As we have talked about in previous articles, dropshipping has a huge number of benefits. Perhaps the most obvious is simply that it allows you to sell real, physical products online without having to worry about manufacturing, storage or delivery. It has the advantages of selling an affiliate product or a digital product in this way but you get access to a much bigger list of useful, tangible items.
But that’s not really the biggest benefit of dropshipping. There is an even bigger and more impressive advantage that comes from using this business model and it’s all to do with your…wait for it… Your branding!
Why Brands Matter
When you have a strong brand, it means that you have a mission statement and a style. It means that when people buy from you, they’ll know what to expect and they’ll feel more confident to do so as a result. If you find a brand you like dealing with, then you’ll always pick them over other options. We all have our favorite brand items that we tend to go for over anything else.
Building your brand and reputation is incredibly important then, as it will help you to get repeat business while at the same time bringing more people to your business. Eventually, a great brand will have loyal fans and this way, they can make money selling practically anything! Today more and more businesses understand this and this is why content marketing has quickly become the most popular form of internet marketing around.
Why You Are Diluting Your Brand
But if you’re currently selling an affiliate product, then you might be unintentionally diluting your brand and damaging your reputation. Right now, you’re encouraging people to buy products through an affiliate link. To do so, they must click the link, go to the site of a product creator, and then buy the item. The product creator will then send that item to them.
The problem with this is firstly that they are leaving your site. If you have a store with multiple items, then it’s unlikely they’re going to come back to browse the rest of the store once they’ve bought the first item.
What’s more, is that the company they actually bought from will be far more memorable than the company that referred them. If they bought through Amazon, then they’ll remember they like dealing with Amazon – not you.
With dropshipping though, the vendor stays out of the way and they never have any dealing with them directly. They order from you and the product arrives.
This creates a strong psychological difference as they now feel as though they’re really buying from you. And if they like the product and experience, they’ll want to buy from you again.
Some companies go even further than this by offering a white label service. This means that they will actually allow you to put your brand on the product: printing it on a previously white label so that your customers think the item belongs to you. One of the easiest ways to build a brand is to offer merchandise that is printed on demand. Companies like Printful and Printify allow you to create designs, put it on any product they sell, and directly list it on your site.
Good luck out there!
