExpress offer massive marketplace for global merchants and a great evolving scheme for Dropshipping with over 100 millions products across various classes.

One of the most noticeable benefit from AliExpress is probably where most of Dropshippers are able to spot a profitable margin between procuring cost and final sales price. With a rapid incremental presence of global manufacturers, AliExpress stays ahead always as the world’s most trendy product leader.

Some of you may argue with the concerns over the product quality produced from China. In fact, throughout the years, we learnt that Chinese manufacturers do produce from high end products all the way down to the lower end ones, in order to cater to the consumers with different level of consumption power. Therefore, do some homework, get to know your product niche, and ask for a sample if possible.

Post-pandemic impact to dropshipping business

Well, we all felt and still feel the shockwave affecting every corner of daily life and business on a global scale and shattering the dreams and realties. The economic impacts have been dramatic, eCommerce has seen its faire share of disruption. All levels of participants in eCommerce space had had to contend with supply chain problems, regulatory changes on various platforms, delays and delays in shipping efficiency. The challenges that we all have seen including logistical delays and drastic changes in consumer purchasing behaviorial patterns.

Some of the profound impacts maybe as follow.

Drastically increased online shipping and eCommerce platform competition

Through the research, we learnt that consumers around the world have started to embrace online shopping mode throughout the crisis. As a result, Dropshippers definitely can leverage this change in online shopping to discover more opportunities.

Policy changes

With the emergence of the crisis, we have learnt that each country has its own policies on trade and regulations, affecting custom clearing process and tariff factors. Many of the practices were put in place to combat the virus.us.

Drastic changes in customer preferences

With the ongoing pandemic, we have all observed significant changes in purchasing preferences. For example, consumers have shown a growing concern over the safety and hygienic factors. Dropshippers will have to closely follow the market trends.

What can Dropshippers do to reposition themselves to stay succeeded?

Unfortunately, there are many Dropshippers who had to suspended their business during the crisis. But many Dropshippers are still making the most of their perceptions and insights to the market and stay ahead of others.

Here are some of the tips may help you.

Optimize your Dropshipping product line
- Spending more time to research the different niches to determine the products that are most likely accepted by consumers. There are always growing and declining product niches within eCommerce domain.
- Through the online data survey, we can observe a significant demand on online sales of groceries, home cleaning items, personal protective gears, toilet papers, home supplies. Furthermore, home fitness gear also reached its sales record. There are just some of the popular niches emerging during the crisis.
Break your comfort zone to market your products
- It is complicated when we think about Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram posts… with tons of jargons hard to digest while we are anxious to fight our way. Calm down and take a deep breath. Take a free online certification program from Google or Facebook, get to the basics of how Ads campaign operate, how to set up smart campaign. Most of the time, we can rely on AI system to smartly distribute our ads by its advanced algorithm.

Stay tuned for more articles regarding insights to Dropshipping and hot selling products.

How do I install SKUowner to Dropship?

Again, thank you for trying out Shoplazza featured web building technologies. Let us quickly begin with the set-up process.

Login to SHOPLAZZA account.
Find “App” from left-side navigation menu, click to get redirect to the App page.
Once again, find “App” next to “My Apps” from the header section.
Scroll down the page or click on “efficiency apps” from left section of the page to position “SKUowner”.
Click on SKUowner to get redirect to SKUowner setup page.

Stay tuned for the article “the complete guidebook of SKUowner" from SHOPLAZZA Blog.

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