Our newest Q&A session is dedicated to the issue of online store security: read all about the technical aspects of keeping your website safe and, of course, answering the most common question – how to make my website secure?
Taking care of your personal belongings is #1 priority.
And your dropshipping store is not simply a website you own – it’s not less than your personal achievement, your source of income, and, most importantly, your key to building a better future for yourself and your family.
How to make sure that this valuable asset won’t fall into the wrong hands?
Let’s figure it out!
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How to make my website secure: common ways for website hacking
How to secure a website?
First and foremost, let’s look at the most common ways for a website hacking. While there is no sure way to know when the hacking happens, if it does, you will no doubt know that something is wrong. Nevertheless, here is what you need to be aware of:
Ransomware
The hacker will threaten to publish your data and/or withhold access to your site unless you pay a ransom sum.
Gibberish hack
You’ll spot loads of auto-created pages filled with keywords and gibberish, with the aim of getting them to rank on Google for key terms. When clicked on, they’ll redirect to a dodgy site.
Cloaked keywords hack
As above, but slightly more sophisticated – at first glance, these will look like your site’s pages, with altered written content.
Japanese keywords hack.
Creates random pages in Japanese full of affiliate links to stores selling fake merchandise.
Malicious code/viruses
If malicious code or a virus is inserted into your site, your site may well go down, or you could be unable to access it. Moreover, it may as well affect all your hardware.
Denial of Service (DoS)
Hackers use bots to overload a website with requests and crash the server it’s on.
Phishing
Scammers contact your clients pretending to be part of your business and using your branding in the hope of finding personal information.
1. What could be the most likely threats to MY store?
From the technical point of view, there are 3 basic threats that are important to consider:
Website platform or plugins malfunction
If you haven’t updated your CMS platform for a long time, or if you have installed some pieces of additional software (themes, plugins, add-ons, etc.) from an unreliable source, you are basically putting your store at risk.
Password hack
If you have a ‘weak’ password or if you keep it written in an easily available place, it won’t be difficult for hackers to steal your store data, as well as your money…and your business reputation.
Viruses
If there is no trustworthy antivirus software installed on the device you use to run your store, or if you use an outdated browser version, the device (and the store) gets especially vulnerable.
2. How to make my website secure if it’s not ready yet? What can I do on the store development stage?
While your store is just being developed, you can do the majority of the steps necessary to ensure its safety:
Consider which devices you’ll use to run your store. Contemporary automated solutions make it possible for you to access the store with the help of personal computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. It gives you more freedom, and at the same time, more responsibilities. You need to check the browser versions on EVERY device and make sure you’re using the latest browser version.
The same is fair for antivirus programs: check if you have them installed on EVERY device you’ll be using for your dropshipping business, and update them to the latest version if necessary.
Create a strong password for your hosting account and for your website admin panel. Ideally, these passwords should contain at least 8 characters each, and it’s a great idea to include numbers and uppercase letters in them. The general rule is: the more complicated is the password, the harder it will be for a hacker to get an illegal access to your website.
Pay a special attention to the place where you are storing all your valuable passwords. It’s not a good idea to use any kind of online storage for this purpose.
Make sure that you’ve used the latest version of a CMS platform as the basis for your online store. Check its official website to learn more about the newest updates and most relevant proven versions.
Do your best to only install plugins, themes and add-ons that are officially recommended by the CMS platform developers. Be really careful about so-called nulled plugins that are distributed for free – they are very likely to contain viruses and hurt your webstore.
3. How to make my website secure if the store is already running?
First, make sure you’ve taken all the steps described above.
Then, do the following:
Follow the updates as soon as you learn about the newest ones. It’s vital for everything you use: the CMS platform, themes and plugins, antivirus software and browser versions. If you keep all of them up-to-date, it’s much harder for hackers and viruses to do harm to your store and you.
Change login and password from time to time to prevent any unpleasant surprises. Make sure to always use an actually working email address – this way, you’ll be able to restore the login details in case you lose or forget them.
Create backup copies of your webstore regularly – if something goes wrong, you won’t have to destroy the store and start all over again, you’ll simply have to go back to the latest saved version.
4. I’m worried and I don’t think it’s enough. Can I do something else?
If you think you need to do more to protect your website, our developers can recommend one of the following safety plugins for WordPress:
Simply speaking, these free plugins limit the number of login attempts when somebody tries guessing your login details and enter the admin panel, and they also alert you if there’s a security threat.
5. There’s a virus! Or a hacker attack. Or a dangerous software, I don’t know what’s it exactly! What should I do?
Stay calm! It’s gonna be fine, just follow these simple steps:
Scan your device for viruses and delete all the suspicious things your antivirus finds
Change the password to your hosting account, and the webstore login details
Try to remember if you’ve installed any pieces of software recently, and delete all the questionable elements
Update your CMS, all the trustworthy plugins and extensions to the latest version available
Restore your webstore using the most recent backup copy you have
If your store is built with the help of AliDropship solutions, don’t hesitate to contact our support team! The best option is to send an email to support@alidropship.com address – this way, you’ll be able to describe the problem in detail, tell about your actions, and attach screenshots if necessary.
Our readers greatly enjoy this format of our blog articles, and so do we! This is why it’s time for another Q&A session. This one is all about dropshipping for beginners who are absolute newcomers to ecommerce with no previous IT experience at all.
We’re really happy that our solutions are motivating and encouraging even for people who have no idea how it all works. This is why we will do our best to help you out!
When someone visits your store and places an order, you buy this item from the supplier, but ask him to deliver the product on your client’s address
You get the profit from EVERY purchase – your profit is the difference between the seller’s price and your own price
As you can see, it’s not difficult at all. This business model has tons of benefits as you:
Don’t need to have anything ‘physical’ – products, office, warehouse, etc. All the deals happen in virtual sphere
Have no need to buy items in advance, and therefore, experience no risk of not selling them
Don’t need to rent an actual office and warehouse, or hire people to manage these facilities
Can start the business with the minimal financial investments, only spending money on the store development
Have an opportunity to run the business from any point of the globe as all you need is PC or laptop, and a stable Internet connection
Can increase the sellers’ prices any way you like, and have no one who would limit your profit
Are your own boss – the business fully belongs to you
2. How does the buying and selling process work?
So, you have a ready store with product images and descriptions.
A store visitor likes some of your offers, and places an order.
You accept the payment and ask for the client’s name and address.
As soon as you receive the money from the buyer, you transmit the same order to the original AliExpress seller. AliDropship plugin does this automatically, so you won’t get confused with all the orders, sellers, items, countries, addresses, etc.
The seller gets money and customer details from you, makes the package, dispatches it to your buyer, and gives you the tracking code.
You, in turn, send this tracking code to the client, and keep an eye on this order to see how everything’s going.
Nothing extraordinary, in fact!
3. Can I do dropshipping without the AliDropship plugin?
Well, yes.
The reason why people all over the globe use this plugin for WordPress-based online stores is that the plugin does the biggest part of the job automatically. Still, the plugin is quite young, even though this business model exists for a long time already. So, several years ago people were just doing dropshipping without any technical help.
And this is exactly the reason why we created the plugin!
You see, as your business grows bigger, you find it more and more difficult to manage all the processes. To save your time and nerves, and to deal with the most common dropshipping challenges, it is better to go for automatic solutions.
4. What is WordPress?
Speaking in VERY simple terms, it’s a piece of web publishing software.
It’s the most popular solution globally used for building websites and blogs – around 28% of ALL the existing websites are created and managed with the help of WordPress.
You download it from the official provider, install it on your site – and here it is! Now you can easily and conveniently manage your website.
It truly does a lot to simplify dropshipping for beginners and experienced entrepreneurs alike. WordPress is free, user-friendly, and super flexible. There exist thousands of plugins, extensions, and themes compatible with it. You can download (or buy) any of them to boost the functionality of your website and make it totally unique.
5. What is hosting?
Again, let’s talk in VERY simple terms.
Hosting is a service provided by experienced companies (you can try doing it yourself, but it will be really challenging to manage).
What do these providers do?
Basically, by giving you hosting, they help you upload all your website information to the Internet.
As soon as you get hosting, everything that you’ve added to your website (texts, pictures, videos, etc.) becomes accessible to Internet users. Therefore, people can find your website, browse it, and view it.
6. How can I make profit using AliDropship plugin?
Oh, that’s an essential part of explaining dropshipping for beginners! 😊
7. Does the AliDropship plugin have a trial period?
There’s no demo or trial period, but we provide 30 days money back guarantee on the plugin.
8. Can I use your standard free theme without AliDropship plugin?
No, the themes will only work if you have installed the plugin.
9. Do I need to register my business?
AliExpress suppliers won’t ask you for any official registration, which certainly is a blessing for dropshipping beginners. In fact, they will work with you even if you’re just an ordinary customer who buys their items for personal use.
Still, every country has its own legal rules. Check the relevant laws carefully!
10. Do I need to sign up dropshipping agreement to start business with you?
No, you don’t need to sign any papers.
11. What do I need to avoid when starting a dropshipping business?
Even though dropshipping itslef is a simple business model, it can certainly have its pitfalls that beginner entrepreneurs can stumble upon. Here’s a small list of things you need to be aware of when starting a dropshipping business.
Select the products that sell
This is probably one of the most common mistakes beginners make. Many dropshippers truly believe that product selection does not matter. When it’s actually quite the opposite. What they do is fill up their store with an array of products that they are unable to sell.
When selecting the product for your store you need to consider the following:
The product is something that people actually want and need
There is already some hype about the product (it has an interested audience)
Choosing the wrong niche
Staying on the topic, you must choose not only a product that sells but also the right niche. What we mean by this is that you ideally want to choose the products that you’re somewhat familiar with, that also have a steady stream of sales, with a relatively low level of competition, and have a good profit margin.
To avoid this, we recommend you complete thorough market research of a niche you’re interested in. This way, you will have an understanding of what opportunities lie in front of you and the potential pitfalls a niche might have.
Lower product prices to get sales
Another common mistake beginner entrepreneurs tend to make is lower the price of the products to beat the competition. The result of these actions leads to getting no profit at all.
Make sure to devote some time to establishing a proper pricing strategy that will bring you not only sales but a huge profit.
Consider all parameters calculating your profit
During the process of profit calculation, you can’t simply consider one or two factors – there are several factors you’ll need to account for. Here are some of the factors beginner dropshipping entrepreneurs skip:
Shipping costs (if there are any)
Ad costs
Transaction fees
Refunds
Discounts
Having a poor website
Your website is up there with the most important factors of establishing a successful ecommerce business. It is the place where your customers will decide whether to purchase from you or not. For this reason, it is important to have a professionally designed, functional, and user-friendly website. And don’t forget that it has to work smoothly on mobile devices as well.
So, if you’re ready to take on the incredible world of dropshipping, there are just a few things to look out for to fully maximize your chances of building a successful online business.
First of all, don’t treat the dropshipping business model like it’s risk-free. You’ll still invest a lot of time into finding the right dropshippers, establishing your website and social media pages, so carefully do the necessary research beforehand.
Most people who manage a dropshipping store find the most success when they find a specific niche and focus solely on it by ensuring that every product they sell is the perfect fit for their niche audience and brand.
Once you’ve found several potential dropshipping suppliers, try completing a test order. This way you’ll be able to see how the supplier operates for yourself. How long does it take for the order to arrive? What does the packaging look like? What is the quality of the product?
Develop a marketing plan by investing the time into every little detail, from discovering your target audience to cooperating with potential influencers in your specific niche. Also, targeted ads can be an excellent way to kick off your website and place it before your potential customers to see.
Finally, define your return policy, shipping communication, and customer service. When things go wrong, you want to be prepared to act quickly and regulate any issues that may occur between your customers and dropshipping suppliers.
13. Is dropshipping still profitable in 2022?
The short answer – yes, it is still profitable.
As you can see from this Google Trends image, in the last 5 years dropshipping has seen a significant increase in interest.
We live in a time where everything is going digital and ecommerce is becoming more and more popular. With that – more people are buying online than ever before. So, even in 2022, dropshipping is still going strong and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Are you wondering how to choose a domain name for your dropshipping website? Here are the expert answers to the most common questions that typically come from online business newcomers.
Every business starts with an idea.
A dropshipping store starts with a niche.
Your website starts with a domain. Whether you want to use your site for traditional ecommerce business or dropshipping, a domain name is the first issue you must solve.
Our today’s article is all about a highly important topic. Here, we will explain how to choose a domain name, evaluate and purchase the perfect one for your dropshipping website.
Let’s start with the basics, as usual!
What is a domain name, exactly?
Before talking about how to choose a domain name, let me explain what it is. Put it simply, a domain is the main part of your website’s URL address.
For example, take a look at our website’s address:
https://alidropship.com/
Here, ‘alidropship.com’ is the domain. It consists of 2 elements:
The ‘alidropship’ part is a so-called Second Level Domain
This is a word or a combination of words that you choose to represent your dropshipping website.
Theoretically, you can select any combination of letters and digits to be your second level domain. Still, this combination should make sense – something like higur465wy24.com doesn’t inspire much trust, right?
Usually, the word or phrase in the second level domain is identical to the store name. It makes a lot of sense since it helps you with branding.
But, alternatively, to get better Google rankings, you can take the main store keyword and play with it a little. The idea here is to create a short, memorable, catchy and easy to pronounce phrase – and we will elaborate on this further.
The ‘.com’ part is a so-called Top Level Domain (also called ‘domain extensions’)
There exist a limited number of top level domains, so here you don’t need to invent anything. Simply follow the basic rules and choose among one of the options available.
Wait, what? There really are rules that regulate how to choose top level domains?
Traditionally, top level domains demonstrate the type of organization that uses them. Let’s go through the most common ones:
The .com domain is generally used by companies and organizations that run some kind of business or hold this website for a certain financial purpose. It has the reputation of the most popular, prestigious and trust-inspiring domain. Naturally, it makes it highly popular among businesses and enterprises worldwide.
We recommend going for the .com domain. In our experience, short and keyword-rich names with .com top level domains show better results. Moreover, they prove to be more efficient for dropshipping websites.
The .co domain is a relatively new alternative to the .com one (the majority of appealing names on the .com domain is already taken, which is why entrepreneurs go for a different option).
The .biz domain (‘biz’ is short for ‘business’) is basically used in the same cases, but for some reason, it is much less common and not as widespread as the .com one.
The .net domain is normally associated with hi-tech businesses, information technologies, startups, and other tech-related entities of this kind.
The .org domain (‘org’ is short for ‘organization’) is usually chosen by charities and other non-profit establishments that don’t put finances in the core of their activity.
The .info domain traditionally belongs to websites and blogs that have an enlightening or informational purpose and exist to raise awareness about something.
The .edu domain is regularly taken by educational institutions of various types.
The .gov domain belongs to governmental entities across the United States.
Plus, there exists a number of country-specific top level domains, for example:
Are there any similar rules for the selection of a second level website domain?
Oh, this is the most exciting part.
When you’re choosing a top level domain, you don’t have much room for imagination and inventiveness. All you need to do is simply pick one of 20-30 available options.
But when it comes to the second level domain name, it’s a whole different story.
When you’re creating your store domain, there are 3 vital things to consider.
SEO
When thinking about how to create a domain name, take into account your domain’s potential in terms of search engine optimization. If you want to achieve favorable Google rankings, it’s wise to include an SEO-friendly word or phrase in your domain.
This is why many dropshipping business owners build their webstore domain around their main keyword. For this purpose, they can also use any of the supporting keywords. This way, they solve 2 issues at once. They improve their rank in search results, and make it easier for Internet users to stumble upon this particular webstore.
Of course, it’s necessary to treat this optimization thoughtfully. A website that has an address like buyofficechairsonlineusa.com looks quite suspicious. It even creates the impression of something potentially harmful, like it poses a threat to the visitor.
Long domain names that solely consist of long-tail keywords look spammy and don’t inspire much trust. Plus, it doesn’t help you create a memorable shopping destination that stands out from the competition.
This aspect brings us to the next crucial consideration point which is…
It’s all because you can create a recognizable and buyer-oriented shopping destination with a totally unique atmosphere and friendly environment.
Your range of activity is rather small in comparison to huge shopping platforms, and this gives you an enormous advantage. When you concentrate on a tiny amount of products to sell, you are able to provide top-class customer service. This is the perfect strategy to win the hearts of your buyers.
This challenging yet rewarding job of creating your own in-store universe starts with… your website address and, more specifically, your domain name. Basically, when people visit your store, the first thing they notice is the website address and the domain name. At this moment of the first encounter, your website name provokes some specific expectations. Obviously, it’s your responsibility to meet them.
This is why, ideally, a good domain name should clearly indicate what this store is about – this way, you gain recognition and support the creation of your own, unique brand that is strikingly different from the competitors’ offers.
Credibility
As we have already mentioned, your dropshipping website URL is the thing that makes the first impression. The domain name, naturally, plays its role, too. So, here are several tips on how to choose a domain name… or rather how NOT to make a domain that’ll scare away potential buyers.
Will an Internet user actually visit your store after noticing it in the search results, or not?
It heavily depends on the quality and contents of your domain name. Imagine that it consists of an odd word combination, or a random mix of letters and numbers making no sense. Even if it’s brilliant in terms of SEO, the majority of Internet surfers won’t even click on it.
The same goes for a dropshipping website that obviously speculates on a well-known brand or trademark. Typically, scammers do it by using either the wrong spelling (abibas.com). Alternatively, they can pick a top-level domain that is slightly different from the official one (adidas.net). No one likes scammers, so misleading people with illegal use of someone else’s brand shouldn’t be your strategy. Good website names never look like that!
Plus, people will avoid your dropshipping website if its domain name looks silly or scary because of inappropriate word combinations (even if it was unintentional). Think of domains like therapistbay.com or bestkidnaps.com, for example.
You should also avoid accidental negative meanings in foreign languages. Surely, it is impossible to consider all the languages that exist across the globe. Still, check the meaning of the chosen name in the language of your target audience. Additionally, consider its meaning in the most common languages in the world (Chinese, English, Hindustani, Spanish and Arabic, at least).
So… how to choose a domain name, actually? What should I do technically? And how can I buy the domain?
Oh, it’s a really simple and totally entertaining procedure.
First, you need to go to a domain generator website. There are plenty of domain name generators, and tons of them provide their service for free, so you won’t pay anything extra.
We strongly recommend the Namemesh generator: it is awesome because it lets you evaluate the appeal of any domain name by several parameters at once.
It works the following way: you enter 2-3 words into the search bar, and press the ‘Generate’ button.
The system shows all the possible combinations of these words, and divides the domain name suggestions into several categories:
Common
These are the most ‘traditionally-looking’ names with typically used top level domains (also called extensions) like .com, .net., org, etc.
New
These are the names containing the most recent extensions that become available for websites (.tech, .chop, .center, etc.). Since these extensions are really ‘young’, there’s a good chance to grab a vacant name before anybody else.
Short
This section contains the shortest domain names available. In general opinion, the shorter the domain, the better it is for your recognition. Still, don’t forget that it should make some sense! Also, note that most popular domains are short, which is why most of them are usually occupied.
Extra
These are the domain names with ‘unusual’ extensions like .name, .me, .ly, etc. In a way, they are similar to the ‘New’ category, but these ones are not uncommon for worldwide practice.
Similar
These domains don’t contain the exact keyword you’ve provided. Instead, they are based on synonyms, antonyms, related words, etc. Here, you get unconventional names that describe your business concept in a ‘smarter’ way. In terms of branding, they might be the perfect option for you.
SEO
This section includes the names that are perfect in terms of potential Google rankings. The system slightly modifies the main keyword through the use of prefixes or suffixes. This is why you get a list of SEO-friendly yet sensible domain names.
Fun
The website domains listed in this category are the result of smart word modification: blending and meshing words, misspelling, phonetic variations and other tricks are used. As a result, you get some unique yet meaningful words that can make perfect brand names.
Mix
Here, other words, prefixes and suffixes get mixed into the keyword you’ve provided.
So, you get a full page of results with possible domains:
As you can see, you can make some amendments to the generated results and play with them further!
For example, you can check out every single one of the Search Suggestions to get more relevant domain options. It’s quite handy if you’ve already tried everything and can’t think of other good names.
Also, you can hide the already registered domains – it definitely saves your time. Besides, you can explore the WhoIs database. There, you will learn who has purchased the most appealing domain. In some cases, it might be useful to contact the current owner and try buying out this particular domain.
You can also set the preferred domain length and tick the top level domains you’d like.
And finally, we’re coming to the most important part. Here, you can also choose the registrar service that will sell you the best domain name!
In order to actually purchase the domain you’ve picked, you need to visit domain registrars – websites that sell domains.
There, you make your user account, provide the necessary documents (IDs, etc.) and pay for the purchase. This is how you become a legal owner of a domain of your choice.
The Namemesh site doesn’t sell the domain names. Instead, it lets you check the most credible and trustworthy registrars that are really popular across the globe:
It doesn’t matter what registrar service you use. All of them have the same range of domains available. Actually, it’s impossible for a registrar to have ‘exclusive’ domains that you can’t buy anywhere else. Plus, all of the registrars listed on Namemesh have the legal right to sell website domains.
Still, it’s a good idea to check the appealing name within each registrar anyway. The reason is simple: even the same names can have totally different prices across various services.
So, to be a smart shopper, you need to:
Go on Namemesh
Select one registrar
Enter the keyword
Hit the ‘Generate’ button
Read through the generated list of domain names
Click on the name you like more
The system will automatically redirect you to the registrar site. Here, you will see the domain name price, and the instructions on how to buy it. If you’re happy with the name and its price, follow the registrar recommendations and complete the purchase!
There are so many name options, it’s confusing! Is there any checklist on how to choose a domain name for my dropshipping business?
Of course! After all, choosing domain names is very important! Go through this list and tick the statements you agree with:
I like this domain name
Your personal opinion matters! You should be happy with the sound and the meaning of the name, no matter what marketing gurus say.
It is short
Roughly speaking, a length up to 10-12 characters is okay. You want people to remember your name easily, right?
It is easy to type
Again, it’s all about your brand recognition. Let’s suppose you’ve chosen a well-known word but opted for an untypical letters order in it. Chances are, people will simply misspell it while typing in the address, or writing hashtags in social networks.
It gives me some room for growth
In the world of dropshipping, it is super easy to expand your product offer when necessary. You can even switch to a slightly different business niche if you want to. Will the domain still be relevant for your store if you ever decide to add new product categories?
It is available on social media
To promote your store online, you need relevant accounts on social media. Imagine that somebody has created a Facebook account with the name that you have just picked. It would be quite a sad situation because it would make your buyers really confused. Plus, they will constantly mix you up with this random account.
Luckily, Namemesh has this adorable function of scanning social networks as well! Look at the picture below:
When you click on a suggested domain, the system checks the so-called ‘Social Availability’. It means that it analyses the existing Twitter and Facebook account names. You, in turn, can perform the same check on Instagram manually.
This way, you can choose identical names for all your social media channels. Surely, it helps you create a strong brand and boost your recognition.
It has a good history
Did you know that you need to check every domain name before purchase? Even if you’re not buying it from an actual previous owner, look into its history anyway. It is possible that this domain has some history anyway.
Maybe, the owner has simply abandoned it several years ago after the domain expiry. To make sure nothing suspicious was happening there, try using the Wayback Machine service. It shows whether someone has used the domain, and for what purpose.
If you’re buying a ’second hand’ domain, check the Expired Domains portal. Here, you will see domains with reliable history that are no longer in use for some reason. These domains can rank better on Google if the previous owner had no suspicious actions on them. So, you can even buy several domains and simply wait till one of them start ranking higher than others.
Have you ticked at least 4 items in this checklist? Go for this name!
That’s it for our today’s Q&A session. Now, you know how to choose a domain name that will fit your dropshipping website perfectly – feel free to use the knowledge for your personal benefit!
Every day we get hundreds of questions from absolutely different categories of people. Can you guess who the most common askers are? Happy new owners of dropshipping stores have more questions than anyone else! Often they ask questions related to dropshipping management operations.
It’s an absolutely normal situation if you don’t know how to run your brand new business. Don’t worry, you will learn it all in due time. And as for now, we’re always here to guide you.
1. What should I do day to day to manage my store?
It may sound obvious, but you need to actually run your dropshipping business every day if you want it to be successful.
It’s not enough to simply own a store without doing anything to it. Take a look at the success story of Alex – during the first month of his newly opened store operation, Alex did nothing to manage the operations. As you can guess, the results weren’t satisfying at all. Everything changed as soon as Alex started paying attention to the business, and now things are going more than well.
So, as an owner of a dropshipping business, you need to:
Manage orders and payments, inventory, and track delivery
Well, this is the essence of the dropshipping business model, right? You don’t have to think about warehouse management and shipping issues (and it saves you tons of money!), but still, there are certain dropshipping management operations in this field you should take care of.
You have nothing to worry about, though, if you have the AliDropship plugin already installed. In terms of business operations, it does the majority of necessary tasks, so the only thing you actually need to deal with is customer support.
Communicate with your customers via email and other means
Communication and interaction is probably the only thing that can’t be automated in this business field.
People value personal attitude, and it becomes exceptionally important when it comes to eCommerce.
Just think about it: someone decides to buy a product from you without seeing this item first; basically, this person trusts you with their money, and, to be honest, takes a risk.
Don’t leave them confused and uncertain! Help them, guide them through the store and the shopping process, encourage them to make a purchase, and thank them for their decision.
This is how you will turn their random purchase into a very personal and pleasant customer experience. This is how you will create additional value for your store, and this is how you will carefully build an audience of loyal and engaged customers.
Drive traffic to your online store
People can’t locate your store easily, you know.
The competition is astonishing, and the Internet is huge.
This is the challenge that can and must be taken. All you need to do is pay attention to your promotional efforts. If you don’t know where to begin, take a look at our Marketing Tips blog section.
Search and import new products for your store
The day to day operations of dropshippers always include frequent product researches.
It is important to do it regularly – this is how you will keep your existing customers enthusiastic about new offers they didn’t see before. Also, don’t forget about trends and fashion – technologies and interests change quickly, and it is vital to go with the flow. Nobody likes outdated and boring items!
Edit the content of your pages to make the store look neat and professional
Mostly, it refers to single product pages – when you import new products from AliExpress, the titles and descriptions you get are not perfect at all. This is why it is necessary to take some time and edit everything that doesn’t look good.
Also, don’t forget about search engine optimization – keep it in mind when you’re editing the pages’ content. You won’t see immediate results, but in the long run, these efforts will give your more benefits than you can imagine.
2. What are the costs of running and managing a dropshipping store?
Oh, no one can tell you how much dropshipping management operations will cost you.
Let’s think of all the possible costs you might have in this business:
Hosting payment – sorry, you just can’t go without it.
First orders payment – you need to order an item on AliExpress to get it delivered to your customer. So, at the beginning of your dropshipping journey you will spend your money first to get later paid by your customer.
Marketing activities – everything is up to you here. Maybe you will launch a full-scale campaign that will cost you hundreds of dollars, and maybe you will simply install some promotional plugin like Social Rabbit.
As you can see, it’s impossible to predict the amount of your expenses. No one defines it but you!
3. What should I do when I receive an order?
Step one: get excited.
Step two: go to the Orders section and click the “Place order automatically” button.
The AliDropship plugin will visit AliExpress and create an order for you automatically. It will select necessary product variations, add items to your shopping cart and fill in your customer’s shipping details on the checkout page. You will just need to click confirm button to complete a purchase.
Alternatively, you can place the order manually by clicking the “Place order manually” button.
Step three: celebrate!
4. Will the cost of an item on AliExpress be deducted from my PayPal account?
AliExpress doesn’t support PayPal as a payment method which is why you can’t use your PayPal account to pay for purchases on AliExpress.com.
In other words, the cost of an item won’t be deducted from your PayPal account. Instead, while placing an order on AliExpress, you can use one of the payment methods supported by the platform. The most commonly used ones are Visa and MasterCard credit cards, as well as Visa, Maestro, and American Express debit cards.
5. Does the plugin import the shipping costs or do I have to add shipping options to my products?
The AliDropship Plugin doesn’t import items’ shipping costs.
We highly recommend offering your customers a free shipping service by taking advantage of the free/low-cost shipping offered by many AliExpress sellers. However, the Plugin has a special section where you can enable or disable different shipping options.
You can add up to four different shipping options (including free shipping) to any or all products.
6. Are the customers able to create an account on my website?
Yes, your clients can get the option to create a personal account on your website.
This account gives your customers the opportunity to store their contact and shipping details, check the list of products they purchased, and track the status of any order.
7. Will the customer receive a tracking number? How can our customers track their orders?
Once you placed an order on AliExpress and your supplier shipped an item, you get your tracking ID.
The plugin will automatically collect this tracking data and add it to your order details.
Please note: you need to be logged in to your AliExpress account and your AliDropship orders section to activate this tracking auto-filling option.
8. How can I know if the package was delivered to the customer?
If there’s a tracking number available, you can easily track the package delivery.
With this tracking ID provided by the AliExpress supplier, you can check if the customer received an item.
9. My customer didn’t receive the order. What should I do?
First of all, stay calm and don’t panic.
Unfortunately, this happens. And it’s another part of your regular dropshipping management operations.
Maybe something went wrong within the postal service, or the customer provided a wrong address, or a seller is shady (did you choose the seller carefully?). You’ll figure it out later, but right now it’s not the first priority.
Secondly, apologize.
Whatever happened, it can all be fixed. Your behavior and personal attitude will help a lot to solve this issue.
We recommend talking to the seller first. Go on AliExpress, open the “My Orders” page, select the faulty order and write a private message to the seller. The seller should respond quickly and offer different solutions to fix it. The reputation of the sellers is rather exposed and they are willing to do anything to maintain their feedback rating.
So, if your customer is not satisfied with a product and asks you for a refund, you should dispute the purchase with the AliExpress seller.
If you are selling inexpensive products, your AliExpress suppliers usually refund you quickly and don’t ask you to return the items. They don’t want to waste their energy on managing disputes and receiving returns for relatively low-value items. You can read about it more in our interview with an actual AliExpress seller.
As a result, you can give a full or partial refund to your customer through PayPal without asking them to return the product. This is why we recommend that you don’t spend all your earned money at once – keep a small fund just to be safe.
If there are more questions related to dropshipping management operations we haven’t covered, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. We hope the answers will help you start a successful dropshipping business.
Considering the constant demand for a custom dropshipping store from AliDropship, we decided to devote a whole separate Q&A session to it. Enjoy!
1. What’s a custom dropshipping store?
In practice, it’s a ready-made dropshipping store that is created for you exclusively. The store is developed by the team of highly skilled designers, programmers, and other technical specialists.
First of all, you place an order and make a payment.
PLEASE NOTE: you only make ONE payment to get an AliDropship custom store, with no recurring fees! While running a dropshipping store, your only ‘must-have’ regular fees will be the domain and hosting payments required by your providers to keep your store ‘visible’ on the internet.
After that, a dedicated member of our project management team gets in touch with you. We assign a personal project manager who will guide you through all the steps of the work.
They give you access to Basecamp – it’s the special platform where you can monitor the progress and leave your feedback. We will also ask you to fill in our questionnaire. This way, we will learn your requests and preferences.
Professionally designed theme optimized for high conversions
Unique design elements (logo, header, icons, favicon, etc.)
Integrated promotional tools: discount coupons, emails for abandoned carts recovery, and subscribers lists for further interactions
All-in-one dashboard to monitor your sales, orders, stats, and activities
Integrated Google Analytics
Integrated payment gateways (2Checkout, Stripe, PayU, etc.) to accept payments with both PayPal and credit cards
On-site SEO and social networks accounts
Up to 12% AliExpress cashback
For the Ultimate package, you will also be provided with our special social media promo tool. We install and set up the Social Rabbit plugin that will automatically promote your business on 4 top social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
4. Сustom dropshipping stores creation includes niche research. Can I choose my own niche?
Basically, you can choose ANY niche you like. It’s recommended to work in a niche you’re passionate about (or at least know quite well).
You will then need to evaluate the niche from the point of view of:
You can take a look at our exclusive ‘Niches and products’ blog section. There, we systematically post the results of our regular market research, and give you the most promising product ideas you can try in the upcoming season.
5. If I want to create a dropshipping store with branded/copyrighted products, will I have any legal issues?
Yes, it is likely.
Every country has its own laws and legal requirements in terms of selling branded products. And all the holders of intellectual property rights have their own policy of dealing with such cases. You need to be really careful about your niche and product choice!
6. How do you choose and edit products for the website?
In short, we evaluate the items from the point of view of:
Product rating
Number of orders
Sellers rating
The option of ePacket shipping or free delivery
If you want us to import products of a particular type or style, please, let us know before we start uploading products. You can attach some examples of products for each category.
8. Can you integrate a special payment gateway for my country?
Generally, we integrate PayPal and credit card payment options into our dropshipping stores. Here you can find the list of all the options available.
Sometimes, clients ask us to include some other additional systems. We always notify our developers team about these requests, but the development process is not easy. The developers might agree to try a certain additional system if it is requested often, but it will be considered to be a ‘non-typical amendment to a website’, and it will cost you extra money.
9. If I only have enough money to buy the Basic Package, can I upgrade it later?
Of course! If you can’t afford the desired package right now, just start with getting the Basic one. Later on, as soon as your finances are fine, you can upgrade your store to the Advanced or Ultimate level.
For all these packages, we do the same work, but on a different scale. For example, the number of the items we add to a store is 50 for the Basic package, 100 for the Advanced package, and 200 for the Ultimate package. But it’s not the limit! You can always add more products yourself if necessary.
The same goes for all the extra services that only are available on the higher levels. Even if they are not included in the package you’re buying, you surely can ask us to add the necessary ones for an extra cost (or you can do it yourself if you wish).
Please note that the store theme choice doesn’t depend on the package you’re ordering! It doesn’t matter if you’re buying a Basic or an Ultimate store – you can anyway choose one theme out of the multiple options we offer.
10. If I buy your Ultimate Package, when I can start making money?
The package description says “This package is perfect for those who want a 100% hassle-free start and immediate profits”. So, what do we mean by immediate profits?
The day you receive your store is the day you can process your first order.
Everything is set up already, so you can drive in visitors and accept their payments IMMEDIATELY after getting the site from us. From the technical point of view, your store is fully ready for operation when we hand it over to you.
We gladly share our marketing experience and knowledge with you – we provide tons of educational materials (check out the question #7). Still, we can’t predict how soon you will start getting income – it all depends on your own promotional efforts.
Did we cover everything you wanted to know about buying a dropshipping store? Feel free to leave your questions in the comment section below!
