What Is Dropshipping & Who Does It?

Whether as a producer, wholesaler, retailer or consumer, you most likely have been involved in some aspect of a product that has been dropshipped.

When considering the sale of a product, the customary sequence you think of (at least as a consumer) is that you buy a product and it gets shipped to you from that same company you paid.

As in, you walk into Walmart or go to their online store and you BUY the product. Then that product is SHIPPED to you.

But what about those items you purchase that aren’t being sent directly from the retailer?

Most likely you aren’t even aware that the product is being sent from another source. Your concern is the product arriving on your doorstep and most times, as long as it does, you aren’t going to question exactly where it came from.

What Is Dropshipping?

Simply put, drop shipping is the movement of a product to the CONSUMER from a source that is SEPARATE from the RETAILER.

Who Is Involved In Dropshipping?

Let’s break down what this means with an example:

Fluffy the dog has eaten your cell phone case thus compelling you to jump online to search for a new one (a new case that is).

Being in search for a new cell phone case has placed you in the role of CONSUMER.

You, as the CONSUMER, do a Google search for a new cell phone case.

Up pops a million results.

You select the first one because you are in a hurry.

This brings you to Walmart.com that is offering a pretty decent price for a new case.

This makes Walmart.com the RETAILER.

You, as the CONSUMER, pay Walmart.com as the RETAILER.

But instead of Walmart.com shipping you the product, Walmart.com turns around and places as order with a different company: Celine’s Cells.

Walmart.com and Celine’s Cells has a relationship and agreement prior to this that allows consumers to place orders with Walmart.com that then get fulfilled directly by Celine’s Cells.

In this role, Walmart.com is acting as a dropshipper by not shipping the products directly but having them shipped instead by Celine’s Cells.

Walmart.com never touched the inventory and never stocked the product.

They promoted the product at Walmart.com, sold it via their own online store but fulfilled the order via another store (Celine’s Cells) where they could it at a cheaper price than what they charged their consumer.

MindCloud Can Help

We live in a digital world that evolves exponentially each day.

To survive and prosper, a business must have seamless connections with the entities within their production network.

Take the above example and multiply it by one hundred orders. Then one thousand, one hundred thousand and so on.

Without the proper connectivity between each respective source, your time and effort will be consumed in confusion and wasted motion.

Not to mention lost orders and clients who choose to work with another more competent source.

At MindCloud, we are focused on providing simple solutions to facilitate your delivery needs.

As a wholesaler, brand distributor, retailer or supplier, we can help facilitate the required connections based on the parameters unique to your enterprise.