A lot of dropshippers start a business and fail because, among other things, they’re not incorporating the latest trends into their business. If you want to ensure your dropshipping business has the chance to succeed, incorporate these 2021 dropshipping trends. By following the right trends and using them to inform your strategies, you can make your store profitable overnight.
Here we’ll review some of the biggest 2021 dropshipping trends so far, which you can use to build a successful business.
Adding Subscriptions
The main reason why so many dropshipping businesses fail is that they neglect to add subscriptions. Subscriptions can make it easy for businesses to maximize customer lifetime value (CLV) and encourage repeat sales while maximizing predictability. That’s why they’re one of the most important 2021 dropshipping trends. If you want to generate a steady and predictable revenue stream on a yearly, monthly, or even weekly basis, subscriptions can be the key. All you need to do to create a successful subscription is to have a good value offer. If the value of what you give to customers outweighs the cost, people will keep coming to you for those products.
According to marketing firm McKinsey, revenue from the subscription box industry increased dramatically from $57 million in 2011 to over $2.6 billion by 2016. Over the next five years, those figures have increased even more into 2021. The love for subscription boxes is far from fading.
Look for Other Subscriptions in Your Niche to Get Ideas
You can start developing your own subscription by finding out what subscription boxes exist in your niche. Simply Google “[your niche] subscription boxes” and see what comes up for that search. If the options are minimal, this may not be the best niche. But if you perform a search and see plenty of results, this means there’s money in that niche. This is especially true if you see ads show up as the first results.
Why is this a clue? Because no business will pay for PPC ads in top results if they’re not making a profit.
The next step is to see what other successful businesses are doing to sell those subscription boxes. Take a look at their websites and find out what products they include, along with themes for each box and packaging. Determine what value they’re bringing to their customers, which can translate to your own subscription.
Always Highlight the Value You Offer With Physical Subscription Boxes
Keep in mind that there is one additional strategy you need to implement when selling physical boxes. Whenever you sell a physical subscription box, you should always detail the value that’s included with each box. Also, include how much they’re saving with a subscription. However, for digital products, you generally don’t need to be as competitive with your pricing.
Focus on Value Over Perfection
At the end of the day, when starting out with your subscription, try to avoid making it as perfect as possible. Many businesses strive for perfection because it makes them feel good to put together the most ideal presentation, but this can hurt your business rather than help it. One of the reasons why so many businesses fail when starting out is because they focus on creating the “perfect” subscription and making things complex instead of selling their products. Instead of directing all your attention to putting together the perfect subscription, focus on the value you bring and simply providing customers with a mix of high-quality products. As your business begins to grow and you reach your first 100 subscribers, then you can work on perfecting subscriptions.
Using AliExpress to Find Subscription Products and Suppliers
Once you have a subscription box in mind and you know how to approach it, you can begin looking for products and a supplier on AliExpress. On AliExpress, you’ll want to look for a single supplier that provides a ton of products in your niche. You don’t have to look for individual products and put them together in a subscription. Just find that one supplier, and you’re good to go.
Check out different suppliers’ stores while browsing AliExpress and see what kinds of products they offer. What you need to find is something that you can offer with a 50% profit margin. For example, if your subscribers are paying $20 per month, make sure your box includes products that you can ship to customers for around $10. If you need to, we recommend adding some digital products to those subscriptions when possible to improve your margins.
You should be able to find three to four products that you can ship together at an affordable price that enables you to earn a profit that makes it worthwhile.
For More Established Brands: Finding Suppliers Through Alibaba
When your business has grown and you have a sufficient budget along with a developed brand, head over to Alibaba to get some ideas for a subscription box and to locate a supplier. Find the right supplier, and take some time to review them. Then you can send a message requesting brochures or catalogs of their products and pricing.
With a supplier backing your subscription, you need to put together a calendar. (Organization is also one of the top 2021 dropshipping trends.) You can create a six-month calendar. But we suggest a one-year calendar considering most customers won’t likely stay with any subscription for more than a year. Based on that calendar, you can determine which products to include with each shipment so that you have a specific plan in place. After that calendar period, you can then cycle through your past subscription boxes. You’ll likely be sending them to newer customers as old ones leave.
2021 Dropshipping Trends: DIY Subscription Boxes vs. Fulfillment Centers
After you’ve found and connected with the right supplier, you can begin putting your subscription boxes together and pricing them. If you have under 100 subscribers, you can save some money by putting your subscription boxes together on your own. You can make it a party. Invite some friends or family to join you. Order delivery and turn it into a fun event that makes it feel more worth your time. Ultimately, you can save a lot of money this way when starting out.
Once you’ve reached over 500 subscribers, you can then transfer packaging to a fulfillment warehouse. That service will be able to work out the logistics with suppliers and further simplify things for you.
With a subscription behind your dropshipping business, you can achieve the level of success you want in 2021. Finding the right products and suppliers can help you put together a subscription plan that your customers will love. This will provide predictable, consistent income. Do you want to find out more about how you can succeed as a dropshipper with cutting-edge 2021 dropshipping trends? We’ll teach you everything you need to know when you reserve your free seat at our ecommerce masterclass.