Selling Online
September 6, 2024

Profitable Coffee Dropshipping on Shopify Business: What you need to know

Selling coffee on Shopify is pretty lucrative. But signing up for Shopify is only the beginning. You have to know how to pick the right supplier, market your business, and make your customers happy.

Joana Regulacion
Table of Contents:

Selling coffee on Shopify is pretty lucrative. But signing up for Shopify is only the beginning. You have to know how to pick the right supplier, market your business, and make your customers happy.

A lot of people might say that a good day starts with a great cup of coffee. I don’t know about you, but I think I like the idea of making a person’s day AND making some money!

The great thing about it is that I can do this in the comfort of my own home, right in front of my computer —with the help of Shopify.

Selling coffee on Shopify is pretty lucrative. But signing up for Shopify is only the beginning. You have to know how to pick the right supplier, market your business, and make your customers happy.

Making money through a coffee dropshipping business on Shopify

According to Hulk Apps, The average monthly revenue of a Shopify store is estimated to be around $5,000. The average margin for a coffee dropshipping Shopify business is between 10-30%. This depends on your business model, niche, and products.

Shopify lets you build your online store, manage your sales, and market your products. You can also get paid through it too.

What is Coffee Dropshipping? Dropshipping itself can give you up to 300% profit margins. When you dropship coffee, you don’t have to worry about spending money on warehouses, maintaining inventory (the nitty-gritty stuff), packaging, and even shipping.

Benefits of focusing on coffee as a niche

But…why coffee?

For starters, selling coffee could give you a 38% retention rate. Retention rate is how many loyal customers a store is able to keep over time. It’s not all about getting new customers as much as being able to keep them.

People who enjoy coffee will likely be buying coffee again and again. Who wouldn’t like repeat customers, right? This makes making revenue much easier.

There is quite a market potential for coffee that is set to grow at a 4.6% CAGR from 2024 to 2032. This is why coffee is a lucrative product for dropshipping.

Can you dropship coffee on Shopify? Definitely.

As mentioned in the previous section, Shopify can be a one-stop-shop for you in starting your business. Do you want fast? Simple? Well, then selling coffee through Shopify is our best bet.

Choosing the best dropshipping niche can be pretty challenging. There are just so many options!

You have to consider a few things such as:

-demand

-suppliers

-can you repeatedly make money off of it? (you don’t want to close your store after your 1st wave of customers).

How To Start Dropshipping Coffee

The first step on how to sell coffee through dropshipping is to sign up for an ecommerce platform.

It will help you sell your coffee as well as manage your store, market your goods, and other operational concerns like packaging and shipping.

With Shopify's $29/month plan, you can kick off your online store and expand your reach.

A well-crafted site, combined with SEO tools:

-enhances visibility

-builds customer trust

-distinctive online experience

Here are the things you need to do:

1. Set Up Your Shopify Store

Sign up for Shopify

First, go to https://www.shopify.com/ and click “Start Free Trial” at the top right corner of your screen.

Next, you need to select your location and account that you’d like to use for your Shopify store.

You can use an email, a Google or Apple account, and even your Facebook. 

After signing up using your preferred account, you will now end up in Shopify’s dashboard.

EverydayFBA made a very informative video on creating a coffee dropshipping Shopify business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djwJNDR-fko

Choosing a Shopify Theme and Setting Up Essential Pages

After signing up for Shopify, it is now time for you to shape the brand that will be your own.

You can definitely build your store from scratch. You can use tools like Photoshop to create your logo or Canva if you don’t really consider yourself as an expert.

Below you can see how to generate a theme for your store.

Then you can think of adding pages to your store such as Home, About Us, Contact, FAQ, and Product Pages. You want your customers to know you because it helps build trust.

You want a simple but professional looking store that customers can use with ease. Chances are your customer just ran out of coffee and wants to order coffee —NOW. 

But to make your life easier, you can also just connect an app and pay for a service that can take care of this for you.

You can use apps like Dripshipper to help you build your store. To do this, all you need to do is to click on “Add Apps” at the left side of the dashboard.

You’ll find yourself on the Shopify App store where you can type in the app you want.

Dripshipper also already has a team that can help you out with designing your website, logo, and others.

2. Finding the Best Coffee Dropshipping Suppliers (Our recommended suppliers)

The right coffee supplier could mean life and death. Okay, I’m exaggerating —but kinda not— since delivering good coffee IS your business. You’d have to consider the supplier’s product range, product quality, order fulfillment, and of course customer service.

The next most important thing to do after setting up your store is to find suppliers.

Identifying Quality Coffee Suppliers

To find reputable suppliers here are some of the factors to consider:

1. Product quality

2. Range of products

2. Shipping times

3. Customer service

Here are some of the best suppliers for coffee dropshippers:

1. Dripshipper

If you prefer private-label dropshipping, Dripshipper is your best bet.

Private label dropshipping is delivering third-party products under your own brand name. Cool, right? Now, you can add custom labels and packaging to your products. 

As mentioned in the previous section, this Dripshipper app is pretty easy to use. 

Their prices starts at $30/month.

This is for: 

-unlimited orders

-products

-automatic order fulfillment

-1-click product add

-customer support and more.

With regards to fulfillment, orders will ship from the US within three to five days.

Dripshipper also offers regular webinars and even 1-on-1 coaching.

2. Old Chicago Coffee Co.

Old Chicago Coffee Co. is a great choice for anyone looking for a U.S.-based supplier. 

They are a wholesale coffee supplier that offers various roasts for your customers. This includes coffee from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 

They won’t charge you for a dropship fee. It’s just a one time account setup fee of $35 and a $10 monthly fee. Old Chicago has no minimum order requirements so you aren’t forced to order in bulk. Nor do they require you to make advance orders or purchases. 

Just a heads up they don’t have an app and orders from your customers are not automated. So you’d have to put on some elbow grease to process your customers’ orders on their website. You also need to upload the products on your own website.

3. Temecula Coffee Roasters

Temecula Coffee Roasters offer private label dropshipping and whole sale. 

Like Dripshipper, Temecula has an app and can also help you with creating your design and labels.

Everything is already automated. Life is easier when your customers’ orders are synced to your Shopify store. 

They have 44 kinds of coffee in 2oz, 12oz, 16oz, 2lb and 5lb sizes and coffee pods.

Temecula Coffee Roasters also have weekly Q&A sessions. This way, you can be updated with marketing trends and other updates.

4. Westrock Coffee

Westrock Coffee also offers private labels. Although their business is mainly focused on wholesale production. 

They have customizable coffee and tea offerings from a Bag-in-Box (BiB), to coffee pods. They also have ready-to-drink beverages.

5. Path Coffee Roasters

Path coffee roasters offer both private-label and wholesale services. 

They offer automated order receiving, branded packing slips and email notifications. You’ll also get a dedicated account manager.

And probably one of the best things about it is: you don’t have to worry about minimum orders or recurring program fees. 

6. Limini Coffee Roasters

Limini Coffee Roasters offers coffee, tea and even chocolate.

You won’t have to pay to set up your store and start selling with Limini. They won’t charge you anything monthly either. Although, you would still have to build your store on your own. So, bring out your creativity and unique ideas!

Any documentation on the products will show your store name. This way, your customers’ won’t have a clue that it came from Limini Coffee Roasters. It will be your own brand.

7. Aroma Ridge Coffee Roasters

Aroma Ridge coffee’s order fulfillment is somewhat automated as long as you build your own store. 

You can sell coffee with your own design, as well as manage your own website. You just need to decide what products to carry and put a price on your coffee.

Unfortunately, Aroma Ridge Coffee Roasters are not accepting new dropshipping clients since July 31.

8. Joe’s Garage

Joe’s Garage can help you kickstart your coffee business.

Like any regular dropshipping service, you don’t have to worry about inventory. You can also enjoy low upfront cost, and customizable branding and packaging.

Their available products include:

-K cups

-coffee pods for Nespresso

-bags

-cold brew

-pitcher packs and more.

9. Blessed Bean Coffee

On their page, Blessed Bean claims that they have one of the top private labeling and dropshipping coffee programs in the US. 

They’re all pretty mysterious about it on their website that you have to email them to get more details. They are based in Florida.

They charge a $250 non-refundable deposit (ouch!) and $0.50 for every order thereafter.

You would have to set up your store and upload the products yourself. They make up for the extra work with their wide range of product offerings. More for your customers to choose from!

3. Marketing Your Coffee Dropshipping Business

Now that you know where to get great coffee, it’s time to get your product out there. You have to do research on your customer demographic. Figure out which channels you should use to acquire much needed traffic for your site.

👉Building Your Brand

Building your brand on Shopify starts with thinking of a unique identity. Authenticity will make you stand out from others.

I know…it sounds easier than it really is.

Begin by creating a simple and interesting brand story. Your story should explain what your business does and why it exists.

Your brand story should show the personality of your brand and the voice of its creators. Keep it simple and relatable, focusing on the key values and mission behind your brand.

This way, you connect with your audience on a deeper level and make your brand more memorable and trustworthy.

👉Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing strategies are vital for boosting online presence. This can be social media marketing, email campaigns, and influencer partnerships, 

Social media allows direct engagement with your audience. On the other hand, email campaigns offer personalized communication to build loyalty.

Influencer partnerships extend your reach by leveraging trusted voices in your industry. Together, these strategies enhance brand visibility, engagement, and conversions.

👉SEO and Content Marketing

These two elements make sure that consumers see you first when they search for stuff on the internet. SEO and Content Marketing are crucial for boosting your store's search engine ranking.  You need it for the competitive coffee niche.

You can start by researching relevant keywords and content ideas coffee enthusiasts can relate to. You can write about brewing tips, coffee origin stories, and product reviews. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your content to improve visibility.

You can use the following tools:

  • Google Keyword Planner
  • Moz Keyword Explorer
  • Semrush

Consistently publishing high-quality, informative content engages your audience. It also signals to search engines that your store is a valuable resource. This will give you higher rankings and increased organic traffic.

4. Managing Orders and Customer Service

Customer service and order management are arguably the most important aspects of your business operation. It is crucial for any thriving business. 

👉Customer Support Best Practices

An efficient CS team could mean the difference between a sale and a cancellation.

You need to anticipate common customer queries. They will likely ask about shipping, product details, or troubleshooting. You can make your life easier by preparing clear, helpful responses to address these effectively.

Setting up a robust support system —whether through live chat, email, or phone—can significantly improve your service quality.

👉Order Processing

To handle order fulfillment and tracking, make sure that you have a streamlined process in place. This process keeps customers updated on their order status and delivery timelines. Addressing returns and refunds swiftly and transparently builds trust. It also makes your customers happier.

By mastering these aspects, you’ll foster a smoother, more positive experience for your customers.

5. Analyzing and Optimizing Your Store

👉Analyzing and optimizing your store is crucial for driving growth.

You need to track key metrics like sales, traffic, and conversion rates. Understanding this helps you gauge performance and identify improvement areas. Use this data to make informed decisions improving customer experience and boost sales.

👉A/B Testing and Optimization

Conducting A/B tests on different elements of your store helps you determine best practices. These elements include product pages or checkout processes.

Of course, when you get the results, you would have to make changes. This is to continually optimize your store for better results.

Selling coffee on Shopify is pretty lucrative. But signing up for Shopify is only the beginning. You have to know how to pick the right supplier, market your business, and make your customers happy.

About the author
Joana Regulacion
Joana is an engaging content writer and dynamic virtual assistant. ✍️ She helps business owners and entrepreneurs deliver a clear message to everyone and attract and engage the perfect audience. She is a proud wife, mom, and animal lover.‍ She believes that her love for learning new things is her key to writing engaging content.

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