Last updated on December 9th, 2023 at 06:36 am
If you’ve been thinking about starting an online business and want to do it the right way, this blog is for you. In this post, we are going to take you through every step of starting an e-commerce store in Nigeria using dropshipping as your main marketing strategy.
Even if you are not familiar with the term ” dropshipping “, don’t worry, we will explain everything in detail below.
Dropshipping is a business model that allows retailers to sell products at wholesale prices directly from manufacturers or suppliers.
This means you don’t have to buy inventory or stock up on products before reselling them as your own merchandise.
To get started, let’s take a look at some of the key definitions.
What is Dropshipping in Nigeria?
Dropshipping has become a popular method for many online retailers because it lets them avoid the costly step of having to buy their own inventory.
Instead, dropshipping allows them to focus on marketing and customer service, which is typically where most of their revenue comes from.
Dropshipping takes advantage of the internet’s ability to connect buyers with sellers.
And as a dropshipper, you are essentially a middleman who buys products from manufacturers or suppliers at wholesale prices and resells those products on your website with little or medium markup.
The seller (you) only pays the manufacturer when the product sells.
Is dropshipping available in Nigeria?
Yes, dropshipping is available in Nigeria. It is a viable business model for entrepreneurs looking to start an online business in Nigeria. Dropshipping in Nigeria is a risk-free endeavor that requires no additional costs for holding inventory and shipping products, and it allows for more focus on growing the business through marketing and relationship building.
Why Should You Dropship in Nigeria?
Dropshipping is a great business model for anyone who wants to start an online store and doesn’t want to spend months building up your own inventory before selling it.
If you are not looking to invest any money in inventory, it is a great way to establish an authoritative online presence that will increase your brand awareness and help you grow your business.
And if you are looking to start an e-commerce store in Nigeria, then dropshipping is the right option for you!
Dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to start an online store and build a successful business. It can be done by anyone with access to the internet and a few pieces of information from suppliers.
That said, there are many benefits when learning how to dropship successfully.
Here are some of the benefits:
a). No capital required upfront
One of the main benefits of dropshipping is that you don’t need any money to get started. You don’t have to worry about investing in inventory, or shipping products out to customers.
There are no upfront costs and you don’t have to worry about returns or dealing with customers. The only thing you’ll have to do is find a supplier and make them aware of your store.
b). You don’t need employees
Dropshipping does not require much work from your employees. You can run the entire business by yourself without hiring anyone else if you want, or you can hire staff members as needed depending on how big your business grows.
Since there is no need for inventory, there is also no need for storage space. This means that it will be easier for you to keep your overhead low and only pay for what you need when you need it.
c). Natural growth
Dropshipping will allow you to grow at a more natural rate than having your own inventory would allow since the products will be shipped directly from the supplier to the customer.
d). You can offer a variety of products
Dropshipping will allow you to offer a wider variety of products than you would be able to if you were limited by your own inventory.
Since there are so many different suppliers out there, you’ll be able to find just about anything that your customers can dream up.
e). Less risky venture
Dropshipping is less risky than other business models since there are no upfront costs or investments.
You won’t have to worry about losing money on inventory or having products sitting around at the end of the season if sales aren’t as high as anticipated, since there isn’t any inventory for sale in your store at all!
f). Have a wider market reach
You will be able to reach a wider range of customers when you dropship since you don’t have any of your own products to sell.
This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to make a profit, however, since dropshipping in Nigeria allows you to sell a wider variety of products than if your own inventory limited you.
g). You can test a market before going all in
Dropshipping in Nigeria is a great way for new entrepreneurs to get their feet wet in the world of eCommerce without having to worry about the headaches that come with selling products.
Once you have gotten the hang of things and have some experience under your belt, it might be time to think about starting an eCommerce business that is based on your own inventory.
But all is not roses here.
Dropship businesses in Nigeria will typically have lower margins than businesses that do not dropship.
This is because the supplier is the one who handles all of the inventory, shipping, and returns and they take a cut off of every sale that they make.
Is Dropshipping Right For You?
Dropshipping in Nigeria is a great way for anyone to start an e-commerce business.
However, it may not be right for you if your target market is too competitive or you are looking to gain traction with your brand and build a loyal customer base.
For instance, if you are planning on starting an e-commerce store that sells shoes in Nigeria, the market might be saturated with existing retailers like Zappos, Nike, Adidas and other major brands.
In this case, drop shipping may not be the right choice to help build up your brand.
On the other hand, if you have a product niche where there aren’t many competitors already in place and you can set yourself apart from them with better marketing tactics then dropshipping could work out perfectly for you.
How To Start Dropshipping in Nigeria
That said, let us look at the steps you can take now to start dropshipping in Nigeria:
What are the legal requirements for dropshipping in Nigeria?
Dropshipping is a legal and profitable business model in Nigeria. While it is not strictly necessary to register your business officially at the beginning, as your business grows, you might want to consider registering it.
If you intend to receive payment in USD using a payment gateway like Stripe, it is advisable to have your business registered.
It is essential to comply with all relevant business and tax regulations in Nigeria when starting a dropshipping business.
Step 1: Find a profitable dropshipping niche
The first step is identifying your target market. When you start looking into what products people might be buying online, you will find a lot of different niches.
For example, if you are looking at a physical product like clothing, you might find that people buy workout clothes, women’s jeans, or men’s dress pants. These are all different types of products that people might buy, and each one has a different demand.
When you start looking at different niches, you will find that some have more demand than others.
For example, if you were looking at a physical product, you might find that some products have more demand than others.
Step 2: Evaluate your products and find the best ones to dropship
The next step in starting your dropshipping business in Nigeria is to evaluate your products and find the ones that you would like to sell.
The first thing you have done is decide what your niche will be (see step 1).
How about choosing fashion?
This is a great place to start because it has strong demand, lots of competition and low barriers to entry.
To determine which products would be the best fit for your niche store, take a look at Google Trends.
Trends show how popular different keywords are on search engines over time.
For example, if you want to sell shoes and they are trending up in popularity, that could mean tons of people are searching for them online and they will provide a lot of traffic once they are listed on your site.
One important thing to note with trends though is that what is hot today might not always be popular tomorrow, so it is important to keep an eye on these things for yourself as well.
Find a dropshipping supplier
Once you have found some relevant products that seem like a good fit for your niche, go ahead and start hunting for a dropship wholesaler/supplier/manufacturer.
Keep in mind that even though you can usually find a supplier for cheaper rates than purchasing directly from the manufacturer, you will still need to pay attention to the quality of the product you are receiving.
You will want to make sure to choose a reliable supplier who has a good reputation in the industry.
The best way to find a dropshipping supplier is by doing research.
Find out where the most reputable suppliers are in your industry and then start looking through their offerings.
Read the supplier’s warranty and inspection policy to make sure you are dealing with a reliable company. You can also send out a request for a proposal if you know you will be looking for a long period of time as it can take a long time for suppliers to respond to RFPs.
Once you have found a supplier that seems like a good fit, you will want to reach out to them and see if they are interested in working with you.
You can send a request for quotation (RFQ) or request for information (RFI) depending on how much information you need from the supplier.
If they respond and are interested in working with you, they will usually ask for your business license and tax information to ensure that your business is legitimate.
They may also ask for samples of your products so that they can inspect the quality of the goods before making a deal with you.
Once everything has been finalized, then the supplier will send out an order to their warehouse and send it directly to your address.
Dropshipping suppliers in Nigeria
Some of the best dropshipping suppliers in Nigeria include:
- AliExpress: An international wholesale and dropshipping site that connects e-commerce platforms to suppliers.
- Alibaba: A global wholesale marketplace that offers a wide range of products for dropshipping.
- SaleHoo: A popular supplier directory that provides access to millions of products and suppliers.
- Worldwide Brands: A comprehensive directory of dropshipping suppliers and wholesalers.
- Doba: A platform that connects retailers with suppliers and offers access to millions of products.
- Sunrise Wholesale: A wholesale dropshipping company that offers thousands of products.
- Wholesale2b: A platform that provides access to over 1.5 million products from various suppliers.
- Megagoods: A wholesale dropshipping company that offers a wide range of products.
- Wholesale Central: A platform that connects retailers with suppliers and offers access to thousands of products.
- Modalyst: A dropshipping platform that connects retailers with suppliers and offers access to millions of products.
- Spocket: A dropshipping platform that focuses on US and EU suppliers.
- CJDropshipping: A platform that connects retailers with suppliers and offers access to thousands of products.
- CROV: A dropshipping platform that offers access to a wide range of products.
Additionally, there are local dropshipping suppliers in Nigeria such as:
- 1688: A Nigerian-based supplier that offers a wide range of products.
- ChinaBrands: A platform that connects retailers with Chinese suppliers.
- Jumia: A Nigerian e-commerce platform that also offers dropshipping services.
- Konga: A Nigerian e-commerce platform that supports dropshipping.
- Jiji: A Nigerian e-commerce platform that allows users to buy and sell various products, including dropshipping.
Step 3: Set up your store
Once you have decided what products to sell, and have secured a supplier, you will need to set up your e-commerce platform.
We recommend WooComemrce for anyone looking to start out with a simple, affordable and easy-to-use e-commerce store.
WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress and is capable of powering everything from a one-product shop to a large online marketplace with thousands of products.
It is very easy to set up and use, making it an excellent choice for beginners.
All you need is a domain name and hosting space.
You can take a look at our wordpress hosting packages in Nigeria. Here, you can get started with a WordPress website faster than in normal hosting space.
For as low as NGN. 2500 per month, you get to host unlimited domains, free SSL, and unlimited emails.
Once you have the domain and hosting, install WordPress and add the WooCommerce plugin.
Go ahead and start uploading products to your new dropshipping store in Nigeria.
Step 4: Write a quality description for your store
Now that your store is up and running, it’s time to write a description for your store.
In this step, you should describe the products that you are selling and how they are different from anything else on the market.
You want to make sure that people know exactly what they’re buying before making their purchase.
In order to generate more buzz around your products, you can also share posts about them on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
The more people who know about your store, the more attractive it will be for potential customers.
Furthermore, once you start getting new customers coming in from social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, it will be easier to start attracting higher-quality leads into your business funnel.
You also need to optimize the product description for SEO purposes. In the description, you can include keywords that you think people will use when searching for your products.
If your products are relevant to certain niches, then you should include a few key phrases from those niches in the description as well.
SEO is necessary to make sure that your business has a high website ranking on Google and other search engines.
Step 5: Add Images and Videos to Boost Product Views and Brand Recognition
An important step in marketing your products is to add images and videos to your store.
Remember, your target audience is online right now, so you want to give them a reason to stay on your site.
Adding images and videos makes it easy for people to imagine themselves buying the product they are seeing, which will lead to more conversions into sales.
Step 6: Create a network of affiliates
Once you have started getting some income coming in from your online store, it’s time to start building relationships with other businesses in your niche.
You can find affiliate partners by reaching out to vendors and manufacturers who sell similar products to yours.
Once you build a relationship with them, you can talk about promoting each others’ businesses on social media platforms and through email marketing campaigns.
By promoting their business through these mediums, they will be more willing to promote yours as well.
You can also talk to influencers or content creators within your niche about whether they’d be open to promoting your products.
The more affiliates that are promoting your store, the more leads that will come into your business funnel every day.
cj dropshipping
CJ Dropshipping is a company based in China that provides eCommerce dropshipping fulfillment services.
It helps small businesses ship worldwide and offers dropshipping and fulfillment services.
The platform is known for its wide range of dropshipping services, user-friendly interface, and seamless integration with e-commerce platforms.
It also provides a tracking service for packages sent through its system, with no difference in tracking between packages sent to the USA, Canada, UK, and Australia.
Dropship.io extension
Dropship.io is a Chrome extension that helps with:
- Dropshipping product research
- Spying on the competition
- Analyzing opportunities
- Importing products
- Finding suppliers
- Optimizing marketing campaigns
- Automating order fulfillment
- Managing and tracking shipments
- Inventory management.
It enables real-time access to a Shopify store’s product offerings and revenue data, empowering users to identify winning products and minimize the risk of selling low-performing items.
The extension is free and trusted by over 87,000 successful dropshippers.
It also offers a 7-day free trial for an enhanced dropshipping experience.
The extension can be installed from the Chrome Web Store, and it provides extensive information about any Shopify store, including store themes, product counts, Facebook ads, and best sellers.
The extension also allows users to discover winning products and instantly import high-performing products from any store.
Dropshipping in Nigeria Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it legal to dropship?
Yes, it is legal to dropship and you can get the necessary paperwork from your local government.
How profitable is dropshipping?
This depends on the product you are selling and the quality of your dropshipping store. You can make a lot of money with dropshipping.
What are the costs involved in dropshipping?
You will need to invest in drop shipping software, packaging supplies, and other expenses related to your dropshipping business.
What is a dropshipping store?
A drop shipping store is an online store that sells products to customers directly without any inventory or warehousing. This allows you to keep all profits for yourself without having to pay any overhead costs like rent or overhead for your own office space.
Why should I choose to dropship over wholesale?
Wholesale gives you access to high-quality products at wholesale prices, but it doesn’t give you the opportunity to take full control of your brand and how your product sells. Dropshipping in Nigeria allows you to sell high-quality products at retail prices with full control over your brand, which means you can make more money.
Why should I choose to dropship over store front?
The storefront gives you access to high-quality products at retail prices, but it doesn’t give you the opportunity to take full control of your brand and how your product sells. Dropshipping in Nigeria allows you to sell high-quality products at retail prices with full control over your brand, which means you can make more money.
Final thoughts
If you are looking to start your own business, you might have considered dropshipping in Nigeria.
Dropshipping is one of the most popular business models in Nigeria, with the potential to start profitable businesses.
There is a lot of work involved in this business model, but the final product can give you a lot of profits and a lot of fun.
