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Fast shipping dropshipping is no longer an option in today’s fiercely competitive dropshipping landscape – it’s a vital necessity.
Online shoppers are now demanding shorter delivery times from retailers and expect their orders to arrive as soon as yesterday. As you would expect, a lot of retailers are catching up already, with 51% of retailers saying they offer same-day delivery.
This then begs the question: how fast is your dropshipping delivery time? Does it take you two days to deliver orders to your customers or two months?
The truth is, one of the surest ways to stay relevant and competitive in dropshipping is by offering your customers fast delivery dropshipping.
The problem, however, is that dropshipping delivery time can be painfully slow. It’s even slower if you buy from suppliers in faraway China.
But is this a tenable excuse for keeping customers waiting for weeks – or worse, months – for their order? Certainly not! No excuses!
Making excuses won’t take you far in dropshipping – only finding solutions and workarounds will.
So, is there anything you can do to expedite shipping and make your customers happy? Yes!
And that’s what this post is about: showing you how to get fast shipping times with your dropshipping business.
While it’s true that shoppers love it when they get their orders quickly, are there economic benefits of fast shipping in dropshipping? Yes, there are. Here are some of them:
Nothing frustrates online shoppers more than waiting for what seems to be forever for their orders to arrive. It’s nerve-wracking and downright frustrating.
Making your customers wait long for their orders will leave a bad impression on them. And you know, a dissatisfied customer might never return to your store. Worse, they can spread bad PR about your store and discourage others from coming.
You definitely don’t want that!
Shoppers love it when they receive their orders almost immediately after placing them. So expediting their order delivery will help improve their shopping experience and make them want to return to your dropshipping store again.
Wouldn’t you like to have lots of positive testimonials from your past customers? You surely would!
The thing is, the more positive testimonials your store gets, the more trustworthy it will look and the more customers you will attract.
And what better way to get positive testimonials from customers than by reducing dropshipping shipping times? The faster your customers get their orders, the more positive testimonials they will leave you.
Long delivery times can scare customers away and make them abandon their carts before completing checkout. So, if customers have been abandoning their carts on your website, there is a good chance your long delivery time is the culprit.
Consequently, expedited dropshipping can help lessen your store’s cart abandonment rate. And you sure know what that means? More sales!
When your customers receive their orders quickly, they will most likely want to make another order. They will recommend your store to their friends and families even if they don’t. Over time, these recommendations will eventually translate into sales.
And the more sales you make, the more revenue you’d generate and the bigger your business would grow. It’s that simple.
Aliexpress is undoubtedly one of the largest online marketplaces. Sadly, most of the suppliers and sellers on the platform are based in China.
Not like this is a bad thing in itself; just that buying from a Chinese supplier means you might have to put your customers on hold for a long time when they make an order. This, you know, is bad for business.
The question is, are all orders from Aliexpress shipped from China? The long and short answer is no. Not all products on Aliexpress come from Chinese suppliers.
As proof, when making an order from Aliexpress, you can choose a shipping country, which could be the US, Turkey, Spain, etc.
What does this mean for you as a dropshipper?
Shipping from suppliers closer to your customer’s location is one way to reduce your delivery times and impress your customers. Luckily, Aliexpress gives you that option.
The problem is that you might not always get the best deals from suppliers from your location of choice.
Contrary to popular opinions, you can actually speed up shipping times when it comes to dropshipping. Here are 5 ways to do that:
If your target customers are based in the US, you are better off finding suppliers in the same location.
Sourcing products from US-based suppliers will ensure your customers get their orders a lot faster. In addition to faster delivery, your customers will also pay less in shipping fees, thus boosting your sales.
It’s a win-win for you and your customers.
But how do you find US suppliers? There are a couple of methods you can try.
One is by using the “Ship from” filter option in Aliexpress.
Another method, which is a lot more effective, is by using Sell the Trend to find suppliers based in the country you are looking to target. Sell the Trend has a local supplier feature that makes it easy to connect with suppliers in the US, Spain, Germany, or whatever other country you want to target.
You might not always get good deals from US suppliers. As such, you might have to revert back to using Aliexpress to source products because products are usually cheaper there.
If that’s the case, it’s best you ask a prospective supplier about shipping times before making any commitment.
Thankfully, Aliexpress allows you to contact a supplier by sending a dm.
When contacting a supplier, ask about their shipping times. Also, try to find out if they offer expedited shipping and what it costs.
If possible, do a trial order from the supplier to know their shipping times.
Doing a trial order from one supplier is usually not enough; you need to try more. At least 2 to 3.
Testing more suppliers will make it easy for you to identify suppliers with faster shipping times.
If possible, do multiple rounds of testing as first impressions don’t always count.
Worried multiple testing will cost you a lot of money? Well, you don’t have to do the testing for yourself. You can do them each time you get an order from a customer.
Aliexpress premium shipping is the way to go if you want your customers to get their orders a lot faster. Unlike Aliexpress Standard shipping, which takes as much as 60 days, you can ship products to customers in 2 to 3 days via Aliexpress Premium shipping.
As you would expect, Aliexpress Premium shipping doesn’t come cheap. For example, to ship a cheap chain necklace that costs under a dollar to the US via DHL – one of Aliexpress Premium shipping options – you can pay as much as $42 in shipping fees.
It’s that crazy!
If you are going to offer faster shipping via DHL, UPS, FedEx, etc., let your customers know the cost upfront.
Another strategy to decrease dropshipping shipping times and get orders much faster to your customers is automating your fulfilment process. And what better tool to use for this purpose than Sell the Trend?
When you receive orders in your store, Sell the Trend enables you to fulfil them with just a click of a button, hence streamlining your dropshipping workflow and reducing shipping times.
Dropshipping shipping times can be irritatingly long, no doubt. Depending on your shipping option, your customers might wait as long as 50 days to receive their order.
Thankfully, we’ve shared a couple of strategies you can use to speed things up in this post. We hope you find them helpful.
Are you ready to try out Sell the Trend to see how it can help improve your dropshipping times? Sign up for an account right away.
