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Dropshipping. It’s the word on everybody’s lips when they think of starting their own business.
As the easiest way to start an online store on a tight budget, there’s a huge amount of interest in the topic.
But who’s doing well in the realm and what can we learn from them? It’s surprisingly hard to find any real-life case studies of successful dropshipping examples going into the nitty gritty of processes and numbers involved.
Dropshipper personalities on YouTube and Reddit will commonly tell you that they won’t reveal their store or products, which has led to most other entrepreneurs being annoyingly tight-lipped on any details too.
But numbers don’t lie, and with some nifty research from our team of eCommerce experts, we’ve finally managed to put together some solid case studies for you to learn from.
Take a look!
What is a dropshipping website?
A dropshipping website is an online store that uses a specific fulfillment method. The retailer doesn't keep goods in stock. Instead, when the store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third-party supplier, who then ships it directly to the customer.
Apart from the fulfillment process, a dropshipping website looks and functions like any other online store. You provide the storefront and handle the marketing; your supplier handles fulfillment.
This is a great business model to start out with because you need little to no start-up capital. As your business grows, you can reinvest more of your profits into growing your brand and eventually switch to a more cost-effective wholesale model (where you get cheaper per-unit prices).
Once your brand is established and you’ve moved into wholesale buying and private labeling your products (where you add your brand name to each product), dropshipping remains an ideal tool for testing out new products with minimal risk.
Thousands of new dropshipping stores crop up each month, but all too many don’t have a solid strategy in place when it comes to boosting sales, making conversions, and creating a solid brand that will stand the test of time.
Lucky for you, we’ve cherry-picked a handful of successful dropshipping examples that you can really learn from.
7 Dropshipping stores and why they’re killing it
1. Articture
Name of Store: Articture
Niche: Home Improvement
What they sell: Anything home accessories-related – from bath mats, to crockery, lights, and bed linens.
Traffic: 95.60k visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Professional high-end photography
- Active Instagram Marketing and Facebook Accounts
- Plenty of IG reels showing off products
- Private labeling
Analysis (what makes them successful):
First up is a home improvement brand. With almost 100k monthly visitors this beautifully set up home brand has made it to amazing heights from its humble dropshipping beginnings.
It’s not 100% possible to confirm how much of their range is still being dropshipped today, but we can assume that with their amount of traffic, they would’ve had to switch at least some of their operations to a wholesale model to be able to keep up with demand. SaleHoo Directory enables brands to do just that. With over 8,000 suppliers and millions of products, any brand is sure to find exactly what they’re looking for when they’re ready to take that next step.
We were able to find one of Articture’s products, the Light of Life lamp, on SaleHoo Dropship, SaleHoo’s dedicated dropshipping automation and scaling tool, which suggests that this started out as a dropshipping product.
What sets the Articture lamp listing apart is the professional high-end product photography, which suggests that the brand ordered samples of the product and created custom photographs for their website. This is a very useful marketing tactic when thinking about positioning your brand as premium to consumers.
A closer look at the brand’s instagram page reveals not only an impressive follower count of over 650k, but also a reel showcasing the lamp and its custom Articture logo, proving that the brand has indeed now gone into private labeling this product. An important step when solidifying your brand in the market and creating a loyal customer base.
2. Cloudsharks
Name of Store: Cloudsharks
Niche: Apparel
What they sell: Shark-shaped slides, and accessories
Traffic: 73.1k visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Strong branding throughout website (brand appeal)
- Branded products with visible tags (private labeling)
- Presence on a wide range of social channels
Analysis (what makes them successful):
One of our favorite successful dropshipping examples is apparel brand Cloudsharks boasts an impressive 73.1k visitors per month, especially considering they began as a ‘one-product’ store focusing on shark-shaped slippers.
We found these slides in our Dropship product directory, a dead giveaway that this brand started out as a dropshipping store.
Since its beginnings, Cloudsharks has built an exceptional presence across a wide range of social media channels, including Facebook ads, Instagram marketing, TikTok marketing, Snapchat, and YouTube. Many brands fail to take advantage of all these channels and their varied audience segments, instead focusing on only one or two – just one of the marketing tactics that has elevated Cloudsharks to where it is now.
In addition to its impressive social media offering, the Cloudsharks website is extremely well-branded, showing branded tags on all its products. This suggests to us that they’ve moved away from dropshipping and into private labeling and probably wholesaling, to keep up with the constant and rising demand.
What we can learn from Cloudsharks is that you really need to establish that competitive advantage to stand out from the crowd. You may be selling the same or similar product to other brands, but how can you set yourself apart from the crowd? Don’t just copy others, but create a unique brand with storytelling that’s appealing to an ideally untapped audience, and do so using all channels at your disposal.
3. Sleepband
Name of Store: Sleepbzzz
Niche: Sleep Aids
What they sell: Bluetooth sleep headphones, and other sleep accessories
Traffic: 91.1k visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Strong focus on one product with a very specific pain point
- Capitalizing on Influencer Marketing
- Use of testiumonials and press mentions (social proof)
Analysis (what makes them successful):
Sleepbzzz is a ‘one-product’ store selling headbands for those having trouble sleeping. It started by 7 figure dropshipping YouTuber Jordan Welch and has since been sold to new owners.
While initially focusing on one single product like many successful dropshipping stores out there, it’s since branched out to other products and variations of its initial bestseller.
All its products are now being sold branded, which again suggests that its operations are no longer solely dropshipping-based, although it may well be selling new products under this model to test out how successful they are.
We can find the unbranded product on SaleHoo Dropship from one of our vetted AliExpress suppliers, so we know for sure that Sleepband isn’t the only one selling this product. But it’s doing it most effectively!
Selling variations of one product or of products competitors are selling is a great way to tap into a market that already has a fair bit of competition. By selling something similar, but different, you’re able to position it as a superior product but take advantage of the same audience base.
Another thing we can learn from Sleepband is their great use of Influencer marketing, which you can witness on its Facebook page. Here, you can see a variety of influencers endorsing the product, clearly showing that this is one of their main marketing tactics.
4. Fruity Bullet
Name of Store: Fruity Bullet
Niche: Home food processing equipment
What they sell: Portable food blenders
Traffic: 77.4k visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Strong focus on one product
- Expertly branded, quality-looking website
- Excellent product pages including features, reviews and competitor comparison
- Leveraging power of video on TikTok marketing and Instagram marketing
- Low-fi reels of the product in action
Analysis (what makes them successful):
Fruity Bullet is another successful dropshipping example of a One Product Store, which initially started out by going viral on TikTok!
Now its website boasts 77.4k monthly visitors, all looking to buy the mini fruit blender that we previously predicted to be one of the 6 trending summer products.
We were easily able to find this product on the SaleHoo Dropship database, which clearly tells us that this is a dropshipping store, or at least started out as one.
The company’s brand building and marketing tactics have been truly exceptional, expertly leveraging the power of video, social proof, and community building.
The brand engages potential customers with low spec video demonstrations of their product on Instagram (85.3k followers) and TikTok. These videos are really just the blender in action, blending constantly changing smoothie combinations, but each video garners thousands of views and likes, so the recipe clearly works! (Pun intended ?)
Furthermore, expertly designed product pages engage viewers with detailed descriptions of features, tons of reviews and a table of comparison to competitors.
The lesson we can take away from Fruity Bullet is this: figure out what works for your brand and double down on that to see your brand explode across ever-increasing audiences.
5. Meowingtons
Name of Store: Meowingtons
Niche: Pet supplies
What they sell: Cat accessories for cats and their humans
Traffic: 154.1k visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Expert brand building through website design and social content
- Cross-selling cat parent products to increase basket value
- Leveraging social channels, including the often-neglected Pinterest
- Fun cat-related content and memes to increase engagement and reach
Analysis (what makes them successful):
Meowingtons is a store in the pet niche, with a huge 154k monthly visitors at the time of review. While initially focusing on pet paraphernalia, the brand has since branched out to merchandise and apparel targeted at pet owners (e.g. this cat mom shirt) – an ingenious move to increase basket value and audience appeal.
We found many of the products available on the Meowningtons store also available on AliExpress, which shows us that at least part of their business is still operating under the dropshipping model, although their merchandise is most likely custom-made or at least purchased wholesale.
This cat cave is also sold by Meowingtons
Meowingtons is another brand that has taken excellent advantage of the power of social, with 700k+ followers on Instagram, over 1 million likes on Facebook, and almost 20k followers on Pinterest.
The lesson to learn from Meowingtons is not to put all your eggs in one basket, but to market across different channels and extend your customer appeal by catering to several individuals within a household at once (i.e. pets and owners, babies and parents etc.)
6. Warmly
Name of Store: warmly
Niche: Home Improvement
What they sell: High-ticket lamps, furniture, and bathroom fittings
Traffic: 83.6k visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Beautifully designed store to position the brand as premium
- Focus on high-ticket items to increase basket value
- Expert use of Pinterest to work with customers’ longer decision-making processes
Analysis (what makes them successful):
Another home improvement brand, warmly is a high-ticket dropshipping store focusing on lighting that is doing amazingly well with 83.6k visitors each month.
They’re likely stocking many of their own products by now to keep up with demand, but we were still able to find some of them on the SaleHoo Dropship product directory, such as their Olivia lamp.
Warmly is an incredibly beautifully designed store, which works perfectly for positioning them as a more premium brand that will convince customers to spend that little bit extra.
Since warmly sells mostly on high-ticket items, they’ve applied a very unique marketing tactic: focusing mainly on Pinterest.
While Pinterest is often disregarded by other brands, it works perfectly for this high-ticket home improvement niche, as it’s not an area where people are going to make impulse buys. Instead, they will create a mood board on Pinterest and mull their decision over until finally reaching a conclusion and clicking that ‘Buy’ button. In this way, leveraging Pinterest caters exactly to this slower purchasing cycle.
7. Inspire Uplift
Name of Store: Inspire Uplift
Niche: General Store
What they sell: Everything from home & garden, clothing & shoes, to pet supplies
Traffic: 1.1.million visitors / month
What marketing tactics they use:
- Brand positioning as a department store
- Lots of low-ticket items inspire impulse buys
- Colloquial language, funny content, and memes on Facebook boost engagement
- FB posts click directly through to product pages
Analysis (what makes them successful):
Inspire Uplift is a successful dropshipping example of a general store selling products in a variety of niches. With 1.1 monthly visitors to their site, you can tell that they’re doing this incredibly successfully.
With a general store like this, it’s extremely likely that they’re operating under a dropshipping model, as it would require a ridiculous amount of warehousing space to stock all the products available in the store. And unless you’re Amazon, that’s just not really feasible.
We were able to find a few of their products on SH Dropship, amongst them this Animal Table lamp.
It can be quite difficult to brand and scale a general store due to its lack of a real niche. However, the way Inspire Uplift has got around this is to market itself as a kind of department store. If you wanted to try this sort of approach, it would at least be beneficial for trialing a range of different products, if not to build a brand for the long term.
Inspire Uplift’s presence on Facebook is especially notable when looking at Marketing tactics, as they focus on funny, internet-meme-like posts which are relatable to a large audience, and usually click straight through to product pages. Because many of these products are so affordable (as opposed to e.g. warmly), they lend themselves to impulse buys, which will create a nice little stream of revenue for the brand, just from Facebook alone.
How much does it cost to build a dropshipping website?
The cost of a dropshipping website can range from $100 to $5,000+, depending on your needs. If you're just getting started, you can set up a basic site for between $100 and $500. This will cover your domain registration, web hosting, and a basic eCommerce platform.
If you want to create something more advanced with custom designs, extra apps, and marketing tools, expect to pay $1,000 to $5,000 or more. It all depends on how unique you want your site to be and the features you need.
What are the best marketing tactics to promote a dropshipping website?
There are many ways you can promote your store and attract customers. The best tactics depend on your niche and your products. And it's always a good idea to have multiple marketing channels. Here's a quick breakdown of the strategies you could use:
Social media marketing: Get active on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest. These platforms are perfect for reaching your target audience. Share posts, stories, and reels, and run ads to engage your followers and attract new ones.
Influencer marketing: Partner up with influencers in your niche. They can promote your products to their followers. It's a great way to expand your reach and add credibility to your brand.
Content marketing: Create valuable content like blogs, how-to guides, and videos. This will help attract potential customers and educate them about your products.
Email marketing: Start building an email list and send out regular newsletters, promotional offers, and product updates. This keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Make sure your website is optimized for search engines. Focus on keyword research, on-page SEO, and building backlinks to increase organic traffic.
Paid advertising: Use Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and other paid advertising platforms to drive targeted traffic to your website. This can give you a quick boost in visibility and sales.
Check out the resources below for more tips and strategies for promoting your store.
What platform should I use to create a dropshipping website?
You have a few options when choosing a platform for your dropshipping website. It depends on how comfortable you are with web design and your business needs. Here are three of the best options:
Shopify: If you want something super easy to use, Shopify is a good choice. It has a simple interface and store setup. There are also a ton of apps like SaleHoo Dropship designed specifically for dropshipping.
WooCommerce: This is an excellent option if you're familiar with WordPress and want more control over your site. WooCommerce is highly customizable. You can change any element you want with a little basic HTML knowledge.
BigCommerce: If you're thinking big and planning for growth, BigCommerce is worth considering. It offers robust features and scalability. It's a great option for a store that's looking to expand.
We've covered this topic in-depth on the SaleHoo blog. Check out the guides below to find the right platform for your dropshipping store.
How do I find reliable suppliers for my dropshipping website?
Your suppliers play a crucial role in the success of your store. If they're unreliable, you're going to be dealing with a lot of unhappy customers and bad reviews.
The best place to start your search is a supplier directory like SaleHoo. You'll find millions of products from a huge range of vetted suppliers. It makes it easy to find trustworthy partners who can consistently deliver quality products.
You can also connect with suppliers offline by attending trade shows. If you can, go to these events to meet suppliers face-to-face. This lets you see products in person, ask questions, and negotiate deals.
Before you commit to any supplier, make sure you order a few samples. This allows you to check out the quality of their products firsthand and see how long shipping takes.
Can I dropship from multiple suppliers on one website?
Yes, you can dropship from multiple suppliers on one website. This is what the vast majority of dropshipping websites do. It lets you offer a wider range of products and diversify your inventory.
However, there is a slight drawback. If a customer buys multiple items from different suppliers, you won't be able to ship all the items together. This means the customer will receive separate packages and must pay for shipping for both items. Make this clear to your customers to manage their expectations.
Recap: What are the keys to succeeding with dropshipping?
So what have we learned from our 7 successful dropshipping examples today? Dropshipping is an amazing business model for starting out in the eCommerce realm, but once your brand is really starting to take off and you know you’re onto a winning path, the best way to exponential growth is to move into wholesale buying and private labeling. This way, you’ll make bigger margins and have way more flexibility and opportunity to grow your brand and create a loyal customer base.
In addition to this, you need to be looking at your social marketing and ideally leverage any and all channels available to you – but also know when one particular channel and tactic might serve you the best.
Remember to create a SWOT analysis before you dive head first into your dropshipping business. A SWOT analysis for a dropshipping business involves assessing its internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats specific to the dropshipping model. This examination helps identify advantages like low upfront costs, potential for scalability, as well as challenges such as reliance on suppliers and intense competition. By analyzing these factors, dropshipping businesses can optimize their strategies to leverage strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities, and mitigate threats in the dropshipping landscape.
Finally, don’t rest on your laurels. You need to keep moving, iterating and improving everything from products and listings, to customer experience and marketing. Only this way will you be able to join the ranks of the most successful dropshipping stores out there.
Final words
Has this inspired you to build up your very own dropshipping brand? Who knows, soon we might be writing a case study about you! The only way to fail is to never try at all….
So, if you’re interested in getting started with dropshipping, check out SaleHoo Dropship – a suite of tools that will make your entrepreneurial life just so much easier. Or, if you’re already one step ahead, why not take a look at our insane Directory of over 8000 suppliers (which is set to grow to over 25k soon!)?
For any other eCommerce-related questions or concerns, talk to our lovely team of experts on live chat. We’re always here to help!
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