Starting a dropshipping store on Shopify in India

Dropshipping means you sell products on your store, and a supplier keeps the stock and ships each order to your customer. You don’t buy inventory upfront, which is why it’s a popular way to start. It isn’t effortless, though: you depend on someone else for quality and delivery, while your customers hold you responsible for both.

This guide covers what to check before you start a dropshipping store on Shopify in India.

What’s easy and what’s hard

• Easy: no stock to buy or store, and you can try new products quickly.
• Hard: you don’t control product quality, packing or dispatch times. Margins can be thin once product cost, shipping, payment fees and returns are counted. And many stores sell the same products, so standing out takes effort.

Choosing a supplier

• Delivery time. Indian shoppers are used to quick delivery. Suppliers who ship from within India usually deliver much faster than overseas ones.
• Order samples. Order the products yourself before listing them, and check quality, packaging and how long delivery took.
• Cash on delivery. Check whether the supplier supports COD orders and how COD money reaches you.
• Returns. Know who handles returned and damaged parcels, and who pays for them.
• Stock updates. Your store should know when the supplier runs out, so you don’t sell what can’t be shipped.
• Branding. Ask whether parcels can go out without the supplier’s branding, or with yours.

Setting up the store

Most suppliers connect to Shopify through an app that imports products and sends orders to the supplier automatically. Once connected:

• Rewrite product titles and descriptions in your own words, for your customers.
• Use clear, accurate photos, and replace poor supplier images where you can.
• State realistic delivery times on product pages and in your shipping policy.
• Set up cash on delivery with safeguards against fake orders. See our COD guide.
• Make your returns policy match what your supplier will actually accept.

Before you spend on ads

• Place test orders and follow them to delivery, both prepaid and COD.
• Work out your profit per order after product cost, shipping, payment fees and returns. Our running costs guide lists what to include.
• Ask your accountant about GST and any registrations your business needs.

Our dropshipping work

We’ve built several dropshipping stores, including Candy Craft and Droppify. On dropshipping stores, supplier setup is part of our standard build, alongside COD forms, safeguards against fake orders and WhatsApp order notifications.

What to take from it

• Dropshipping saves buying stock, but you still answer for quality and delivery.
• Choose suppliers on delivery time, samples, COD support and returns.
• Write your own product content and state honest delivery times.
• Know your real profit per order before you run ads.

See more of our dropshipping stores, or tell us what you plan to sell.