Key decisions – sales model
Where to get goods for your online store? Before answering this question, you are waiting to determine the sales model in which your store will operate. If you decide to dropshipping – it will be best to partner with a wholesaler that specializes in this type of business. If you want to sell on your own, the choice branches out – you can look for a wholesaler, source goods from local suppliers or scour popular marketplace platforms.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Later in this article we will describe many interesting sources from which you can source goods for sale. Before that, however, let’s pause for a moment on dropshipping.
Dropshipping sales – how to try it?
In order to sell goods without physically handling them, all you need to do is establish a partnership with a dropshipping wholesaler. Such a supplier will not only reserve the goods for your business, but will also take care of order processing, packing and preparing for shipment, and, finally, arranging delivery. However, this is only part of the information you need to successfully start selling in the dropshipping model.
Learn more about this issue in our article -. Dropshipping, or how to start selling without your own goods?
Where to get goods for an online store – how to start?
If you already know that you prefer to sell goods from your own warehouse, it’s time to find places from which your company can source items for sale. We used the plural not by accident –
Explore the 5 suggestions we have prepared for you!
Buy goods directly from the manufacturer
If you are looking for personalized products – for example, custom-printed gadgets – buying from a manufacturer may be your best (and often only) choice. An alternative is to produce your own, but this one requires a completely different background and preparation.
Example:
Ms. Catherine wanted to open an online store for clothing and gadgets. Ms. Catherine was in charge of designing the prints, but she wanted to outsource the production to a company that not only had the necessary facilities, but also the experience. So she found a manufacturer of clothing and accessories.
In this way, Ms. Catherine was able to move quickly with the sale of her own gadgets – the idea, print design and layout was on her side, while the manufacturing was handled by a trusted manufacturer.
This is not the only situation in which buying directly from the manufacturer can pay off. With a little luck and skill, you can make doing business with a manufacturer more profitable for your company than using wholesalers.
This, however, does not come easily. First you need to take care of the relationship with the manufacturer. Demonstrate your experience, negotiating skills and show that you have been operating successfully in the market for a long time – these are the actions that can convince the manufacturer of you.
Remember that when you come to a manufacturer and expect a low price for its products, you need to offer something in return – it could be extensive promotion of its products, the promise of recognition or a large customer base. When trying your hand at negotiating with manufacturers, you will need a strong starting position. Without it, it can be very difficult.
Establish a partnership with a wholesaler
Wholesalers are happy to provide the goods you need for your store so you can get new customers. This has many advantages, but it is not a solution without disadvantages. The key in terms of working with wholesalers is to order goods well in advance – especially when a particularly hectic period (for example, Christmas) is approaching. Suppliers serve many businesses, so if you don’t take care of reservations, you may run out of key goods.
Wholesalers – like manufacturers – can offer attractive prices for goods, but the amount of discounts depends on how large an order you place. So this is attractive especially for companies that have their own warehouse and expect high turnover. The big advantage, however, is that you can order many products from different categories from a wholesaler – while manufacturers often offer a more limited assortment.
By choosing to sign a contract with a wholesaler, you can save a lot of time that would otherwise have to be spent negotiating terms with smaller suppliers and arranging the details of delivery. The longer your cooperation with a wholesaler lasts, the better terms you can get.
Example:
Mr. Hubert cooperates with a wholesaler that supplies his online store. The companies’ cooperation has been going on for many years, which has saved Mr. Hubert hundreds of hours he would otherwise have had to spend researching and negotiating deals.
Close cooperation with the wholesaler allowed Mr. Hubert – after some time – to expand the store’s assortment without having to look for more sources of goods. Thanks to a good relationship with the supplier and a successful transaction history, booking a supply of new goods was just a formality, and Mr. Hubert’s store opened up to new customers and increased turnover.
Another benefit that working with a wholesaler can bring is savings on delivery costs. By importing goods from a single supplier, your store will incur lower costs than if you source products for sale from multiple sources. However, this solution has a disadvantage, as we have already mentioned – depending on supplies from a single source can prove troublesome when the wholesaler is in serious trouble.
Important!
Modern online wholesalers often work fully integral with sales platforms. This allows you to save a lot of time – for example, on preparing offers. As part of the integration, product cards will appear in your online store automatically, and you will only be left to determine the expected margin from product sales.
Look for opportunities on marketplace platforms
Marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Allegro are usually where consumers buy, but – if you find an exceptionally good bargain – you can also order goods for your store there.
Of course, first you need to create an account on these platforms, and then keep track of the offers that appear. Use filters for this purpose, and also watch comparison sites regularly. In some cases, you can set price alerts that will let you know when the item you are looking for reaches the expected price.
Example:
Ms. Jolanta runs a small electronics store. She regularly monitors discounts on price comparison sites, and whenever she has the opportunity – she buys up the products covered by promotions to resell them in her store with a small markup.
This is not her main way of acquiring goods for the store, but an auxiliary activity. Through it, she acquires products that she can sell at prices higher than the purchase price, but still attractive to customers.
Of course, you can also sell your goods on marketplaces, but that’s a different story.
How do you source goods from the local area? Check out offers from local suppliers
Generally, searching deals online is faster, more convenient and often cheaper than trying to find a good bargain physically. That doesn’t mean, however, that local suppliers don’t have anything noteworthy to offer.
Much depends, of course, on what kind of goods you want to sell on your online store. However, establishing close partnerships with local suppliers can be profitable – for example, if you don’t plan to sell on a massive scale.
Example:
Mr. Seweryn runs an online building materials store. He uses wholesalers on a daily basis, but has recently established a relationship with a building depot operating in his city.
Prices at the warehouse are generally not the lowest, but Mr. Seweryn buys up the ends of goods from the supplier at low prices, which he then sells to his regular customers – companies engaged in renovation and finishing services. Mr. Seweryn also saves on transportation costs – he picks up materials from the building depot himself, and then transports them to his warehouse.
Sell goods imported from abroad
Many online stores source goods from overseas. The source of sourcing products for sale is usually manufacturers and wholesalers from China, but also many other countries. Importing goods from abroad is an interesting solution for stores that want to provide their customers with low prices for products, while maintaining fast lead times.
Example:
Mr. Matthew started selling on a dropshipping model. However, his customers often complained about long lead times. In fact, many days often passed from payment to delivery, due to the need to go through the entire dropshipping process and ship from China to the customer.
After a short period of time, Mr. Matthew decided to take on some of the risk – he gave up dropshipping, invested in renting a small warehouse space and started importing goods from China to himself. As a result, he was able to significantly reduce lead times – from an average of 14 days to 1-2 business days. However, he had to raise prices to compensate for the costs.
Summary
To run an online store, you need to prepare an offer for customers. Having your own merchandise is no longer necessary (dropshipping), as is having your own warehouse (check out the fulfillment service).
However, if you prefer a more traditional approach, you have many options, which we have discussed today. Source goods from wholesalers, directly from the manufacturer or local suppliers. Each of these options has its advantages, and a skillful combination of them can bring your company a steady supply of goods and a sizable turnover.
