Tony LoyaTony has been at Volusion for over 3 years and currently oversees the Business Development Solution Partnership

Program. He has worked extensively with Volusion merchants and has an in-depth understanding of the

platform.

Meet Today’s Presenters

Josh SummerhaysJosh has been the Marketing Director at Doba for the

past four years. When he’s not optimizing a campaign or creating new resources to help Doba customers, Josh

likes to tinker with a variety of side projects from gardening to writing to working with his wife on building

a side business.

Agenda• Intro to dropshipping

• Advantages and disadvantages

• Dropshipping strategies

• Dropshipping with Volusion

• Q&A

WHAT IS DROPSHIPPINGProduct sourcing is a game of Hot Potato

Traditional product sourcingSupplier

• Sells bulk inventory to retailers

• Lower risk = lower wholesale price

• Owns & manages the inventory

• Fulfills individual orders to customers

• Bears risk of illiquid inventory to get better pricing (holds the Hot Potato)

Retailer

Dropshipping reverses the conceptRetailer• Markets/sells products

• Sends orders to supplier for direct fulfillment to customers

• Pays higher unit cost

• Owns & manages inventory

• Fulfills individual orders to customers (placed by the retailer)

• Assumes inventory risk (Hot Potato)

Supplier

Advantages of Dropshipping• Lower overhead for retailer

• Lower ongoing risk for retailer

• Simplified operations

• Increased agility and flexibility

Disadvantages of Dropshipping• Competition

• Lower margins (typically)

• Less control of order fulfillment

Who uses dropshipping?

DROPSHIPPING STRATEGIESConsider your retail model and lifecycle stage

What type of retailer are you?

Category retailer• Sell related products from

3rd party suppliers

• Add value as curator: details, reviews, recommendations, customer service

Your opportunityCategory retailer• Rapid market testing of

new products

• Quick expansion of long-tail assortment

What type of retailer are you?Brand Retailer• Unique products, own the

brand

• Direct channel, but may distribute to partners

• Add value by controlling costs, passing savings to customers, delivering brand-consistent

Your opportunityVertically integrated• Test-market related products with comparable brand equity to

your core assortment

Other use cases for retailers• Stay profitable through entire product lifecycle

• Seasonal shifts in demand

Interested in learning more?

Visit our website to download The Retailer’s Guide to Dropshipping

to help you get started!

Volusion and Doba•Doba products live alongside

your Volusion inventory•Store management is easier

when you don’t have to fulfill products

• Full control over Doba products including price and shipping

• No special tools or features

Volusion and Doba - PricePrice

•Product price

•Sale price

•List price

Doba

•Offers suggestions

•Percentage markup

Volusion and Doba - SEOOptimize for search engines

•Title

•Description

•Keywords

Product descriptions

•Unique content

Volusion and Doba - ShippingShipping options

•Fixed

•Free shipping

•Live rates

• Knowledge base article

• Chat, call or email our team - Volusion Support

• A Guide to Dropshipping ft. Doba and Volusion

Resources to get you started

Thank you! Any questions?