12 best products to sell in Q4

, 12 best products to sell in Q4

Whether you’re looking to diversify your DropShipping business, or you’re about to launch your company for the first time, if you’re in eCommerce, you’ll be looking for the best products to sell right now. You might be looking for a short term increase in profits by selling trending items, or you’re looking for long term items that you can sell a lot of over time – or it might be both! Either way, keeping on top of the best products to sell is an essential part of your business being a success.

In this post, we’ll be taking a look at which of the products and wider product categories are selling well right now, and that are expected to sell well throughout the rest of the year.

Recycled packaging materials

It might not sound like a particularly enticing product to sell, but packaging is always in demand and can command pretty decent rates of profit. Although packing materials such as envelopes, padding and tape will always be a good item to sell, it is much better to sell recycled and eco-friendly packaging materials. That’s because recycled and recyclable materials are much better for the planet than single use (which should go without saying in 2020 really!). Some customers will need plastic packaging for hygiene reasons, so you might not want to avoid selling plastic completely. However, by selling recycled plastic packing items, you’ll be encouraging your customers to make a better choice for the planet as well as making the sales that you need to hit your targets.

Recycled packaging products can be a great product to sell if you’re new to selling (since it is proven to be a great selling category) but can also be a fantastic addition to existing businesses. After all, many customers like to send personalised gifts to friends and family members either in the UK or internationally, so being able to get their packaging from you at the same time they are placing their order can be a great time saver.

  • eCommerce is growing at an incredible rate and businesses that are selling their stock online are always looking for a good deal on packaging
  • There is a high potential for repeat business and customer loyalty
  • You can create subscription options for your B2B customers
  • It doesn’t need to be the sole focus of your business – packaging is a brilliant add-on item

While we’re thinking about the type of customer that buys recycled packaging materials, there is a huge opportunity to make sales to other businesses. Where a business is selling products from their warehouse, or retail outlet, having the right size packaging available is essential for them.

Tips for successfully selling recycled packaging products

  • Sell a range of packing products – from envelopes and boxes to tape and labels
  • Make use of the environmental benefits in your marketing efforts
  • Don’t avoid selling plastic products, but do ensure you know the percentage of virgin plastic required for each item
  • Use content marketing to show how customers can make small changes to their everyday lives that add up to a big difference for the planet

Sell recycled packaging products alongside…

Packaging can be a great addition to most kinds of retail outlets, from stores selling gifts, to general stores and sustainable stationery.

Sunglasses

We’ve talked about selling sunglasses before on the blog, and (at the risk of sounding like a broken record) we keep talking about it because sunglasses are just such a great product to sell! They’re small and easy for to send through the post, and customers are likely to replace them year round – either because they’ve broken them, or to keep up with changing fashions.

The numbers add up too, as the global sunglasses market is expected to reach $38.84 billion by 2024. That is in part because sunglasses are easily broken, of course, but because they’re also fashion accessories – so as trends change and new styles come in, customers look to buy new designs.

Although sunglasses are typically thought of as a seasonal product that sells in the spring and summer months, they are a great product to keep in your inventory year round – either as the sole focus of your store, or as an add-on product. Think about these opportunities:

  • As spring starts to warm into summer
  • Throughout the summer months
  • During winter when the sun affects drivers because it is low in the sky
  • People going on winter sun holidays
  • Winter sports fans heading for the mountains
  • Black Friday
  • Christmas – especially for luxury brands that are likely to be given as gifts

When you’re selling sunglasses, you don’t have to just sell sunglasses for adults. Sunglasses for infants, juniors and teenagers can be a lucrative niche, since as children grow, so their sunglasses have to be replaced.

The beauty of selling sunglasses in a retail outlet is that it is possible to offer customers a wide variety of styles without needing to take up too much space, either on the shop floor or in stockrooms. However, the main issue that occurs is breakage – the nature of sunglasses being so small is that there is a big chance of accidental breakage occurring, either during transportation to the store, or when customers are trying styles on in the store. For sellers that operate purely online using the DropShipping model, this issue is a smaller problem, since the supplier deals with stock loss due to breakage during shipping to their location – although as the seller, you’ll need to facilitate the exchange.

The DropShipping method allows retailers to sell a wider range of styles, and to change options more often – so the risk of being left with dead stock is not a concern, since the supplier takes on this risk. So when a certain style is unpopular, or a high fashion, one-season trend is abandoned by customers in favour of a different shape, sellers can simply stop selling those items and change the product for a different one.

Tips for successfully selling sunglasses

  • Carry classic styles such as Aviators and Wayfarers – these styles are always popular and sell well
  • Add a mix of trending styles to keep the interest of your fashion-conscious customers
  • Be sure that the sunglasses you sell meet the required standards in the country you are selling – the UK and Europe have strict standards and must block 99% to 100% of UV radiation
  • If the sunglasses you are selling include a case or cleaning cloth, mention this on your listing – it won’t necessarily stop you making a sale if they aren’t included, but if they are then it is definitely worth mentioning

Sell sunglasses alongside…

We suggest selling alongside swimwear, skiwear, accessories such as chains and straps, cases and travel accessories. Sunglasses make a great addition to other niches though, such as fashion and sportswear.

Protective workwear

As the country gets back to work after the COVID-19 lockdowns, many employers are placing increased emphasis on personal protective equipment (PPE), safety gear and protocols. Keeping personnel safe, not just from airborne illness has become ever more pertinent. With more attention being paid to health and safety comes a demand for products that you, with the support of great suppliers can fulfil! By selling protective workwear items, you have the opportunity to make sales to both B2B and B2C customers.

  • Protective workwear and PPE items are ordered routinely by businesses as their employees change, meaning opportunity for repeat custom
  • Employees may not be satisfied with the products their employers provide and so decide to source their own, such as in the case of steel toe-capped boots
  • Comfort is key for protective work gear, so in addition to regular clothing, add safety wear that can go over the top such as overalls and waistcoats

Depending on the type of protective workwear you decide to sell, you may be able to offer a subscription service from your sales channels. Where items need to be replaced or disposed of regularly, your subscription service allows those customers to receive the items they need replaced periodically without needing to actively search each time, or remembering to place the order. Marketplaces such as Amazon are now offering this functionality as standard, and website builders such as Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce have apps on their app stores that mean you can add in this type of service quickly and easily, without needing to write code.

Tips for successfully selling protective workwear

  • List plenty of different product variations – sizes and colours, for example
  • Ensure you mention any safety standards that are necessary
  • Change your products to allow for seasonal variations such as outer clothing for wet or cold weather
  • Collect reviews and highlight the longevity and durability of the products

Sell protective workwear alongside…

Sell alongside products that almost all businesses will want and need for their premises – such as kettles and mugs. (Tea breaks are important!) In addition to equipment for downtime, selling tools or products that are appropriate to the niche your business is targeting is certain to make you more sales. Protective workwear also works well alongside our next product category, hygiene products.

Hygiene products & PPE

We’re sorry to keep mentioning it (we’re all fed up with hearing about it too!) but COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the world, and so the products that customers are demanding are changing too. That means there are opportunities for you to make sales by adding hygiene products to your inventory – offering a silver lining to the pandemic.

The desire to avoid illness means that people are becoming more aware than ever of the need for excellent hygiene procedures. Wearing a face covering, using soaps and sanitisers are the ‘new normal’ (although we think soap should always have been part of our daily lives, so we’re glad that the attention is firmly on it again!) and these are all the types of products you can sell.

Although many customers are keen to stick with products from household names that they know and trust, there are just as many people who are prepared to buy generic products. That means there are lots of opportunities for making sales of hygiene and sanitising products for people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Mainstream types of products include hand sanitiser and face masks and coverings, but additional hygiene products and cleaning items such as disposable cloths and mop heads are highly in demand. With a bigger demand for cleaning products, there are also demands for products that make those jobs more comfortable, such as cotton gloves that can be worn under rubber gloves.

Tips for successfully selling hygiene products & PPE

  • Sell a range of products to cover the needs of various types of customers
  • Be aware of the risks of mixing chemicals and ensure your customers know they shouldn’t mix chemicals either
  • When selling disposable items such as wipes and mop heads, consider environmental factors and try to source eco-friendly options
  • Some platforms aren’t allowing new sellers of PPE such as face masks to list products, so be aware of this before sourcing items for your inventory

Sell hygiene products & PPE alongside…

Paper towels, PPE (personal protective equipment), traditional home cleaning products such as bin bags and laundry items, or alongside hand soaps.

Natural beauty products and skincare

When we say natural beauty products, we’re also including self-care items like shampoos and soaps, bubble baths and moisturising creams in this category. We’re all a tad more beautiful when we’re clean and smelling sweet after all, and with the emphasis on cleanliness that COVID-19 has brought about, more people are looking for natural, organic, and cruelty-free options that are far less irritating than their counterparts that contain chemicals.

The market for natural beauty products and skincare already stands at more than $38.2 billion worldwide, and is predicted to expand significantly over the next five to seven years – Statista forecasts it will grow to as much as $54.5 billion. There’s clear demand when looking at social media too, and there are countless posts. On Instagram alone, #cleanbeauty has featured on almost three million posts as we write this, and #organicskincare has more than 3.75 million posts. With an increase in beauty products and bathroom products that are free from parabens, sulphates and phthalates, so comes the demand for products that actually work as well as their non-clean counterparts.

The terms clean beauty and natural don’t actually have a European standard, so it is open to interpretation which items actually qualify. Consumers are aware of this though, and that means you need to be super-clear about what you mean if you say ‘natural’ or ‘organic’. If the product is approved by the Soil Association, or a similar body, then you’ll need to add that to your listings too.

When you’re considering selling natural products, don’t be constrained by targeting women alone and look at selling makeup or products for the face and body that are typically considered feminine. Many men are now actively seeking products with non-irritant ingredients, while parents are looking for bathroom products for children that are made from natural and organic ingredients to protect the delicate skin of their offspring from any nasty rashes.

Tips for successfully selling natural beauty products and skincare

  • List the ingredients of the products you’re selling
  • Provide information about packaging – single use plastic is avoided by environmentally conscious customers
  • Be sure to mention any accreditations that the products have been awarded from any approving body
  • Change products out during different seasons – colder weather calls for more nourishing hand and face creams, for example

Sell natural beauty products and skincare alongside…

Natural beauty products and skincare items can help to round out a collection of non-natural products, but also suit sellers who are looking for gift ideas, or who are selling eco-friendly products that make easy swaps around the home, such as natural cleaning products and plastic-free food-saving products.

Food supplements

Beauty isn’t just external – it starts within. With so many people concentrating on their outer health, demand for food supplements, vitamins and fortified products has driven the global supplements industry to over $82 billion, and the forecast is for the industry to reach more than $230.73 billion by 2027. That means there is a huge amount of opportunity for sellers to capitalise on demand, and the popularity of brands such as Bulletproof shows just how well a company with the right sort of branding can perform. Check out the following that they have built on social media for clear evidence about how much people have bought into this type of product.

As with all products that you’re thinking of selling, deciding on a niche will help you to focus your efforts much more effectively – and there are a lot of different niches!

  • Bodybuilding supplements for people who want to build muscle have been popular in recent years, but there is also a growing demand for vegan alternatives to protein products such as whey powders
  • Herbal supplements to help treat conditions such as anxiety, depression and the menopause have been popular for years but not all products have reached the mainstream. If you can identify products that could be useful for these type of conditions and can market them effectively, you’ll be onto a winner
  • Weight loss supplements are in huge demand – and with so many people trying different items and not finding them successful, the demand is unlikely to recede any time soon. Try offering a range that includes herbal products for even greater success
  • Beauty supplements that such as collagen for hair and nail growth and skin health are becoming popular – especially gummies that are quick and easy to consume as part of a daily routine
  • Supplements that support brain function such as omega 3 oils
  • General health and wellbeing products such as multivitamins, or products with a combination of vitamins to support different conditions
  • Products for different members of the population – think about supplements for children, older people, for during pregnancy and so on

Tips for successfully selling food supplements

  • Be clear about the manufacturer so that customers can verify the quality of the products
  • Research your products carefully – you’ll need to be ready to answer questions that your customers have quickly
  • Use content marketing to help customers understand how different vitamins, herbal products and supplements impact the body – as well as what a deficit of those vitamins can do!
  • Stay current of new products that you can start selling first and make sales

Sell food supplements alongside…

Products containing CBD oil, natural beauty products and skincare, workout apparel and products such as food saving items that can help promote healthy eating.

Exercise equipment

While we’re looking at ways people can stay healthy and looking good, we can’t fail to mention the impact that coronavirus has had on the way that people work out. With gyms and workout studios being closed to prevent further spread of the illness, most of us looked for ways that we could work out at home, with basic equipment. Sales of yoga mats, skipping ropes and weights equipment went through the roof during the first lockdown, and now we’re into ‘lockdown 2.0’, there is even more demand.

As we first wrote this post, gyms were currently open, but there are suggestions that many people who found new ways to work out at home during lockdown won’t be heading back to their gym. Some research suggests that up to 72% of people have already decided they’re never going back! And that is where sellers can capitalise.

You might think that people who are working out at home will already have the equipment in place – lockdowns started quite a while ago, after all. But as seasons change and we head into autumn and winter, people change their habits, and so there are opportunities to make sales. People who have discovered a passion for cycling discover their passion isn’t practical in stormy conditions with high winds, and so will look to recreate their experience with folding exercise bikes or turbo trainers. New runners may have discovered that they need complementary workouts to stretch and relieve tight hips – especially on days that it is bucketing it down with rain, or it is icy! That means they may be looking for fold away treadmills, exercise mats and resistance bands for stretching, while on the darker nights that they do go out for a run, they’ll need high-visibility clothing and reflective gear, so they are seen more easily by drivers.

As with all categories, it is best to start selling in a particular niche – so, you might target cyclists, or selling small items that runners can use both indoors and outdoors.

Tips for successfully selling exercise equipment

  • Research products carefully – know how they work and who they will work best for
  • A strong social media presence will help to build your brand as one to be trusted
  • Creating content that is relevant to your customers will help them to keep you in mind
  • Write your listings with plenty of attention to detail. Include measurements to avoid people needing to email you to ask – if they can’t find the answer they want on your listing, they’re likely to buy from a competitor

Sell exercise equipment alongside…

This category is all about promoting health – so it works well alongside products such as food supplements, sweat-wicking clothing, and healthy eating products such as items to store salad or smoothie makers.

Equestrian products

There is almost always a demand for equestrian products, and the equestrian industry in the UK had more than £4.7 billion spent within it across different products and services in 2019, which is up from £4.3 billion two years previously.

With more than 374,000 households in the UK owning at least one horse, and an estimated 847,000 horses in the UK, there are changes to horse ownership relatively regularly, especially as children grow and their needs change.

Creating a general tack shop online may not be the most profitable niche for sellers using DropShipping, since there is already a lot of competition. Start by narrowing down your niche and your customer base. Some suggestions include:

  • Competitive riders – show jumpers, horse racers, polo players and dressage riders all have very different and complex needs
  • Leisure riders who own their horse
  • Other participants in countryside activities such as hunting and farming
  • Riders who are small children, or riders who need adapted equipment to accommodate a disability
  • Businesses such as schools, riding holiday providers, livery yard owners and riding clubs

We dived further into these niches in our category feature about equestrian products, but there is a lot more diversity within this list – so proper research and establishing your target customer is essential to your success with an equestrian business.

Tips for successfully selling equestrian products

  • Define the sort of customer you’re targeting – there are so many potential customers within the industry!
  • Start with a capsule collection of products to start with, or focus on one specific item
  • Swap products out during different seasons
  • Refer to authorities in the industry such as publications that can help you to identify new products and get a head-start on your competitors

Sell equestrian products alongside…

If setting up a full equestrian tack store isn’t the right move for your business, adding products from the equestrian industry to your inventory can still be a great way to diversify a business. Think about selling select equestrian items alongside homewares (for example, a boot pull and scraper that is suitable for a stables can be incredibly useful for some gardeners!), outdoor and country style clothing, items for pets, and fashion items – leather boots and belts from equestrian ranges can be a great complement to ranges that have other leather goods such as handbags.

Luggage and travel items

Like many other events, COVID-19 put the brakes on a lot of travel this year, both for international and domestic vacations. There have been plenty of reports from the travel industry that suggest luxury holiday bookings for 2021 are far surpassing those booked for 2020, and with increased holiday bookings comes increased demand for luggage and similar accessories. Assuming there isn’t a huge second wave of COVID-19, we expect this type of product to start increasing in sales towards the winter sun season, during Christmas gift-buying and into the new year.

When customers are heading on luxury holidays rather than heading to their usual short-haul holiday destinations, they are often inclined to upgrade their luggage too. That means cheaper isn’t always better, and so it is possible to make more profit on fewer, more expensive items.

Selling products that are less expensive but that provide a first class experience are popular too. Passport cases and ticket holders in fine leather give a hint of luxury – especially where they match, or contrast with luggage items. Packing cubes and clear cosmetics cases – either in clear material or matching luggage – are becoming popular to get the most from space in suitcases.

Don’t forget, although there may be people heading off on luxury holidays, there will be parents taking their children on their first trip abroad, which can be a whole other niche of products. Travel cots, entertainment for flights and lightweight pushchairs all sell incredibly well, as well as luggage designed for children to be able to ride on during the wait for boarding.

Tips for successfully selling luggage and travel items

  • Use website functionality to prompt add-on purchases such as passport cases
  • Consider the needs of different demographics – we haven’t even mentioned backpackers and round-the-world adventurers or older people!
  • Be sure to include weight information of each product in your listing. Every ounce counts in your suitcase on a flight!
  • When selling suitcases, be sure to check the requirements of each airline – ‘cabin size’ is not universal

Sell luggage and travel items alongside…

Anything that is useful when going on a holiday! Travellers to beach destinations will need towels and swimwear, while winter sports lovers will need accessories such as gloves. Almost all destinations require sunglasses, and different types of hats – thinking logically will help you find the products you need for your store.

Blankets

Winter is on the way, and that means people want more ways to feel snug at home without needing to turn up the heating. Selling blankets is a surprisingly large category that has plenty of niche options for sellers, from sustainable options like wool, to luxury faux-mink fabrics, to heated blankets.

You can diversify your options by thinking about different needs:

  • Cosy blankets and wearable rugs for dogs or horses
  • Themed blankets with cartoon characters, sports teams or superheroes for children (let’s face it, anything to encourage over-tired children to get into their beds!)
  • Wearable blankets such as slankets (blankets with sleeves) and hoodie blanket combinations
  • Weighted blankets are reported to help with anxiety – this has huge scope for sales
  • When spring rolls around, add foldable picnic blankets to your blanket store
  • Electric blankets – some work underneath sheets to keep the bed warm, others can be used over the top
  • Baby blankets will always be popular as they often need to be replaced
  • Lightweight but warm blankets for camping and travel

Tips for successfully selling blankets

  • Have a good range of different types of blankets
  • Include size and weight information on your listings
  • Include different product variations – typically single, double and king size is standard, as well as different colours
  • Ensure you have included cleaning and laundry information on your listing – being able to wash at home, rather than needing to take to a launderette or dry cleaner is essential for most people!

Sell blankets alongside…

Different types of blankets are great additions for all kinds of stores – we’ve mentioned a few above. If you’re starting out with blankets, consider adding pillows or cushions with removable cases, bedding items such as duvets, and other items that can help keep people warm in the winter – cosy slippers, nightwear and dressing gowns. Cosy blankets are also great gift ideas for Christmas, so adding them to your inventory through November and December can be a great way to make more sales.

Mobile phone accessories

Like many other sellers, you might have considered selling mobile phone products like cases, stands and chargers before, but abandoned the idea. After all, there is a huge amount of competition, prices and demand changes pretty regularly, which means needing to update your product range often too – sometimes that is going to even be more often then weekly. And that’s before we get to mentioning how profit margins can be pretty thin in this niche.

Selling mobile phone accessories can be a time-consuming business – especially if you’re doing research, you find that you need to rewrite product descriptions, or you find that orders take ages to arrive and you encounter customer complaints.

Now we’ve told you why sellers decide to not sell mobile phone accessories, we should probably tell you why we’ve included it in this list! The thing with mobile phone accessories (and other tech accessories) is that they are high demand products, and so although you might not make a huge amount of profit on each item, you are likely to sell a lot of them. Remember our post about low margins and high volume vs high margins and low volume?

The key to successfully selling mobile phone accessories is to source products from UK suppliers who fulfil orders on your behalf. This means that you can start selling items, and stop selling items as soon as demand drops, and reduces the risk of losing money on dead stock, or missing out on sales because you’ve run out of items in stock – the suppliers take care of this for you.

Tips for successfully selling mobile phone accessories

  • Keep up to date with announcements of new devices so you can choose accessories as soon as possible
  • Schedule time for research and update your inventory regularly
  • Have a good range so that your customers don’t go to another seller to find what they are looking for
  • You’re aiming to sell a lot of products, so you’ll need to go big in your marketing efforts

Sell mobile phone accessories alongside…

Mobile phone accessories are a great addition to a store that sells other technology accessories, but can also work well with gift ideas, or general stores.

Branded sports products

The 2020-21 Premier League and English Football League seasons started on September 12th, which means there are a lot of football fans that are ready for new kit now, and with Christmas coming up, there will be plenty of fans (both young and old) that will be asking Father Christmas for those items in their stockings.

Branded sportswear and accessories such as footballs in team colours can provide a large profit on each item, since wholesale prices are typically much, much lower than recommended retail price (RRP). If you’re buying stock, this allows you to make a bigger profit, but you can still make profits by using suppliers who fulfil the order on your behalf. Profit margins will be slightly smaller this way, since the supplier won’t offer you the lowest prices, but you won’t have the hassle of needing to clear old stock when teams launch their new strips next season.

The biggest challenge to selling branded sports goods and clothing is that there are a lot of customers who are likely to be concerned that the products are counterfeit. To prevent your customers from thinking the products you are selling are fakes, you’ll need to include as much information from your supplier as possible, including photos of tags where it is appropriate to do so.

One point to note is that you need to be absolutely certain that your supplier is approved to sell those items, and be aware of any marketplace restrictions or rulings that might be an issue for you. Getting your seller account suspended or permanently banned is a huge problem and can be a nightmare to resolve – you only need to look at seller forums online to see evidence of this! Our post on grey market goods goes into this issue in more depth.

Tips for successfully selling branded sports products

  • Be sure that your supplier is licensed by the brand to sell the products
  • Include as much information on your listing as you can to reassure customers that products are authentic
  • Encourage customers to leave reviews on your website or listings – this will help to increase trust in your items
  • Be aware of, and carefully abide by marketplace rules

Sell branded sports products alongside…

Branded sporting goods are a great addition to other workout apparel items, but also sell well in stores that are selling branded gift ideas, such as rugs and curtains in team prints, alarm clocks, money boxes and water bottles.

Start selling these products from Avasam suppliers today

Finding suppliers in the UK that are prepared to work using the DropShipping model has traditionally been a tricky thing, since many don’t advertise that they can work this way. That has meant phoning and emailing suppliers, negotiating terms and so on – which takes a lot of time and can delay either starting a business, or missing out on a potential opportunity. Working with more than one supplier can be difficult from a technical perspective too, especially if there is a need to deal with manual file exchanges and so on.

We recognised the need for easier ways to start selling, and with fewer barriers to getting started, which was why we set to work building Avasam. Today we have a number of suppliers and wholesalers that provide thousands of products on the platform for sellers to add to their inventory and start selling right away, without the need to do huge amounts of research – or without needing the assistance of a developer.

Both eCommerce businesses and traditional retailers can take advantage of selling this way, since products can be offered in-store by having a screen with their homepage pre-loaded. When the customer makes a purchase – either through their website or using cash or card at the point of sale, the retailer can arrange for the product to be delivered to the store, or to the customer’s preferred address.

We’ve looked at some of the products that we expect to sell really well over the next few months here, and you’ll be ready to get started. We already have these products available for you to start selling, from trusted and approved suppliers – so you don’t need to spend time and effort searching for the suppliers.

Avasam sellers tend to come from one of two starting points – either they already have a retail business, or they know they want to start selling online and they have existing entrepreneurial skills, and some technical knowledge that enables them to get going quickly. (We do get a few sellers who are starting from scratch with no prior knowledge, but the learning curve can be a bit steeper for those users!) Let’s take a look at how both these types of customers benefit from using the Avasam platform:

Existing retailers

Where businesses are already selling – either online, offline or both – there is almost always room to expand. Offering your existing customers more products means they are more likely to come back and buy again, since they have already experienced the service you are providing, and know what to expect from you.

A traditional retail model means that you need capital to invest up front, which can be problematic if you don’t have capital available, or you don’t want to buy inventory for untested products. That doesn’t mean you can’t extend your product range – you just need an alternative to having to invest. That’s where DropShipping comes in.

DropShipping has traditionally been associated with get rich quick schemes that involve selling cheap products from China. These types of businesses can work, but they are plagued with problems – long delivery times and no guarantees products will be delivered cause huge complaints and customer service issues. Such problems mean that many retailers have avoided the DropShipping model, but are now finding they can leverage the benefits of the model – offering more products without needing to tie up capital – by working with UK-based suppliers.

Avasam makes working with suppliers using the DropShipping model really straightforward, and you won’t need to hunt to find the suppliers or products you want. Avasam connects with your inventory and order management software – we have an integration for Linnworks, and we have API information available for you to work with if you’re using an alternative to Linnworks. If you’re unsure how to set up this type of connection, you can book a call and our team will be able to assist you.

Entrepreneurs

For entrepreneurs, the opportunities to start a business online are endless. Where selling online is the focus of the business, similar problems exist to those that existing retailers have – needing upfront capital being one of the biggest issues, and not wanting to work with suppliers in China. As we’ve already mentioned, finding domestic suppliers that are prepared to work this way isn’t impossible, but it is a time-consuming challenge that may prevent businesses from getting going as quickly as the seller might like.

The other time-consuming challenge that can slow down getting started is the need for systems that update stock levels to prevent overselling, and being able to list on different sales channels quickly and easily. We’ve provided a number of sales integrations that allow sellers to connect to their accounts on marketplaces and to list their items on their own websites, whether that is a hosted eCommerce solution such as Shopify, BigCommerce or EKM, or using an alternative such as WooCommerce or Magento.

The Takeaway

We’ve given you a few great products and categories to think about selling in this post – whether you’re an existing seller, or you’re about to start on the next step of your entrepreneurial journey by starting to sell. Quarter four is a great time to start selling, and if you want to sell items without needing to commit funds up front for stock, using the DropShipping model is a great way to do so. But quarter four is also when customers want their products faster, to ensure they have everything they want for the holiday season in good time, so don’t risk getting bad reviews by selling products from China that take ages to arrive and might not be the highest quality. Work with UK suppliers to get goods to your customers within a day or two.

You can find UK suppliers that can fulfil your DropShipping requirements on Avasam – and whether you already have an existing business that you want to expand, or you want to start your own business, we can have you up and running at your convenience. book a call with a member of our team to discuss your needs, or sign up for your free account to get started and check out the products on the catalogue.

Avatar for Dawn Matthews
Dawn Matthews
Dawn has worked in technical and customer supporting roles for over 20 years. Most of her career was spent in technical services at top rated UK universities, which has given her a keen eye for detail. A lucky escape led her to the field of eCommerce in 2017, and she’s never looked back.Dawn studied in the field of social sciences with the Open University, achieving an MSc in Forensic Psychology at the same time as working two jobs. She regularly applies principles of psychology from her studies to her work, and outside of her role at Avasam she is busy writing her second book.Follow Dawn on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-matthews

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