Every day, we help businesses of all types excel with dropshipping from the start of their journey. We recently helped yet another one of our clients launch their dropshipping business and make sales on day one. Here we’ll review what exactly we did for this client and reveal how you can implement some of these strategies when developing your own business.
While a lot of businesses get into dropshipping with unrealistic expectations, we’ll go over what kind of results this Business in a Box client managed to see and what you can expect. Specifically, we’ll be looking at stats gathered over the course of the first two days after launch, which can give you a good idea of the kinds of numbers you can achieve with a strong strategy in place.
Using a Deep Discount Offer to Make Sales on Day One
When looking at our client’s back-end stats, we managed to help make them $265.61 in gross sales over the first two days, with an average cart value of $66.40. We achieved these goals after spending around $20-30 per day on advertising.
The kind of offer behind these stats was something called a deep discount offer, which is notably different from a “free plus shipping” offer. You may be familiar with “free plus shipping” offers, in which lower shipping costs can cover both the product costs and shipping. These offers are often helpful because they attract new customers while enabling businesses to break even. Deep discounts, on the other hand, entail attempts to increase profits on the front end.
However, whether you use “free plus shipping” or deep discount offers, it’s important to keep in mind that advertising is primarily intended to help build assets for your business. For example, your ads could bring in email addresses and other details that you can then use to follow up with customers.
Implementing Opt-Ins and Upsells in a Complete Funnel
As mentioned, this client’s average cart value (ACV) is $66.40. This is an impressive ACV that could drive huge success if it continues in this trend. Normally, the ACV will show how much a dropshipper can spend to acquire a customer. With the help of a successful sales funnel, however, you can usually earn that money back to help cover product costs.
A Two-Step Opt-In Form to Get Customers Started
This particular client’s funnel consisted of an order form page to start with, followed by a couple of upsells. Using this funnel, our client achieved an opt-in rate of 26.52%, with 48 of 181 unique visitors opting in. For a two-step order form, this opt-in rate was perfectly acceptable. On these forms, we asked for the customer’s name, email, phone number, and address. In the process, a two-step order form like this can collect a lot of information that could assist you later.
In most cases, a two-step order form like this may yield a 25-30% conversion rate, while a regular opt-in form is more likely to see an opt-in rate of over 30%. Although it may seem like a regular opt-in form is better based on these numbers, the fact is that you’ll get better leads with a two-step form. This is because the people who opt-in through a two-step form are more invested in the product behind it.
After people went through the opt-in, our client managed to attract only four sales to give us a conversion rate of 2.21%. This is not a great conversion rate by any standard, but this is typical when just starting out. Remember, when first launching Facebook or other ad campaigns, these platforms won’t have your buyers figured out yet. As they collect more data and interpret it, your ads’ targeting will be able to improve over time to connect with people who are more interested in your offerings.
In the end, through our opt-in form, we made a total of $170.82 in sales. Compare this to the total gross amount of $265.61, and you’ll see where upsells came into play to make sales on day one.
Upsells That Help Maximize Sales
Another mistake that many dropshippers make is relying on their opt-in page alone and neglecting to use upsells. They tend to focus on the first-time sale and don’t think about the sales that follow.
For this client, the first upsell we implemented made a total of $26.91 with a conversion rate of 37.50% among three customers. The second upsell landed an extra $33.94, giving us a conversion rate of 28.57% with two customers. Finally, the third upsell earned another $33.94, with two customers accounting for a flat conversion rate of 40%. The last few upsells didn’t give us any results in those first two days, but the three that worked managed to bring that total value from $170.82 to $265.61.
These numbers clearly show the value of using upsells to help generate more sales beyond that initial opt-in. Once someone enters your sales funnel through that first page, they’re far more inclined to make additional purchases on the way to the final checkout.
How to Locate the Best Upsells for Your Dropshipping Store
With the invaluable asset of upsells in mind, you may be wondering how you can find the ideal upsells for your store so you can make sales on day one. You can easily do so by taking the following steps:
1. Look on Amazon
To start with, you can search on Amazon under your main product’s “frequently bought together” items. This data is immediately available for you to use to guide your upsells.
2. Sell More of the Same
You can also try selling the same item the customer just chose to buy through the opt-in form. In some cases, it may be worth it to sell more of the same item at a discount if the product is something the customer would want to buy in larger quantities.
3. Monthly Offers
In addition to the same or similar items, you can sell monthly subscriptions of digital or physical products that customers would like to receive regularly. This can help bring recurring revenue every month that you might otherwise miss. Subscriptions could include everything from eBooks and courses to various accessories for their main product and miscellaneous items in the same niche.
Build a Solid Sales Funnel to Get the Best Results and Make Sales on Day One
Realistically, you’re not likely to earn thousands of dollars within the first few days of launching your dropshipping business. That doesn’t mean you won’t earn these kinds of figures over time, but there are steps you need to take to get there. Based on this client’s example, you can see the importance of using a compelling offer, along with a structured sales funnel that consists of an opt-in and upsells. Through the use of a strong funnel, you’ll be able to experience great results that are only going to get better with continued optimization and persistence.
To learn more about how to excel with your dropshipping business and generate a full-time income online, register for our free eCommerce masterclass. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel for more eCommerce tips and strategies.