Do you want to learn dropshipping from Amazon to Shopify? Here’s your complete guide. From how to start dropshipping on Amazon, to why Amazon shouldn’t be your only marketplace - and finally, how to sell Amazon products on your Shopify site – we will cover it all in this post.
Let’s start with the very first question - why should you choose the dropshipping model? Here’s the answer.
What do you need to start selling products online?
- A business plan
- Sufficient capital
- Technical know-how
- Some more capital
- And the list goes on
But is there a business that you can start even if your savings are touching rock bottom and your technical skills are mostly in the range of Copy-Paste & Crop-Resize?
Thankfully, Yes! Selling on online marketplaces like Amazon is a great way to start your business without huge investments.
So, you are decided to start selling on Amazon, but what will you sell and how will you collect, and maintain the inventory? If you choose the right business model, you can actually sell products without having to maintain an inventory. Yes, that is what we are talking about.
The dropshipping business model lets you sell products on the online marketplaces without your own inventory. You list the products on the platform, and when a customer buys them, the supplier fulfills the requirement. The cost paid by the customer is added to your account, and you pay the supplier after deducting your percentage.
You can dropship a range of products including fashion and apparel, home decor, electronics, health supplements, toys, and many more on Amazon. Not sure how to start? Read on.
Before we start with how to dropship from amazon to shopify, here’s a brief on how to start dropshipping on Amazon. First, set up an Amazon seller account. Then find the right products to sell, followed by finding the best suppliers for the products. Finally, create the listings, and you are all set to sell. Well, it’s easier said than done but setting up your Amazon dropshipping business is not really a critical task.
Don’t miss to promote your listings to grab the eyes of prospective buyers. Always, go through Amazon’s drop shipping policy to know the dos and don’ts before you start.
Now you are selling on Amazon, and things are going well. You are making money but still not as much as you deserve for the effort. Amazon is one of the biggest online selling platforms, but it should not be your only platform to succeed in the business. Why? Because you shouldn’t keep all your eggs in the same basket and more. Let’s dig deep and find out why you shouldn’t confine yourself to Amazon?
Here’s a list of the reasons. Check out,
More exposure
The more online exposure you have, the more is the chance to grab sales. Selling the products on Amazon and also on your Shopify site will naturally increase your overall web presence and reach which is the first step to grow your dropshipping business.
Build your brand
If you nurture plans to grow your business, Amazon as an eCommerce platform does not offer much of a choice. Selling the products on your own eStore will make sure that you can build a brand of your own and take your business to new heights with complete freedom.
Maximum flexibility
Amazon has a strict drop shipping policy. And if you sell on Amazon, you must abide by all their rules, which naturally takes away the flexibility of being an independent seller. With your own Shopify store, you will naturally have more options to customize the listings, sell any product that can be profitable, or opt for B2B selling to reap maximum profits.
Amazon drop shipping drawbacks
Dropshipping on Amazon comes with its share of drawbacks, and you practically can do nothing about it except accepting all. The drawbacks you should be aware of:
- Amazon dropship policy mentions explicitly, the product should be sent to the buyer with only your details, not that of the supplier, and the buyer should never come to know the actual supplier. This might be tricky in practice particularly when handling a long list of products and several suppliers.
- Amazon will not provide you crucial customer details like the Email ID, which is important for every seller to build a loyal customer base. So, if you are only on Amazon, getting loyal customers can be difficult.
- The Amazon marketplace is not free for the sellers. You must pay a subscription fee to Amazon Seller and again a certain amount on every sale. These expenses will naturally take a chunk from your hard-earned profit and might lead to higher pricing of your products.
- On Amazon, sellers run the risk of being a victim of malpractices of a competitor. A competitor can buy a huge number of certain products to run you out of stock and then return the products to spike your return rate, which will invariably affect your seller ranking. Leaving negative feedback on your products is another common malpractice that might lead to banning your Seller account on Amazon.
- There are several cases where the seller has been banned by Amazon without any legitimate reasons. When selling only on Amazon, you are completely dependent on a third-party that can ban your account any moment, without any prior intimation or even legitimate reason, pushing you out of business.
So, now that you know why you shouldn’t limit your business to selling on Amazon and start your own Shopify store, it’s time to know how to sell amazon products on shopify.
Shopify is a friendly and robust eCommerce platform, and the best thing – you get to pick and drop, copy and paste, crop and resize - just the way you are familiar with. It comes with a bunch of applications and tools that give you a wide range of customization options so that you can build your online shop on your own.
Follow these steps to sell Amazon products on Shopify,
1. First, you need to have your own Shopify site. Choose a hosting provider and create your eStore. If you already have a Shopify store, directly get to the next step.
2. You can always upload the listings individually on Shopify from your drive, but that will naturally take a lot of time and hassle. So, the best way is to import amazon products to shopify. Here’s how you can do that in a jiffy.
- You need to use a third-party application to connect your Amazon Seller Account with your Shopify site.
- There are many applications like Amazon Connector, CedCommerce, Zonify, etc., that can create the bridge to import the listings directly from Amazon to Shopify. All these applications vow different unique features, but they mostly work the same way. You are free to choose any of these apps according to your preferences.
- The application will connect the accounts and transfer the listings in bulk. You will also have different customization options and features depending on the application you are using.
3. Once you have imported all the products from Amazon to Shopify, if you want, you may customize the listings individually on Shopify and start selling.
4. Always remember, after you have finished importing products to your Shopify store from Amazon, you need to promote your store. Without proper promotion, your customers might not even get to know that now you have your own platform to sell.
Pro tip: Talk to your suppliers to place a label with the URL of your website in the purchased product boxes to be sent out to your customers. Also, add some special discounts for shopping directly from your site. It can be an effective strategy to get your Shopify store rolling.
So, now you know how to dropship from Amazon to Shopify. But it is important to note that Amazon’s seller policy does not support exporting their product listings to any other site or platform. Though there are numerous applications available to complete this task, these apps directly violate Amazon’s rules and regulations.
Interestingly, Amazon supports drop shipping from Shopify to Amazon but not the other way round. When planning to import products from amazon to shopify, you should know that you are going against Amazon’s policy, and they might penalize you for it.
Unless you are willing to upload each listing individually on Shopify, which will naturally take quite some time and effort, you must use a suitable application to bridge between the two accounts and import the listings. Some of these apps might also ensure that the inventory is updated simultaneously on both platforms. Choose the application after consulting proper references.
Now that you know why and how to dropship from Amazon to Shopify, it’s time to get to work. And keep an eye on our blog section for new posts on more useful eCommerce topics.
