Question

What are the major advantages of using the drop-shipping/ postponement technique? Please give examples of the drop-shipping or postponement that you have experienced.

Answer 1

Answer:

1   Increase your cash flow: Since you don’t stock the product, you don’t pay for it until it’s sold (after you’ve been paid for it).

2   Scalability: Test products and add new ones quickly without bearing the burden of ordering in bulk and having something fail (which ties up valuable time and capital expenditure).

3   Increase lifetime value of customers: With the ability to add new and expanded product selections consistently, you can keep your existing customers engaged and returning to see what new items you’ve acquired. Costco stores offer a great example of this concept, and with a drop ship program, you can offer a similar experience online.

4   Low starting cost: You can start selling without a lot of early investment because you don’t have to buy wholesale or cover the cost of manufacturing your own products.

5   Enable expansion into new markets: Sometimes getting product across international borders can be costly and challenging, but if you partner with strategically located suppliers, you can often access the same or similar product offerings and ship them quickly. This allows you to test the market and validate if a given product is worth importing.

6   Reduce costs: Every time you need to touch a product in the supply chain, there is a cost associated. Ocean freight services, Port Operations, LTL and FTL Services, and warehouse employees all get added into the Cost of Goods Sold. Often, you will find that a percentage of your product offering would net a business higher profit margins if it were drop shipped.

7   Virtually unlimited inventory: One of the main reasons the drop ship industry exists is to help retailers and suppliers combat inventory distortion: the 800 billion dollar problem of over-stock clearances and out-of-stock shelves. By tapping into inventory further up the supply chain, theoretically you can gain access to virtually unlimited inventory.