What is branded dropshipping? If this is your first time hearing about it it’s selling products from other suppliers —BUT— with your own logo on the product (or packaging). Cool, right?
Do you want to know more? Read on!
Branded Dropshipping - What is it about?
As a dropshipper, you probably already know about selling generic, non-branded products. These are products purchased from your suppliers without storing any inventory. But do you know what’s better? You can stamp your own logo on these products and make it your own.
This is the idea behind branded dropshipping.
Dropshippers who brand their online stores stand out from the crowd. This is why they can see a ton of success and growth as a result. I can imagine this is something you’d be interested in. So, check out this article of pure no-nonsense research to understand branded dropshipping.
Here are 5 things you need to know:
1. What Is Branded Dropshipping - Branded Dropshipping Meaning
To build their brand, dropshippers private label the items they plan to sell. They would then set up an online store dedicated to the products. The secret here is to how to stand out from your competitors.
In 2018, the size of the global dropshipping market was worth $102.2 billion, and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.8 percent! This is expected from 2019 to 2025. The market is expected to grow a lot with more people choosing to shop online. This is because cross-border e-commerce is becoming more popular.
This growing e-commerce industry is the main reason for the rise in demand for dropshipping services.
What is the difference between dropshipping and branding?
In a nutshell, dropshipping is when you're selling another company's products. These products can either be branded or unbranded. On the other hand, private labeling is when you're selling products under your own brand.
Can you create your own brand dropshipping?
Of course, you can!
The easiest way to brand your own products is to partner with third-party dropship suppliers. You can find private label suppliers who offer white-label products for dropshipping. This makes it easy to sell them with your logo.
What is the value of a brand?
With the help of a brand. you can make yourself more memorable, appealing, and trustworthy to your ideal customers. It’s like meeting a stranger. You don’t exactly want to go with a crowd or person if you don’t even know their name, right?
It will be easier to persuade potential clients to shop at your store, and also easier for them to persuade their friends to do so as well. These will have an impact on your bottom line, so don't wait too long to start building your brand.
Everyone knows that brand awareness is a big part of how consumers decide what to buy. It affects how well the market does, how the marketing mix works, and how valuable a brand is.
In marketing, brand equity is how influential a brand name is in people's minds. It is about how valuable it is to have a brand that is known and liked.
A company's brand is its distinct identity that sets it apart from its competitors. Furthermore, it influences how customers view the company and its products. Elements like the logo, company slogan, and stories make a brand. When they come together, they form an asset that is worth more than the sum of its parts.
2. How do I get into branded dropshipping?
If you want to have a better chance at dropshipping, creating your own brand is the way to go.
So, what is the best way for you to get started with branded dropshipping? Nope you don’t just ask your buddy Sam or aunt Sally.
You actually need to plan this through (like any other business) and decide on the best approach. Here are 6 things you need to do before taking on dropshipping branded products.
1. Research. Research. Research.
Like any business venture, you shouldn’t get into it blindly. You need to carry out in-depth market research.
This way, you can better understand your ideal customers and identify specific gaps or opportunities. Then, I guess, no skipping research? 😂
Here are a few of the questions you should ask:
- Is there a need in your target market that hasn't been met by other brands?
- Are there any underserved niche markets that could be lucrative?
In-depth market research will provide you with great ideas. You’ll understand how to effectively position your brand and products. Research will make you better informed about the most effective sales and traffic channels. You’ll also be updated with ongoing or emerging trends.
With research, you’ll also find out more about content types that appeal to your ideal customers. Once you have these details, you can make data-driven decisions. These will benefit your brand both now and in the future.
2. Decide on a brand and stick to it.
Your brand is something your potential clients will remember and build loyalty with. So it makes sense for you to define your brand promise and values. And you yourself better be loyal to it too!
Commitment to your values will distinguish your brand from the rest. You'll also need to define the core values you want your company to be known for. This is if you want to stand out and make an impact.
Imagine someone selling weight loss products —while eating an entire box of Chick-fil-A (no hate —I love nuggets🍗).
So if you’re selling coffee products, for example, you can align yourself with values about being modern or peaceful. Stores that sell car accessories can promote road safety and responsible driving.
Now that you have your brand values nailed down, as well as insights into your target market. It should be easier for you to create a brand promise
Remember, your brand promise is what your customers can expect from you. Make sure it's something they want to go back to. Of course, you should be able to meet it with your products, customer service, and other aspects of your company.
3. Create the visual elements of your brand
Strong brands have an emotional connection with their target customers. The visual elements you choose are going to play a big part in conveying the emotions and moods associated with your brand.
What do I mean by visual elements? This is your logo, color palette, and brand font.
If you don’t know already, these can all be used to visually communicate with your target customers. It can elicit emotions, and make your company stand out.
Any online store can look powerful and reputable with a well-established visual brand identity system. So make one and make sure that all of your store's design and creative assets are in sync.
You can partner with your suppliers or a third-party service provider. They can help extend your brand identity to your dropship products and packaging. Take a look at Dripshipper and how you can easily stamp your own logo on every coffee product!
Do you want to start your own coffee business?
Your brand identity should be visible to your customers at all times. They should be able to see it during their customer journey. This includes when they receive and review your products.
4. Define your brand's tone of voice
On the topic of brand identity, one way to succeed in branded dropshipping is focusing on a brand voice.
You need to determine what brand voice to use before writing your website copy. This includes product descriptions and any other content pieces for your business.
Your tone should be approachable and relatable to your potential clients. If you don't, you'll lose their interest before you even get a chance to tell them about your store or products.
If you have a coffee company that promotes bliss and relaxation, your language should reflect this. You should probably sound warm, caring and easy-going.
Your initial market research should assist you in determining the best brand voice. Here are a few questions as a guide to zero in on a brand voice:
- When my customers interact with my brand, how do I want them to feel?
- What tone is appropriate for my brand promise?
- What kind of words will have the most impact?
- What do my competitor’s voices sound like?
- What can I do to set myself apart from the competition?
82 percent of people feel better about a brand after reading content that is tailored to them.
Creating meaningful content and putting it out on a regular basis is a great way to raise brand awareness. You can show current and potential customers what your company stands for.
Most people feel good after reading content from brands they like.
5. Make your product stand out!
Since we’re done talking about the logo and brand voice, let’s talk about standing out from your competition.
Knowing that your product has to stand out is a no-brainer. You would need to provide something better and unique. However, this is better said than done. Being unique is a little more complicated than it appears when it comes to dropshipping.
The majority of dropshippers never see their own products in person. In fact, dropshippers frequently sell their products to multiple retailers. This ends up in a never-ending list of ecommerce stores displaying the same items over and over again.
You’ll find these listings with similar names, descriptions, features, and quality. Don’t you think this could be a bit…I dunno, boring?
Here are a few ideas for how to make your dropshipping store stand out:
- Professionally edit your product photos.
- You can order sample products to use in your own product shoot.
- Make up new and original product names.
- Create unique and enticing product descriptions.
- Customize the packaging for your product.
- Make a link between your products and your brand's values.
Make this clear in your product descriptions, social media posts, and advertisements.
If you have the resources, you can also look into private labeling. You can look for suppliers who can tailor their products to your brand's specifications or at the very least customize their product labels and packaging.
This way, you can provide something distinctive without having to invest in product development.
6. Remember to keep yourself in line
So you’ve already decided on a brand voice and you’re dead-set on being your own unique brand. What’s next?
Now, it’s time to make sure your product selection, services, and marketing are all in line with your brand.
After you've defined your dropshipping store's brand image, values, and voice, the next step is to align everything and make sure it's all on-brand. This means that if you're going to add new items to your product line, make sure the items are appropriate for your business.
You already need to spend a lot of time and money building a brand. Don’t waste anymore resources on items that have nothing to do with your brand. Yes, I know. It’s pretty tempting to think that more products mean more revenue.
Your services, such as customer service and the like, should also be in line with how you present your business to potential clients. If your company values calm, your team should reflect this in responding to customer support requests.
Imagine seeing a rant on social media about your customer service representative being condescending. That’s going to be pretty ironic considering your coffee company talks about being chill and calm, right? Even your messaging needs to be consistent with your brand.
This also goes into what goes in your marketing efforts. You need to make sure that all of the materials you use have the same look and feel. This means your website, other sales channels, and social media.
3. How To Do Branded Dropshipping
You might be wondering if branded dropshipping is really worth it as a dropshipper who is already making a decent amount of sales.
Given that you are stocking the inventory in specific quantities, it appears that there are more upfront costs. That, too, is a customized inventory. What happens if it does not sell? What if a competitor offers you a lower price?
We've all had our doubts. But first, let's talk about the benefits, shall we?
1. Trust
If history has taught us anything, it is that business thrives on trust. Customers will have more faith in you if they see your logo on everything from product packaging to email marketing campaigns. It makes them feel secure and proud of their purchase.
Trust is built by brands.
When selling a generic, unbranded product, however, it is exactly that. A product that can be sold by anyone in the marketplace will turn you into just another needle in a haystack. Branding eliminates this and gives you a distinct identity.
Whether it's for use, decoration, or gifting, there's always a reason why people buy things. There is definitely a story behind every purchase. When you tell that story through branding, you are giving your potential client a reason to buy.
2. Accountability
Customers expect businesses to be accountable and accountability is facilitated by brands. Your potential clients need to know that if something doesn't go as planned, they can talk to someone about it. As a result, having a brand behind your dropshipping business boosts your level of accountability as a business owner.
There's no reason why you can't dominate the market even if you don't have a unique product as long as you put in extra effort to earn customer trust.
3. Profits
Branded products sell better than generic dropshipping products. People easily associate quality with brands. Because of this, brands can easily scale up profits.
With your own brand, you have an advantage over other generic dropshippers who are competing for the same product. Because you've invested in building customer trust, you don’t have to think twice about charging a higher price for your products.
4. Brand Dropshipping - How To Do Branded Dropshipping
Branded dropshipping, as the name implies, involves running a dropshipping business with its own distinct identity that sets it apart from other stores and products.
Don’t confuse it with dropshipping branded products where you sell products from well-known brands in your dropshipping store.
It is critical to obtain permission from the brand owners before dropshipping branded products. Many brands, on the other hand, are wary of working with dropshippers because they don't want to lose control of their quality or unique processes.
As a result, it's always best to establish your own dropshipping brand. Set yourself apart by communicating with your target audience and meeting their specific needs.
Where can I find products for it?
If you’re already thinking about getting into this business, here is a list of suppliers that do branded dropshipping:
Dripshipper
Are you a coffee enthusiast? If you think selling coffee is the best fit for you, then you might like to work with Dripshipper. All of the orders from your customers in the US will be shipped within 3-5 days. And you won’t have to lift a finger!
With Dripshipper, you’ll be selling quality coffee with your brand on the packaging in no time.
Apliiq
Do you feel like fashion is your calling? If your answer is yes, you might be interested in Apliiq. Imagine building your brand with your own tags on the hoodie. I think that’s, pretty cool!
You can private label the apparels you sell. They have a wide assortment of shirts, hoodies, jackets and more.
Supliful
Supliful is an on-demand order fulfillment and dropshipping service that helps online businesses ship and deliver food and sports supplements. This platform can be a great choice for nutrition experts and fitness coaches who are already a great influence in living healthy.
You can go crazy with the 100+ white label products they offer. You are even free to customize the look.
Blanka
Is making money in the beauty industry interesting to you? Blanka can help you start your own makeup line. They promise customized locally manufactured, high-quality beauty products.
This isn’t even just makeup, but skincare and even some vegan cosmetic options. All you need to do is pick your products, customize them, and upload your logo.
Spocket
Spocket lets you create a powerful brand through branded Invoicing. Your Spocket orders will include customizable branded invoices. This means that it includes your store’s logo and even personalized notes.
They’re probably doing something right because of the great reviews they have on Shopify.
There are a bunch of other suppliers you can work with if you want to start. It’s best to do your research to be sure they’re the right one for you. We even have a list of private label coffee suppliers for you if you're a coffee enthusiast!
5. What Is Branded Dropshipping & how do I do it?
We already know what goes into branded dropshipping and what’s in it for us. So, how do we start?
To start and run a branded dropshipping store, you can follow these 13 steps:
- Define your niche
- Decide on a sales channel
- Select a vendor
- Select your products
- Customize the product to suit your branding
- Design your own personal store logo
- Get someone to write engaging copy for your store
- Make your store unique through visual elements
- Promote your store and products
- Look for automation software
- Put your orders into action
- Provide tailored customer service
- Keep an eye on your progress
This is just an expanded version of the things we already talked about earlier in this article. It helps to have a list to follow especially if you’re new to this kind of business.
Are you a coffee lover and want to make a business out of it?
How can I get started?
Now that you know the important steps, here are some of the platforms that you can use to set up a store.
Shopify
The Shopify platform offers online retailers a suite of services, This includes payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools.
Square
Square can be a great choice for in-person and online sales. Your online and offline orders are all consolidated into a single dashboard, eliminating the need to switch between apps.
You won’t have to rely on haphazard spreadsheets to track down customer information, or manually enter data after the fact.
Ecwid
Ecwid is the best place to start if you're starting an online store but want to keep your initial costs low. It offers a free plan that lets you sell your first 10 physical products. Ecwid also gives you the option to integrate your store with your existing website when you sign up.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce can be a good option for adding a shopping cart to an existing WordPress site. Rather than having to start over on a new platform, this WordPress plugin seamlessly integrates into your existing WordPress site. This can make it easy to start selling.
Wix
Wix is the best eCommerce platform for creating a store and a business website at the same time. It's a robust site builder, but it doesn't skimp on eCommerce features like order tracking, sales tax automation, and abandoned cart recovery.
Branded Dropshipping Shopify
Do you know that a lot of dropshippers use Shopify to start their own dropshipping business? To make things simple, here are a few things you can do to increase brand awareness for your Shopify store:
Use a Shopify theme that is tailored to your brand's aesthetic.
You can actually download free themes on shopify or buy them on the Shopify Theme Store.
Create a Logo
Next, create a free, one-of-a-kind logo for your business. It has to reflect what your brand is about. It can be as simple as your initials!
You can do this on free and simple tools like Canva!
Customized graphics for your brand
Having a logo isn’t enough, you need to get customized graphics for your brand. You can use freelancer services like Fiverr or Upwork to create your cover image, banners, and more.
Get in touch
To help your customers remember your brand, send them messages with your brand name and logo, along with special promotions. It can also be a simple thank you message.
People need between five and seven exposures to a brand before they can remember it. 73 percent of customers are loyal to a company because of the quality of the customer service they receive. It is possible to achieve a 23 percent increase in revenue simply by maintaining brand consistency across all platforms.
Sending out email marketing campaigns with your company's logo and offering promotions will keep you in mind.
Branded Dropshipping in 2022
Every dropshipper wants to scale their operation. Anyone wants to generate more profits and build a sustainable business that they can run for years. It is estimated that only 10 to 20 percent of dropshipping businesses are successful.
This is due to the fact that the majority of dropshippers enter the industry without first having a sufficient understanding of the risks that are involved.
Don’t be discouraged! Remember, success can only be determined by its owner: You.
Yes, generic dropshipping may not be that sustainable. This is perhaps why it’s going to be a better idea for you to get into Branded Dropshipping. And if you do, make sure you do it right!
