How is Groupon different from other shopping carts?

Groupon is structured as an offers sight, rather than a marketplace. As such, you tell them what you have to sell, at what price and how many – they generate the orders at their preferred margin, and then provide you with details of the customers to despatch to. You, in turn, make an agreement to provide a given number of products at a mutually-agreeable rate. It’s up to them to define their margin and advertise the stock.

Why Dropship with Groupon?

Groupon is essentially DropShipping already, therefore their system is ripe for the picking. Locate the right product, at the right price, and while Groupon will take a cut of the profit, they’ll also give you access to a large market, and they don’t directly compete with you, unlike say, Amazon. It also means that you can look at working with suppliers in multiple segments on finding the right products to move fast, and bear in mind that Groupon rewards lower margin, high volume sales for bargain hunters.

It can be a valuable contributor to a healthy multichannel DropShipping business. It can also be a good way to get goods into the hands of new customers so they’ll come looking for you elsewhere, where you can command better margins and build a direct relationship with them for repeat sales.

Pros and Cons of Groupon DropShipping

There are some incredible reasons to start DropShipping on Groupon:

• Large potential market
• Agreement to sell is based on fixed value and volume, making it more stable than some marketplaces
• Groupon operates in multiple countries including the UK, Eire and many European countries

There’s always something to know about when you’re starting out on a new sales channel – Groupon is no different. Here’s what you need to know:

• Margins will be lower, since Groupon need to make a margin as well as yourself, and they sell as a discount site
• Paperwork can be complex, and need to be completed on short timescales
• Merchants must use tracked shipping, which can impact your margins
• Compliance failure charges can be painful – especially as you’ll already be working with slim margins