You might be asking, “What is Shopify Dropshipping in Nigeria?” Well, it’s a way to start an e-commerce business without having to spend any money upfront.
It allows you to test out different products in your niche before committing and it’s also one of the easiest ways for newbies to get started with their own online store.
This article aims at teaching you how easy it can be and give you all the information that you need on what tools are needed as well as some tips from experienced entrepreneurs who have successfully done this themselves.
What is dropshipping in Nigeria?
Dropshipping is a business model where you don’t have to worry about product inventory or shipping.
You let the supplier handle all that while you sell their products and earn a commission.
Who can do dropshipping?
Anyone who wants to start an e-commerce store for whatever reason, from making some extra income on the side, having something fun and exciting in your life (or both) to even quitting your job this year so you can work full time on building up your own Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria!
You might be thinking right now… “That sounds too good to be true!”
Well, it is not because there are quite a few things which I’ll cover as well:
- Pros vs cons of dropshipping in Nigeria
- What tools are needed to get started
- The steps involved in setting everything up and some tips that you need to know.
So if dropshipping sounds interesting, keep on reading!
What is Shopify in Nigeria?
Shopify is a powerful e-commerce store builder that makes it easy to set up your own online shop.
It is the perfect platform for newbies who are looking to start their own business and test out different products or more experienced entrepreneurs who want an easier way of managing their inventory, shipping & customers all in one place.
Shopify has over 500,000 active stores so you are definitely going to be in good company!
Their prices range from $29/month (for basic Shopify) all the way up to $299/month which includes access to some advanced features such as Instagram integration.
They also offer a 14-days free trial if you’d like to try things out first before committing… nice touch right? ?
Why Use Shopify?
As mentioned, Shopify is a complete e-commerce platform that provides everything you need to start selling online and take your business to the next level.
Shopify’s features help users build their own website, design it how they want, get more traffic through SEO optimization & social media marketing as well as manage their entire inventory with ease all from one place!
Shopify also makes accepting payments safe & secure by using PayPal or Stripe which are both trusted payment gateways in the world of eCommerce.
It even has an app store full of great apps for free so no additional costs here ?
What do I need?
To be able to start Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria, you will only need two things: a supplier (or product) and customers (people who want to buy the product).
And to get there, you need to follow some steps. And here they are
Step 1: Register for Shopify
Registering and getting a free trial is where you start.
Creating an account will also give you access to the App Store which contains over 500 different apps that can help your business run better/easier/faster.
You don’t need all those features right away, but it’s good to know they are there if you need them later on (when your store starts growing) – or when one of the many loopholes in this system gets closed off by Shopify itself.
Step 2: Choose a Product Niche
You want to choose something you know and love. It is best if it is also related to your other interests so that you can build up trust with your customers.
For example;
People who are into technology might be more inclined to buy from someone whose blog or YouTube channel they already follow – since they are getting what seems like personal advice from an expert in the field (which is actually just clever marketing/branding).
This could lead them deeper down the sales funnel as well by becoming a customer instead of simply a one-time buyer.
Of course, this works because their interest aligns perfectly with whatever product niche you have chosen for yourself!
Step 3: Choose a Product
This is where you find out which products are selling best in your niche, and look for ones that might be up-and-coming as well.
You can use the “Best Seller” tag on Shopify in Nigeria to see what’s already proven popular and then search further by keyword or category (for example: if you wanted to sell wooden iPhone cases, go into the Phone Cases section first).
Check how many reviews each product has received as this will help determine its popularity even more than sales.
Some low competition keywords have lots of items with only a few ratings because they haven’t been listed very long – while other top sellers may have hundreds of reviews but lower overall rankings simply due to competition.
If there are no reviews at all, you might as well leave it be and try to find something that already has a few.
Step 4: Find a supplier
The next step to start Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria is to find a supplier.
How do you find a supplier?
There are many suppliers out there who are happy to work with newbies and take care of all shipping & inventory for you.
You can find them by searching on Google, Alibaba, or any order management software which I’ll cover below.
Keep in mind that not every store will sell products at the wholesale price so it is important to look around first before committing somewhere just because their prices seem really low compared to others!
On Alibaba, you can search for the product and then filter by “Gold Suppliers” – these are verified companies (and people) who have a good reputation from other buyers.
It is best to stick with those because they will be able to provide everything that is needed like shipping, etc.
If you are selling on Shopify in Nigeria, it might even be worthwhile placing an order before committing your supplier simply so you know what kind of quality/quantity/size options are available beforehand.
Step 5: Launch Your Store
The first thing everyone sees when visiting your store is the homepage!
Make sure this makes a lasting impression on them as well as being informative about what your products entail and how they will benefit them in their lives.
You can use the “Page” section on Shopify to make this as simple or complex as you want, and it’s also worth having a video on there.
Step 6: Drive Traffic To Your Store
There are two main ways of doing this: free & paid traffic.
There is no point in spending money when you can get results for free – so that should be your first priority!
If you have already had some success with giveaways (and have an email list full of contacts) then start off by sending them links to your store/products via marketing emails etc.
Once they visit their pages and see how great everything looks, chances are they’ll leave a good review which will help convince others to give it a shot too! Of course, it’s not always that easy…
Step 7: Optimize Your Store For Better Rankings & Conversions
It is important to keep up with the latest changes on Shopify because they are constantly rolling out new features and occasionally closing loopholes (such as “stealth mode” – which basically involved using a different theme than your main one).
It would be best if you could stay ahead of these things though so you can grow faster in peace without worrying about sudden roadblocks.
You might even want to consider hiring someone who knows what they are doing for SEO purposes anyway since this will have an effect on how much money you bring in!
If nothing else, at least get some good reviews from real customers posted on their pages 🙂
What is order management software?
We mentioned this a little earlier.
An order management software (or sometimes known as dropship software) has two main purposes:
- Helping users manage orders from customers and
- Connecting users with multiple suppliers so they can choose based on what works best for them (price, location, etc.).
Shopify has its own order management software called “Sales Chimp” which is included in their $29/month plan.
Or you can use a third-party one such as Oberlo if your store exceeds the number of orders Shopify allows.
How do I set it all up?
Here’s where we get to the fun part!
Setting up an e-commerce store using Shopify in Nigeria only takes about 30 minutes once everything is plugged in (if not less).
All that is required after signing up for both Shopify and whatever app you choose are: product information, images & logo… done!
That was easy right!?
What else do I need to know?
So now that you have a better understanding of what Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria actually entails, I will leave you with a few tips that are sure to help!
a). Keep it simple
Don’t try and do too much at once.
Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria is not as easy as setting up your store, purchasing the products, and waiting for customers’ orders to come in (although this may happen eventually).
It is important to focus on one product first until everything runs smoothly before expanding into more complicated things such as marketing or wholesale purchases.
Start small and work your way up instead of biting off more than you can chew right from the beginning ?.
b). Start selling sooner rather than later
If there is something that we have learned over time it is that eCommerce stores in Nigeria require patience… especially when starting out since sales will be low initially.
If you want to make the most of your time and effort it is best to start selling as soon as possible so you can get in front of potential customers.
If this is something that interests you check out Shopify for free today!
What keywords should I target?
This is something most people struggle with when start Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria.
Although there is a tonne (that is Australian slang ?) of different ways to do SEO on your store in Nigeria, targeting specific keywords has been proven by countless eCommerce stores to be one of the best forms which help generate more traffic via search engines such as Google.
This means if someone searches “men’s wool coats” chances are they’ll end up finding your website… sweet ?.
Pros vs cons of Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria
Dropshipping with Shopify in Nigeria has its own set of pros and cons that may or not make this an ideal business model for you depending on your needs and goals.
Pros
To start off, there aren’t any upfront fees when starting up a store on Shopify, unlike traditional eCommerce models where you have to purchase your own warehouse equipment, etc.
This makes sense because obviously, they want people running their way through signing up for monthly plans.
Another big advantage of Shopify dropshipping in Nigeria is how easy it is to set up and get started with the platform in general.
There are tons of tutorials online that can help you do everything from getting your store launched, choosing a theme, and customizing it, etc – all without having any coding or technical experience beforehand!
This really makes things simple for anyone who is interested in starting their own business but isn’t sure exactly where/how to start out yet since there are so many options available :).
Cons
The last thing we will mention about dropshipping on Shopify is something that probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise by this point: competition!
As mentioned earlier, there are millions upon millions of other stores already selling products online and a large majority of them are on Shopify.
It can be difficult to stand out in this kind of environment especially if you don’t have an existing customer base or social media following (which is why it’s so important to build both!).
Another top drawback for most people is the fact that it’s an online-only model.
If you are not experienced in social media or digital marketing then this could be challenging at first because you won’t have access to physical storefronts.
You also don’t get to physically interact with your customers when they come into your store so sometimes things can feel impersonal even though everything is handled through email and messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, etc.
Wrapping up dropshipping in Nigeria
There are many steps to starting a successful Shopify dropshipping store in Nigeria, but it is possible.
The first step is choosing the right products that you know your customer base will be interested in and then finding suppliers for those items from sites like Alibaba.
After establishing this connection with the supplier, make sure you launch your site on Shopify and optimize it so search engines rank it higher in their listings.
You can also drive traffic to your website by giving away free products or paying for ads online.
All of these elements work together to create a stellar SEO strategy that drives sales!
