Dropshipping typically means selling white-label products or no-name items sourced directly from suppliers based in parts of the world with lower manufacturing costs. To justifiably increase the margin on these generic items, operators of dropshipping businesses tend to use branding to differentiate the offerings in their online store from competitors who may be selling the same or similar products. Branded dropshipping is a tried and true strategy that can be challenging to implement. Let's take a look at what branded dropshipping is, how it works, and the ways in which other online businesses have found success with it in the past.
As an eCommerce dropshipper you will most likely have an understanding of selling generic nonbrand products. This is the item purchased from the supplier without any inventory. You can also add your logo to the product. This is the essence of branded dropshipping. Dropshippers using the branded dropshipping approach will advertise the unique selling points of their online stores and try to stand out as much as possible. Their unique selling points are what makes it possible for them to have tremendous success, despite selling products that are fundamentally similar to another dropshipping business.
While most dropshippers and foreign dropshipping suppliers white-label their products, that is to say, they pack products and ship them to customers in simple plastic envelopes or cartons, special packaging can be ordered from certain suppliers and fulfillment centers. Certain fulfillment centers and suppliers will also offer additional protection for fragile products. For instance, structured hats, jewelry, keychains, stationery, murals, and beverage containers.
Custom labels are excellent tools that can have an enormous impact on your marketing campaigns and help to build up your branded dropshipping business from scratch. Memorable labels can help your customers differentiate your products from the competition and let them know who's responsible for their favorite products. You can test out labeling options such as tear-out labels and inside labels.
Does branded dropshipping perform better in the long run than white-label dropshipping? The answer is a resounding "Yes!". The main reason for this is that 71% of consumer preferences are based on values and value propositions. That's why having a holistic understanding of customers' values is crucial to branding-related decision-making. In addition to value-based marketing, it's important to remember to highlight competitive advantages over other retailers when building brand awareness, even if you have to embellish certain things! The key to building successful businesses is to identify and capitalize on the emotional connection that customers may have with the product, by building compelling narratives.
Traditional branding is the presentation of products by using a brand name and highlighting identifying characteristics to attract target consumers. However, good branding for e-commerce is much more complicated. Not only does it have to reflect the brand's values and follow logically from the brand voice, but it also has to have a niche-relevant design, which runs through everything from the online store's homepage to its social media presence, and branded packaging.
So how should you choose the name for your brand? It should be short, simple, speakable, and, perhaps most importantly, suggest the product category. Online brands must have short names because longer names are easily misspelled, and one misplaced letter will send your potential customers somewhere else. Simplicity is not the same as shortness; simple means using fewer letters from the alphabet.
For example, "Nissan" uses only 5 letters from the alphabet whereas "Datsun" uses 6, despite being the same length. Speakable names facilitate word of mouth marketing because only brand names that fit into everyday conversation can be easily transmitted from one customer to another potential buyer. Imagine having an online store called "The Best Online Store" and the frustrating conversation which follows from an inquiry from the source of purchases made there. Suggesting the category without falling into the generic name trap can be accomplished by one of two means: shortening the category name or adding an unusual word to the more conventional root word e.g. Jell-O.