Dropshipping: no stock to hold, and no control over the parcel
You sell it, somebody else holds the stock and ships it. Cheap to start, and hard to build repeat customers on, because the parcel is out of your hands.
- 029Dropshipping
- A retail fulfilment method where a store doesn't keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer.
- 159Zero Inventory
- A business model where the store does not keep goods in stock. Instead, it transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.
- Also called
- Zero inventory, with print on demand as a close cousin
- You keep
- The storefront, the price and the customer's details
- You hand over
- Stock, packing, delivery speed and often quality
- Email has to cover
- Honest delivery dates, split parcels and late deliveries
What you hand to the supplier when you hold no stock
Dropshipping takes the scariest line off the balance sheet. No warehouse, no cash tied up in stock, no pallets of the colour that didn't sell. You take the order, pass it to a supplier, and they pack and post it under your name.
The price is control. The supplier decides how fast it ships, what it arrives in and whether it's as good as last month's. Your customer knows none of that. As far as they're concerned, you sent it.
Why the second order is harder when somebody else ships
Repeat customers come from a product that turned up on time, looked right and did the job. With dropshipping, most of that is decided by somebody you've never met. And if the same product sits on ten other stores, the customer can rebuy it from whoever's cheapest.
So a dropshipping store that wants repeat business needs a reason to come back the supplier can't copy: a brand, a sharp range, advice worth reading. Email is where most of that gets said.
The emails that carry the load when you don't ship
Most of the trust gets built in the inbox, because the unboxing won't do it for you. You usually can't put a card in the box. You can make every message after the order honest and well timed.
- An order confirmation with a delivery window you trust, not the one the supplier hopes for
- Shipping emails for each parcel, because one order from two suppliers arrives in two boxes
- A heads up the moment a delivery slips, before the customer has to ask
- A post purchase flow and review request timed off the fulfilment event, not the order date
The review request is the easiest one to get wrong. Send it a week after the order and you're asking somebody to review a parcel that hasn't arrived. The post purchase flow is where the timing gets fixed.
Dropshipping a few lines next to your own stock
For an established brand, dropshipping is more often a tactic than a model. Bulky items sent straight from the maker, a range extension you're testing, an add-on you'd never stock. Sensible, as long as your flows know which items ship from where.
Tag those products in your catalogue, so the post purchase flow can tell a next day parcel from a three week one and set expectations to match.
Related terms
FAQs
Is dropshipping the same as zero inventory?
Near enough. Zero inventory is the wider idea: you hold no stock and pass each order to somebody who does. Dropshipping is the common version, where a supplier ships straight to your customer under your name. Print on demand works the same way, with the product made after the order.
Who handles returns when you dropship?
You do, as far as the customer's concerned. They bought from your shop, so the refund, the returns address and the complaint are yours, whatever your supplier's own policy says. Agree returns terms with each supplier before you list their products, and say plainly in your emails where a return goes.
Can a dropshipping store build loyal customers?
It can, but the product won't do it alone, because anybody can sell the same thing. Loyalty comes from what the supplier can't copy: a sharp range, useful advice, honest delivery dates and emails people want to read. Without one of those, every order is a fresh acquisition.
Rather we explained it on your own account?
Bring your Klaviyo account to a growth consultation. We'll walk through what this means for your numbers, in plain English, and what we'd fix first.
Half an hour with Theo, our founder.
We're all about relationships built on trust, mutual respect and a shared vision for success. If that sounds like your vibe, let's make some waves together 🌊
