What is drop-shipping?
Heard the term but aren’t quite sure what “drop-shipping” is? We’ve got answers
If you’ve considered creating an e-commerce business recently or are already an established business owner, you have probably heard about drop-shipping. If you’ve never heard about it, keep reading and you’ll gain some supply knowledge!
How does it work?
Drop-shipping is, in basic terms, a form of supply chain management. The business owner does not house any goods in a warehouse or a brick-and-mortar store and instead outsources fulfillment and shipping to a third-party. When a customer places an order, the third-party is notified and executes fulfillment and shipping procedures. The business owner doesn’t have to get involved with product inventory, fulfillment or shipping and can focus their energy and money on marketing and business development.
How does it work for Slaite?
Slaite is a print-on-demand and drop-shipping service. We work with Creators to bring their designs to life and remove the headache from logistics responsibilities. Once a Creator has designed and published their custom collection, we fulfill orders as we receive them. When a customer orders a specific product, we digitally print or embroider the corresponding design to the garment. Once the order is fulfilled, we work with our trusted shipping partners to deliver your products to your customers.
What are the pros to using Slaite?
- Low startup investment
- Investing in samples, advertisements and marketing your products is always recommended for success but you will save on warehousing, fulfillment and shipping!
- No logistics fees
- Creators can effectively run an online business without paying high service fees for inventory management, production equipment and shipping costs. We take care of the headaches so you can focus on the business.
- Trusted and experienced partner
- Our parent company has worked with custom printing and shipping logistics for over 20 years. We research and test all products and decoration styles and we have extensive experience with shipping logistics. You’ve got the creative spirit and we’ve got the know-how.
- Continually emerging e-commerce climate
- Retail spaces are moving online and recent consumer behaviour indicates an affinity with online shopping. The time is right to combine your creative design with an online business plan. Slaite is here to help you succeed.
What are the potential cons for drop-shipping?
- Longer production times
- To avoid wasteful over-manufacturing and creating products that will not end up being sold, Slaite produces products on-demand and per order. This can result in a marginally longer fulfillment time to produce customized and high-quality products. We are consistently looking at methods to optimize our production times to get your products to your customers as quickly as possible.
- No direct handling of your product
- We take our position as your trusted creative right hand seriously. We research, test and vet all our products and we are continuously reviewing technological improvements to keep our decoration equipment state-of-the-art. We always recommend purchasing product samples to ensure your products look exactly the way you want them to.
Still have questions?
We welcome feedback and questions from all Creators. If you’re still confused about drop-shipping, send us a message! We will happily help you with all your Slaite queries.
