Dropshipping Hacks

Top 4 Tools to Boost Your Dropshipping Product Reviews 2022

Encouraging product reviews is the key to the success of an online business, as real customer reviews can persuade a new, on-the-fence buyer to take the action and make the purchase.

So how exactly do you encourage users to give comments? We’ll tackle the ins and outs of customer reviews in this article, including why reviews are important, how to get them, and recommendations of 4 tools to optimize your product reviews.

Why are product reviews important?

 

As well known, potential shoppers will use reviews as a reference point for whether take action to place their orders in your store.

Good reviews can help you:

 
  • Increase your business credibility

It can help customers quickly know if your business is trustworthy. Positive reviews will have a group effect on your customers, which will have a positive impact on your sales.

  • Raise the CTR

Good reviews will drive more customers to click on your product page or site, which increases your CTR (click-through rate).

  • Help your business ranking higher

User needs and trust are one of the most essential factors that the Google search engine takes to rank your site. Positive reviews will help your business move up on the SERP (search engine results pages).

On the other hand, bad reviews can also help with:

 
  • Increase the credibility of your reviews

Positive reviews can help increase your business credibility, however perfect reviews may reduce customer trust in your business sometimes. In fact, 67% of buyers prefer to see a mix of positive and negative customer reviews. It helps them determine if the reviews are authentic and if the business is trustworthy.

  • Spot improving opportunities

Negative reviews could be a great resource if you change aside to think about it. You can use them to better understand your customers’ needs from their point of view and make timely improvements based on their suggestions.

  • Provide a response opportunity

The silver lining with negative reviews is that they give you the chance to respond and manage your online presence and reputation proactively. Responding well to bad reviews and handling them appropriately is your best chance of gaining a loyal customer. If you can win back customers who leave bad reviews, the chance of them being loyal to your business and supporting your sales in the long term is pretty big.

In general, product reviews are an important ingredient of your business’s healthy growth. Both good and bad reviews can have a positive impact on your business as long as you take the right attitude to look at them and handle them well.

How to get product reviews?

 

There are two scenarios in which you can get product reviews:

Start by customers leaving reviews voluntarily

 

Since some of the clients have willing to share their experience and give other potential customers a reference, your buyers may leave a review voluntarily if they have already used your products. This is the ideal state for getting customer reviews.

Start by asking for product reviews

 
  • Asking by SMS

SMS can be one of the methods for you to get product reviews. You can create an automatic text which will be sent one or two weeks after the customer receives their order. Make sure this text includes a direct display of the product that your customer bought, so they can be reminded of the purchase instantly and leave a review.

  • Asking by email

Collecting customer emails and making full use of them is a key to successful EDM marketing (Electronic Direct Mail Marketing). When you have a list of the contacts of customers you can then set a review-collecting email which will be triggered automatically one or two weeks after they confirm the receipt of the order.

  • Asking by social media

If you’ve set social media accounts for your business, which is highly recommended btw, you can encourage your followers to send reviews there. At the same time, you can share excellent customer reviews on your social media as a way of brand-building and attracting the audience’s attention.

Tools that can help generate more reviews easily

 

Countless tools can help you optimize product reviews, you can choose the plug-ins that suit your needs the most to help your site or products stand out from the crowd. In this article, we prepared a simple introduction of 4 tools to help you get more reviews:

#1 Batch import and edit reviews – Ryviu

 

Ryviu is an awesome platform to manage, export, and import reviews, supporting online stores built with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Prestastore. There are 3 main ways that you can use it to import reviews:

Method 1. Import reviews use Ryviu Chrome extension
Method 2. Import reviews from your dropship apps
Method 3. Import reviews from your Ryviu dashboard

Check the official tutorial here

After you import the reviews, the content can be customized as well, such as the name, color, and size. At the same time, an email verification function can be enabled (collect customer email for subsequent EDM marketing preparation). The reviews you got from Ryviu can also be updated with one click to make your site looks more active

 

#2 Automated marketing for Shopify stores – Rivo

 

Rivo is a powerful marketing tool aiming to help Shopify stores generate more conversions. For its review collecting function, you can search Rivo Product Reviews in the Shopify app store and install it.

There are two ways for you to collect reviews by using Rivo – email campaigns and on-page popups. Once you get the reviews from customers, its widget builder enables you to edit the review into a customized layout to match your store design and branding style.

 

#3 Promote trust, drive growth – Loox

 

Loox is a popular review & referral app designed exclusively for Shopify merchants. According to its official data, Loox’s product review has a 48% open rate for emails, and 25% of reviewers provide visual proofs. Of course, as one of the leading review apps in the Shopify app store, Loox supports a wide range of functions such as setting up popups, sending out tracking emails, importing product reviews, showcasing customized review pages, and such. 

However, after a 14-day free trial, you’ll have to pay for the membership which starts at the basic plan with a $9.99 monthly fee up to the unlimited plan charging $299.99 per month.

 

#4 Data-driven makes it simple – Yotpo

 

Yotpo is a comprehensive marketing app for eCommerce with multiple functions including SMS promotions, customer referrals, visual UGC, and review collection.

Its reviews collecting tool generates authentic reviews that make a difference and display them where they’re most impactful. Yotpo help send automated email & SMS review requests to your customer a few weeks after they purchase your product, collecting reviews, ratings, photos, and community Q&As.

When customers receive the email they only need to complete the relevant operation in the email, such a simple operation makes more customers willing to give the review.

 

Conclusion

 

According to research, 90% of consumers read reviews before they visit your business, and 88% of buyers trust online reviews more than personal recommendations. Customer reviews are essential to increase your sales, build trust with buyers and help expedite SEO by driving precise organic traffic to your business.

 

Oberlo Shutdown, What’s Next? 5 Dropshipping Supply Alternatives

Today, June 15, 2022, the Oberlo app officially shut down, all historical data were removed, there’s no such an app in the Shopify app store anymore, nowhere to be found – the end of an era. Oberlo used to be the most popular dropshipping app of all time, probably one of the most well-known apps in the Shopify dropshipping space.


So many dropshipping OGs started with Oberlo, so many so-called “gurus” stepped on their journey with Oberlo, many apps that imitate Oberlo, some were successful, and some disappeared in the ever-changing market – rumor has it that CJdropshipping, one of the few leading dropshipping supply platforms in China, was inspired from Oberlo.


However, if you are new to dropshipping and have not heard of this name, Oberlo was an app that allowed users to link AliExpress products to their Shopify stores so that dropshipping merchants can easily import products and then have them fulfilled from AliExpress vendors.


Nowadays there are countless apps that can do the exact same things as Oberlo, or even, are doing a better job. If you were an Oberlo user, or if you are still new to dropshipping this fulfillment model, what’s your choice now? Who can help your online business grow better? In this article we’ll name 5 alternatives to Oberlo, some of them you might have heard of, some of them may be quite different than Oberlo, but they are all competitive enough to be mentioned on this sentimental day of Oberlo’s sunset.


#1 DSers – the official recommendation


DSers is the official eCommerce solution of AliExpress, a Chinese eCommerce platform that was developed by Alibaba Group. Founded in 2018, DSers is currently the largest SaaS of intelligent supply chain solutions for dropshipping sellers in the Shopify ecosystem.


This tool helps you with:


  • Importing products from AliExpress

  • Tracking AliExpress orders status in real-time

  • Syncing tracking number from AliExpress

  • Migrate data from Oberlo automatically with one click

Both Oberlo and DSers can only import products from AliExpress suppliers. The main difference between them is that Oberlo’s free plan doesn’t contain bulk orders and shipment tracking. Plus, Oberlo only worked with Shopify stores, while DSers does have these features in their free plan and can be integrated with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix.


Basically, with the merger of Oberlo, DSers will further consolidate the top position of sellers in supply chain management, thus if you are into the dropshipping from AliExpress model, DSers could be a nice choice.


#2 Spocket – the popular choice


Spocket integrates with both Shopify and WooCommerce stores. What made Spocket so special is that it supports you to launch a dropshipping business selling products from suppliers located in both the States and the EU with just a few clicks.


There are tens of thousands of products on Spocket (including print-on-demand products). Moreover, you can order sample products from most of the suppliers on Spocke which is amazing if quality control is important to you.


With good product quality and global suppliers, Spocket offers a 14-day free trial and the pricing plan starts from $24 monthly to $99 per month.


#3 AutoDS – the comprehensive product tool


AutoDS is an excellent tool for product research and importing. Its 24/7 price & stock monitoring can ensure you never miss an update from your supplier.


Unlike many other tools which only support importing from AliExpress, AutoDS supports importing from a lot of supply platforms: Amazon, Walmart, Banggood, Gearbest, CJdropshipping, Wayfair, Homedepot, Costco, Etsy, eBay, Target, Wish, and others…


With AutoDS, it’s easy to manage your product description, inventory, order info, and so much more. The service fee of AutoDS starts from $24 to $197 per month, it’s easy to choose a plan that suits your budget from the four options it offers.


#4 AliDropship – the dropshipping solution for WordPress


Some merchants switch to WordPress and WooCommerce from Shopify for more freedom. Because with Shopify, you don’t really own the store, you just rent it, so your business needs to live by Shopify’s rules such as fixed themes and display. But with WordPress, you’ll have all the power you need to create something amazing.


AliDropship is for people who would like to have more control over their online business. It helps you import products that you want from AliExpress to your dropshipping store (built with WordPress or WooCommerce of course). This plugin offers tons of great features, click here to check their official introduction.


But is AliDropship easy to use? The answer is both yes and no. If you have some experience with WordPress, using AliDropship to build a dropshipping business is a piece of cake, however, if you are not familiar with CMS, it might get a bit tricky. That’s why even with all the limitations, Shopify is still the most popular choice when it comes to building an online store – hassle-free under the price of the subscription fee it charges.


#5 iYoowe – to be the last dropshipping partner you need


Compared to the alternatives mentioned above, iYoowe is quite a new name to everyone. Frankly speaking, this is a very new dropshipping supply platform founded in early 2022 – not even a year old.

Why would you choose a newborn platform instead of all those “mature” ones?


Well, for one, dropshipping is no longer a secretive industry, the logic behind this model is now very transparent (shout out to educational content created by Oberlo and other great channels). This transparency makes it both easier and harder for the new coming apps.


It’s easier to design a dropshipping supply app now as there are many examples (no matter good or bad) for developers to learn from; it’s harder cause the difficulty to stand out increases along with the fast-growing number of dropshipping apps in the market.


Just like any other comprehensive dropshipping supply platform, iYoowe supports store authorization, order syncing, product sourcing, quality inspecting, and tons of dropshipping fulfillment services.

So how does this “newborn” plan to stand out? – with providing quality supply & a better dropshipping workflow, plus the best shipping experience of course. (check our shipping guarantee policy here).


Indeed, it takes time to grow a big and detailed marketplace that covers enough products to meet the needs of every dropshipper, but the determination and a hint of luck to gather around a team that is dedicated to providing a better dropshipping experience for all dropshippers.


The chance of you clicking in our marketplace, iYoowe Selected, and finding no ideal product is pretty big currently. Don’t quit yet, try posting a sourcing request for free, the chance of the product getting hunted down and fulfilled perfectly in a timely fashion is 100%.


Let’s meet today 🙂


Last but not the least:


Oberlo sparked the dropshipping revolution on YouTube, with their great courses and tutorials, and more people know and learn about dropshipping.


There’s no way for us to find out why exactly Shopify decided to cancel this app which they acquired 5 years ago.


Is it because the AliExpress dropshipping model is no longer believed by Shopify? And if so, what’s next for dropshippers? How to evolve into a better dropshipping business model? What to optimize?


On this very special day, these are the questions that wait to be answered by every dropshipping business owner.

How Dropshipping Quality Products Can Actually INCREASE Your Profit

Dropshipping allows you to source the products directly from the product supplier or manufacturer, the products selling in the online store go directly from the supplier to the customer without ever having to go through your hands. This feature is one of the many upsides that make dropshipping so appealing in the first place – not having to purchase and keep stocks. However, it also poses a major problem that could cut short your profit or even damage your business.

 

 

 

Since you don’t have to handle the products, the quality control is gonna be really tricky, which is crucial for the online business cause once you fail at the product quality:

 

 

 

· Not being able to meet the customer expectations

 

 

 

· Selling inferior goods will get you negative reviews

 

 

 

· Hard to get repeat customers to your shop

 

 

 

Everything comes with a cost, the advantage of not having to handle the products that you sell also implies that you might be unknowingly sacrificing the quality of the products that you are selling. But again, since everything comes with a cost, isn’t selling products with better quality meaning a bigger cost and hence a thinner profit margin? 

 

 

 

Well, not necessarily. Put the brand reputation and the juicy lucrative repurchase rate along with it aside. Your business can stay profitable by selling quality products because sometimes, quality supply doesn’t equal a higher cost invested – as long as you get the recipe right. 

 

 

 

The recipe for quality dropshipping

 

 

 

· Find Reliable Supplier

 

 

· Perform Test Order

 

 

· Prepare High Quality Images

 

 

· Follow Customer Reviews

 

 

· Execute Aftersale Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find Reliable Supplier

 

 

 

Your suppliers are one of the most fundamental factors of your business, they should be considered as your business partners who play a supporting role. Ideally, when you get into dropshipping, you would choose the supplier who can provide you with high-quality products at a relatively cheap price, and who’s dedicated to your supply chain’s sustainability and fulfillment efficiency. 

 

 

 

Perform Test Order

 

 

 

Practice makes perfect, if you are invested in the idea of growing a healthy business with happy customers, the only way to truly assure the product quality and the fulfillment service is by putting yourself in your customers’ shoes, go ahead and place a test order from the supplier as a customer.

 

 

 

Test order can be critically important for dropshippers because with which you’ll be able to tell the most genuine customer experience by actually being a customer. Having the physical product in your hands, you’ll have a better understanding of the quality, function, and also the shipping process, maybe even aftersale service as well. On the other hand, a test order can also help you write a more authentic and engaging product description which will be very useful for marketing.

 

 

 

Prepare High-Quality Photos

 

 

 

For online shoppers, the first impression of a product is important, nice and neat product photos will trigger the purchase impulsion and increase your sales.

 

 

 

Getting the product images can be pretty easy, just copy the picture from your suppliers and remove the watermark with a tool like Photoshop. However, while it’s convenient, it might get you in trouble if the image is copyrighted, not to mention that, more often than not, the quality of these images is not very good. 

 

 

 

Another less convenient but more recommended way is to prepare product photos by yourself. No need to have fancy equipment or professional skills, with a smartphone and handy editing tools such as Photoshop and Canva, you can be your own product photographer. Of course, this method requires placing a test order beforehand, but except all the pros mentioned above, the extra benefit of the test order is that you can start creating as many appealing and original visual materials as you want, which is useful for both optimizing your product description and advertising.

 

 

 

Tips: Find a supply platform with an aesthetic looking, this kind of supplier normally has tailor-made product images with good qualities which you’ll be able to use for free if your products are imported from them.

 

 

 

Follow Customer Review

 

 

 

Customer reviews increase the conversion rate, trust, and ranking in the search engine. Your prospective customers are reading product reviews all the time, positive reviews are a powerful determiner of whether they will make a purchase or not. 

 

 

 

Following up on customer reviews keep your business in check, analyzing reviews helps you understand the overall customer satisfaction and make the adjustment accordingly in a timely fashion. 

 

 

 

Click here for more tips on how to get and optimize your customer reviews.

 

 

 

Get Efficient After-sales Support

 

 

 

There’s no need to over-emphasize the importance of after-sales service, as we all know an efficient post-sale system is essential for generating customer loyalty and better conversion. 

 

 

 

While the major cost of brick-and-mortar business is avoided by pushing your store online, the cost to maintain your customers’ satisfaction is now higher as one of the biggest persuasion of online shopping is to enable customers with the trial-and-error purchase with a flexible and convenient return-and-refund policy. 

 

 

 

Under many circumstances, customers may require the after-sales service, such as frozen orders that take a long time to be shipped, deliveries that never arrive, products arrived in poor condition or broken, deteriorations or problems that arise shortly after the purchase…we could cite dozens of similar scenarios. 

 

 

 

Is a bad after-sales service the seller’s problem? Sometimes yes, but not necessarily always. Especially, as dropshipping sellers, it’s hard to make sure of the product quality and agree on every return-and-refund request. Dropshipping products are normally from China, and not every customer can be patient enough with the back-and-forth shipping process, not to mention, that most suppliers forbid the returning from the beginning.

 

 

 

Well no more worries, iYoowe got your back! We offer:

 

 

 

· Thorough quality inspection of every product before shipping

 

 

 

· Careful packing to erase info about the source and original price of the product

 

 

 

· Shipping time commitment 

 

 

 

· 24/7 instant customer support 

 

 

 

 

 

Extra Tips: What defines a good supplier?

 

 

 

According to the above, a reliable supplier should have the qualities as follow:

 

 

1. Fast shipping

 

 

2. Quality control

 

 

3. Friendly refund-and-return policy

 

 

4. High-quality product images

 

 

 

It ain’t no lie, the fate of your eCommerce store rests in their hands, so you’ll be needing suppliers that you can rely on.

 

 

 

To wrap it up

 

 

 

When it comes to shopping online or any kind of shopping really, products may disappoint your customers one way or the other. Because of this, it is also your duty as a seller to make sure that you provide all the pertinent information about your products so as not to cause any unpleasant surprises that may lead to negative reviews. It is your job as the seller to also educate your consumers about the products that they are buying. 

 

 

 

But above all, only choosing the right products with good quality can enable you to build all these nice decors around it – product is always the core.

How to Find Your Dropshipping Product – Shopify Product Research Guide 2022

Before you start making a bundle of money with the online business, you have to figure out what to sell by using a product search. Dropshipping is a good way to start your eCommerce journey for its special features – no storage nor fulfillment needed – but it requires just as much the effort of product research, if not more.


The one thing that experts stress if you want to make huge money as a dropshipper is market evaluation. So it becomes absolutely crucial to do proper product research before diving into the next level.


However, deciding on the bankable product is not as overwhelming as it seems, with the proper methods and positive attitude, it might actually be fun. In this article, we’ll introduce three ways and three tools for your business to soar high.


3 Free Product Research Methods


#1 Amazon Movers & Shakers


Among all online business modes, Amazon may come off as too taxing to most people, but the platform itself is an excellent tool for product research, it provides many valuable ranking systems for buyers to narrow down their shopping choices which is also a gold mine for sellers to get product inspirations. Amazon Movers & Shakers is a list of products that have been selling a lot in the past 24 hours which is automatically updated hourly by Amazon. 


How to leverage this list? When you land on this page you can choose a category from the left and dive in. The trick is that many hot-selling products with a careless brand name and gibberish in the product description are normally from Chinese sellers and most of them can be found on AliExpress or other Chinese dropshipping supply platforms (like us). If these products are already selling well on Amazon, imagine what would happen if you take the same products and create a good-looking Shopify store and brand it? The money will just roll in! 



Side tip: It’s a good idea to study Amazon products with a handy tool – Jungle Scout. Jungle Scout can reveal accurate data of any product, including sales amount, reviews and ratings. However, Jungle Scout does not have a free version, the basic pricing plan charges a $29 monthly fee. 


#2 AliExpress Dropshipping Center


AliExpress has an advantage in the dropshipping supply chain for its massive collection of suppliers. That is why they keep investing in creating tools and services for dropshippers such as the well-known AliExpress Dropshipping Center.


As the name implies, this free tool allows you to find trending products on AliExpress. You can search for items by typing their names, uploading pictures, or just simply scrolling down the ranking list. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for yet, you can also browse hot selling products by category. It’s a great way to discover your dropshipping niche too.



AliExpress Dropshipping Center enables dropshippers to filter products by price, shipping time & price, and product images. It’s a really powerful tool to track down products, especially if you combine it with some product analysis extensions such as DSers and Topdsers (add from the sidebar on the left of the dashboard).


#3 Go Down the Rabbit Hole


You can start the rabbit hole method with any marketplace such as eBay, Amazon, Etsy… Just click on any product that you are interested in and scroll down to the related recommendation area, there will be a lot of other similar products waiting for you. Spend some time focusing on the trace, put your phone away and just keep going down the rabbit hole till you find something that meets your needs.


3 Product Research Tools


The absolute best way to do product research, unfortunately, is still using the paid service from research tools. You get what you paid for, not saying the free methods are bad, but if you include the time and energy spent on researching products in the investment, using some tools for assistance might be a cheaper choice than doing it for free. 


Especially, if your business is already starting to take off, below are the 3 research tools you gotta try.


#1 FindNiche


No doubt that FindNiche has a very powerful database, it covers more than 100M products from AliExpress and over 25M products from Shopify. If you are a Shopify store owner, FindNiche would be a suitable choice for your business as it provides many in-depth data of top-ranking Shopify stores such as their URL, category, target country, ads shown, and the social media reaches. 


The cool thing about FindNiche is that their algorithm feeds users with a list of the 20 best products to sell on Shopify and the most profitable dropshipping niches on a daily basis, which is helpful for dropshippers to stay on the edge with the trend.



Pricing: the price of FindNiche is $9 / $59 / $99 per month, it now offers a three-day trial for $1 for the elite and premium plans.


#2 SaleSource


You can use SaleSource to analyze Shopify products, Shopify stores, and dropshipping suppliers. With its Shopify products analytics, you can easily get the average selling price and product’s last launched date, which comes in handy when you need to decide whether a product is potential enough. The product overview function provides a generic synopsis of the product, like the data added, variants, and images that you can download.



Pricing: the price of SaleSource is not cheap, $49 / $179 / $399 monthly. In addition, a free trial that gives users full access to researching five products is available. 


#3 Sell The Trend


Sell The Trend offers a series of comprehensive services, it has all the tools that you’ll ever need to find the winning products for your dropshipping store. If you are new to dropshipping, its 7-day trial could be a good choice for your business to get off the ground. 


One of the most powerful features of Sell the Trend is called Nexus, the AI analysis tool that examines 26 data points for each competitor and product, providing powerful insights for dropshippers. It’s the primary product research resource that shows an incredible amount of information about items that are currently trending across multiple platforms.



Imagine what you can do with these:


  • The number of AliExpress and Shopify stores that are already selling that item

  • The selling price, cost, and profit margin for each product

  • When an item was initially added to a Shopify store…

Pricing: the price of Sell The Trend is $39 per month, and there will be a two-month free discount if you pay for the yearly plan.


Wrap up


Product research is one of the most challenging steps as there are so many products to choose from, and the list is never-ending, which is also what makes the business so amazing – there’s always more than enough gold to go around for everyone as long as you finesse it right.

YouTube vs TikTok Heating Up | Shopify Dropshipping Opportunity 2022

This is an era where brands and businesses are moving towards the latest techniques to penetrate the market. Vision is the most dominant sense and video content is one of the most versatile digital promoting tools out there. In the past few years, the growth of video content is phenomenal and the avid commercial growth through video content on social media is evident. 


YouTube had been dominating the online video space since its launch in 2005, with over two billion monthly users and an expanding community of creators. However, TikTok entered the market in 2017 and created a great explosion of short videos on social media that is greatly catching the attention of viewers more than any other content format.


October 2020 Shopify TikTok announced a partnership with Shopify and later launched the shopping feature which is accessible directly on the TikTok platform – TikTok Shop, it lets merchants, and creators display and sell products directly on TikTok. Sellers and creators can sell products through in-feed videos, LIVEs, and the product showcase tab.

This move of TikTok is undoubtedly an innovation of the organic combination of video-sharing social media and eCommerce. So maybe it’s to cope with the competition while benefiting creators on the platform, YouTube also announced a partnership with Shopify in July 2022.


YouTube: No more “links in the description” 


With the new integration, your content can now engage even the laziest buyers as your products can be showcased in multiple places in your channel now:


  • Your channel’s store

  • End screens

  • Product section below your videos and live streams

  • As the pinned product in live streams

Official info about showcase products from your store on YouTube

At present, viewers in 28 countries such as the States, the UK, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, etc. can see the product displayed and purchase it on YouTube.

How to connect Shopify store with Youtube


To link your Shopify store to your YouTube channel is not as simple as a one-click process but it’s not complex at all.


Step1 Sign in to YouTube Studio, select Monetization in the left menu


Step2 Click the Shopping tab (this tab will only show up when your channel is eligible)


Step3 Click get started and select Shopify 


Step4 Go to Shopify and add the Google Channel app to your store and complete the setup


Step5 Go to your Shopify admin page, Settings > Apps and sales channels > select Google



Step6 From the Google Channel app, click Overview > YouTube Shopping > Get Started


Step7 Select the YouTube channel that you’d like to connect to Shopify


Step8 Click Complete setup


After these 8 steps, your products will be vetted by YouTube which typically takes a few business days. Once approved, your products will show up in the YouTube Studio.


Notice: If you have multiple YouTube channels under the same email address, they will all appear in the list, make sure that you’re selecting the correct one to connect to.


There is also an in-page payment function, providing a more seamless shopping experience, however it is currently only on trial in the States. Creators in the US can enable onsite checkout so that viewers can complete the purchase without leaving YouTube. 


Official info about Connect, manage, & disconnect your store on YouTube


YouTube vs. TikTok which is better?


There’s no doubt that video content shows great ROI and boosts conversions and sales better. 


According to the latest research by data.ai, TikTok’s average monthly usage time per household reached 23.6 hours in Q1 of this year, surpassing YouTube’s 23.2 hours for the first time, meaning that TikTok users spend an average of 47 minutes a day on the platform.

So if you want to sell your products on the video-sharing platform, which one of the two industry giants is the better choice for you? YouTube or TikTok?


Content Type Differences:


TikTok favors fun, unserious, and trendy content types such as musicals, dance, sports, humorous videos, and a variety of challenges.


YouTube has a rich blend of different content types ranging from business to social to serious to casual. However, tutorials are definitely a major part of the YuTube content world.


Today’s life is too busy to have time to read long product descriptions or dig deep into services. YouTube is a place where people go for answers and tutorials, so if your products are gadgets or problem-solvers, you might be better off with YouTube, because video content is not only a great tool for learning but also a place that makes consuming persuasion super easy. Studies show that 74% of users who watched an explainer video about a product or service subsequently bought it.  


Entry Barriers:


TikTok:


There are 4 types of users who can use the TikTok shopping feature – creators, partners, affiliates, and sellers. However, if you are thinking of setting up TikTok Shops, you’re probably a seller. Sellers can head to the TikTok Seller Cente to sign up.


YouTube: 


This shopping feature is currently only available with eligible channels, and to become an eligible channel, you’ll have to have more than 4,000 valid watch hours in the last 12 months and more than 1,000 subscribers.


Check the more official info about eligible channels here


Although it seems like YouTube shopping has a higher entry barrier, considering its video length and recommendation algorithm, the engagement between YouTube’s audience and creators is in fact stronger, and the conversion rate is higher due to the more accurate recommendation.


Conclusion:


Even though creating videos is not yet the easiest or cheapest task, it pays off big time because it appears as the most effective element in the aspect of digital marketing. With the majority of consumers now using online videos for shopping research, it makes sense for YouTube to align with this shift, while also fending off another potential challenge from TikTok.


As for eCommerce sellers, you can expect this great opportunity for generating more revenue and supporting dropshipping businesses.

Dropshipping 2022 | Should You Choose General Stores OR Niche Stores?

The ultimate question for eCommerce businesses – what to sell?


No matter whether you are already in the dropshipping business or are still considering starting one, what to sell is always the question at the back of your mind. True that, the right product is the essential ingredient of a healthy and profitable business, and to hunt one is a process that requires both effort and a hint of luck. So today, we might as well just ease the question to a broader perspective – should you work on a general store or focus on a niche store, or even, a one-product store? 


The choice you make will form the path to success in your eCommerce journey. So today, let’s discuss further on this topic. First, we’ll start with the super basic definition of these three types of stores.


One Product Dropshipping Store


A one-product sore, just as the name suggests, is set up to focus on selling a single product. Of course, you can still offer many variations, such as different colors or sizes, but generally, the store is still built around the one and only flagship product.


Niche Dropshipping Store


A niche dropshipping store is based on a specific niche, such as pet, womenswear, kitchen wear… In such a store, all items are related to the niche that will help you target a larger group of audiences.


General Dropshipping Store


A general dropshipping store is a store that sells across multiple categories and the products can be completely unrelated to each other. The categories of general stores are flexible and can help you reach a wider range of people.


So now you know what these stores are, the next question is how do you know which one to go for? Let’s check the pros & cons and some good examples of each one of them.


#1 One Product Store


The best thing about having a one-product store is that you can 100% focus on your product. Rather than feeling pressured to have 10 great products, you only need to focus on one.


With that being said, the target market is very defined, you know exactly who your audience is, why they would want your product, and when they would be most likely to purchase. 


The marketing strategy will be simpler since you only have one product and are talking to one type of ideal customer, it’s easier to optimize social media promotions, create posts and work with social media influencers, the brand recall will also be stronger as you have that one product which people will remember your store for. 


The sole product also means that you can maximize your customer service level since the questions that can be brought up about one product are very limited.


One of the most successful one-product stores is Crocs. When talking about foam clogs, Crocs is definitely the one brand that you can think of. However, not every one-product store can grow to Crocs, because it’s not easy to select the winning product that is worth investing in. 


The budget you need for a one-product store is relatively bigger as you’ll need to invest in higher-level web development and product photography since the one product will receive all of the attention. 


Another disadvantage of a one-product store is that it requires a reliable supply chain, you can’t change much about your product offerings once it’s set up. 


So if you already have experience in eCommerce and thorough market research, with confidence in your product and the skill in web development and advertising, one product store could be a great choice.


#2 Niche Store


A niche-based dropshipping store has some noteworthy benefits including its high relevancy in the search result, user interest, and high conversions. 


Easy to Rank: same as one-product stores, niche stores are also easier to rank for keywords on searches. This is because niche-based stores form is valued by both the search engine and social media algorithms. When users start searching for niche products, these stores are usually the first to show up.


Better Conversion: as niche dropshipping stores target only a specific group of people that are already interested in the niche, it’s easier to convert the visitors into customers.


Besides these two, it’s also easy to upsell or cross-sell with niche stores, because all your products are related. Compare to a one-product store, a niche store can change the product offerings over time as long as they stay within the niche, which can help sellers adapt to changing consumer preferences.


There are many successful niche stores, clothing, beauty product, jewelry, workout gadgets, and lifestyle… as long as you can find the potential audience, you are good to go with any niche you can think of.


But just like a one-product store, experienced dropshippers often say that niche-based dropshipping stores ain’t the best way to start a dropshipping business. A general dropshipping website is more beneficial for beginners. Once you learn what products are selling more, you then can then explicit the business further.


No matter whether you go with one product store or a niche store, you are putting all the eggs in one basket, and the risk increases. However, these two kinds of stores are a good start for building your own brand, so if you have the thought of owning a long-turn brand, maybe consider investing more in this kind of store from the beginning.


#3 General Store


General dropshipping stores are normally more preferred for three advantages. 


1. Flexible to Start: general stores can be easily started because they are flexible, you can make a list of the most trending products in all niches and add them to your store to test.


2. Reach More People: dropshipping products encompass many industries. This means as a general store, you can easily optimize the product listings to rank them in SERPs. By reaching more people, you will eventually start selling them to potential buyers.


3. Test Multiple Niches at Once: another benefit of having a general store is that you can test multiple dropshipping products at once. Just add the products that you would like covered and promote them through Facebook or Google ads.


Inspire Uplift is a successful general shop, a great example of a general dropshipping store. They have been in business for a long time, you can see the categories they have is versatile and very suitable for dropshipping – trendy, small and light.


Cons of General Stores: in comparison with a niche-specific store, a general dropshipping store has a lower order conversion rate, a higher ratio of irrelevant traffic, and competition from every other eCommerce website in the market. So, in order to outdo the competition, more marketing strategies are required.


Conclusion:


Above is the introduction of one-product stores, niche stores, and general stores. Whichever modal you choose, it is always important for you to choose the right product and provide a good service to your customers. Join iYoowe today to expand your eCom business with better products and speedier shipping! 



Best 3 Sales Strategies To Boost Your Q4 Sales | Dropshipping 2022


Watch the video version here 👆

Halloween is officially away, how has your business been for the first month of this Q4? If not so ideal, no worries, today we’ll talk about 3 good strategies that are gonna help you gain more profit in the holiday season of 2022, and if you can apply them all into practice, just trust that the result won’t let you down. Now let’s dive into today’s content right away.

No.1 Prepare Product Bundles

 

A product bundle is a kind of ‘pairing’ that seems to be the most appropriate holiday selling strategy you should take.

Not just create bundles and gift sets that will boost your sales, but also remember to add some attempting titles to them, such as ‘Best Christmas Morning Jammies’, ‘Cozy Winter Scent’, etc. I’m just making up gibberish here, but the magical power of great product names, if you know you know.

Besides, when you create gift bundles available during the holidays, you’re offering a win-win situation. It benefits you because you will sell more than a single product, while your customer benefits because they have one less decision to make. Many of your customers will be busy during the holidays. Every decision takes time, and most of your customers will be happy to offload some of these decisions by just sending out a gift basket that’s already selected.

Not to mention, if the price of the bundle is lower than buying everything separately – your customers will also benefit by saving money. Shoppers love a good discount, even a little bit of savings can motivate action.

While you may not have as high of a profit margin on gift bundles, you’ll be more likely to sell more of them, which is another win for you!

No.2 Discount for the 2nd Recommended Item

 

Let’s imagine, after you buy a product at a discounted price and you are offered another discount when buying a second one. This is the concept of successful up-sell and cross-sell.

For example, when a customer buys a pair of slippers from your site for a 20% discount, a pop-up appears and offers them a pair of socks at a 50% discount. In reality, the socks are actually not much value, but it makes the customers feel that they are having a really good bargain, and so they are more likely to pay for the recommended item.

There’s something we should keep in mind about this marketing idea:

First, the second item better is relevant, or a part of the first item, for example, recommend shoelaces for shoes, pencil for pencil case.

Secondly, it should be cheaper than the first item. So your customer won’t have too much hesitation, instead, they’ll just feel like getting an essential supplement at a discount without paying extra for the shipping is an absolutely good deal.

No.3 Offer Free Shipping & Returns

 

Free shipping is an impulse for 93% of online shoppers to buy more.

One of the few things you have to try is to increase the chances of converting holiday shoppers by offering free shipping during the holiday season, especially if your store normally does not offer this deal.

If your store visitors have a choice between a store selling similar products that offers free shipping while yours doesn’t, they’re likely to pick the option with free shipping, so don’t let your competition get outmaneuvered here.

An extra tip: normally it can be unprofitable to offer free shipping for all orders. In this case, a free shipping threshold is gonna be very helpful, just set a minimum order amount for the bonus of free shipping, and you might even gain more sales for doing so.

Not just free shipping, consider adding free returns to your Q4 strategy list, as your customers may worry about whether a certain product is a right choice or the suitable one. What color should they pick? Will their friends even like this gift?

And the more they worry, the less likely they are to buy. So just remove the risk factor from their purchase by allowing them to return the item for free.

It’s up to you if you want to offer exchanges or full refunds, but in either case, your customer knows they will have options if they don’t like the gift or prefer a different variation of the same item. And what triggers the purchase is not the actual return nor refund, but knowing that they’ll always have the option, like a safety net.

Takeaway

Q4 is always the hot season for any kind of business, especially online stores, if you can grab the chance and hop on board in time, the result might surprise you. Choose the right product today and take your business soar in the sky!