The main reason why many people don’t succeed with their dropshipping business is that they don’t implement the most profitable practices. However, there are certain trends that can lead to overnight profitability when effectively used. Some ecommerce entrepreneurs go into this industry and start making a lot of money. Many others may wonder what they’re doing wrong as they experience disappointment from the start. We’ll go over some of the biggest 2021 dropshipping trends to help your business excel.

The Importance of Subscriptions

One of the key 2021 dropshipping trends is the use of subscriptions. So many dropshippers fail simply because they’re not incorporating subscriptions into their business model. The advantage of a subscription is that it provides consistent, predictable revenue that can compensate for other less reliable sales. If you can get dozens or even hundreds of people subscribing to your business every month, that’s free revenue that you can get right from the start.

The subscription box industry is only going to continue growing: A McKinsey study found that the industry went from $57 million in 2011 to over $2.6 billion in 2016, a tremendous growth within a mere 5 years. Since then, the market has expanded to over $10 billion as of 2019. 

One of the clearest 2020 and 2021 dropshipping trends is that subscription boxes are extremely lucrative. The problem that a lot of people have is deciding what to include in their subscriptions. This keeps them from implementing them. The fact is that all you need for a successful subscription is a solid value offer. 

In short, as long as the value of the box outweighs what your customers actually pay for it, your subscription will likely succeed.

Start by Googling Your Niche

Many of the top 2021 dropshipping trends are rooted in good research. You can begin building your subscription by searching for similar boxes in your niche. All you need to do is go to Google and type “subscription boxes,” followed by whatever topic you want to cover. For instance, you could search for “subscription boxes survival” to find boxes in the survival niche. These boxes would include various types of survival gear. If there aren’t many options to choose from, you may need to target another niche. But the more results you see for your search, the more lucrative the opportunity will be.

Keep a lookout for PPC ads in the top results for a given niche. This indicates that businesses are making enough money in that niche to spend on high-ranking search ads instead of relying on organic search results.

Once you’ve found other subscriptions in your industry, the next step is to find out what other sellers are doing to succeed with these boxes. Visit their websites and take a look at their products and overarching themes, along with the packaging. You’ll want to find out what kind of value these businesses are bringing to customers, which you can then adapt for your business. You can gain key insight into 2021 dropshipping trends from your competitors.

Highlight the Value Included in Your Physical Subscription and Make That the Focus

When selling any kind of physical subscription box, it’s important to detail the value included with each box. Also, include how much the customer is saving with the subscription. 

Ultimately, value supersedes perfection with every subscription box. While many may perceive perfection as worth striving for with every shipment — by optimizing presentation to complement the value of the products — this can actually hinder rather than help your business. Unfortunately, many businesses fail because they spend too much time on making their subscription boxes perfect when they should actually be selling. People care about what’s included in the box, not the box itself, so don’t waste too much time on pretty packaging and other aspects of presentation when contents matter most. Once you’ve gotten to the point where you have over 100 subscribers, you can then strive for the perfect box now that your subscription is off the ground.

Locate Products and Suppliers on AliExpress

With the ideal subscription box chosen, use AliExpress to find specific products and suppliers. Try to find a solitary supplier that can provide you with all of the products you need within your niche. This can help you save some time finding individual products and compiling them in your subscription. A single supplier can also serve as a reliable source.

While on AliExpress, browse different suppliers’ stores and find out what they specifically offer. You’re looking for a supplier that can offer a 50% profit margin. This means that if subscribers are paying around $15 per month, the subscription box should include items that cost you around $7.50 to buy and ship. If needed, you can throw in some digital products to help boost profit margins. For each subscription box, look for around three to four products that you can ship collectively at an affordable price. This can further ensure profitability.

Find Suppliers on Alibaba if You’re More Established

Has your business had a chance to grow, with a bigger budget to work with and a more established brand? Alibaba can give you some more ideas for subscription boxes and enable you to find the perfect supplier. You can then investigate any suppliers you come across until you locate one worth reaching out to. From there, you can send a message to request product catalogs or brochures, which should also indicate pricing.

Once you’ve chosen a supplier, the next step is to develop a calendar. While you can use a six-month calendar, we recommend developing a one-year calendar. Why? Because most customers won’t spend more than a year on a subscription. Using this calendar, you can decide on which products to place into each shipment for a year. Once the year ends, the calendar could restart. Then you can send some of the same products to customers as the start of the previous year, seeing as most of those customers will be newer at that point.

Package Subscription Boxes Yourself at the Start

Having selected the right products and suppliers for your subscription, you can begin constructing your boxes and selling them. Until you reach 100 subscribers, we recommend avoiding using fulfillment centers to put your boxes together. Instead, you’ll be able to save a lot of money by building your own subscription boxes. It may take a lot of time and feel like a waste of it, but you’ll be saving a lot of money, and you can always get friends and family to help. You can even turn your boxing sessions into an event, ordering some food and drinks to make it feel less like a hassle for everyone involved.

With over 500 subscribers, a fulfillment center will likely be worth the price. Fulfillment centers may also help organize shipments with suppliers and simplify the entire process.

If you can harness the power of subscriptions from the start of your dropshipping venture, you’ll be able to succeed throughout 2021 and the coming years. If you can locate the ideal niche, products, and suppliers, you’ll be able to develop a winning subscription plan that customers love. In turn, you’ll see consistent, regular income. Do you want to learn more about how to thrive in ecommerce? Then reserve your seat at our free ecommerce masterclass, where we’ll show you how to build a winning dropshipping business in no time. You can also follow these 2021 dropshipping trends on my YouTube channel as they change over the upcoming year.