Using drop-shipping to sell handbags
Drop-shipping is a great option for entrepreneurs who might be just starting out because it negates the need to design, manufacture or ship your products. Drop-shipping companies are manufacturers that will ship products directly to your buyers when the products are purchased. Here’s how it works: when a customer places an order – shipping and product info get sent over to your drop-shipper who sends the product out to your customer.
With this system in place, you don’t need to worry about storing stock or shipping items out of your home. This frees up more time for you to focus on building an online presence for your brand and attracting followers that you can funnel to your online store.
You can lower the cost of goods by buying products in bulk from Alibaba. However if you’re looking to have product shipped on-demand after purchase – you can also have them drop-shipped through AliExpress by using the Oberlo app – which lets you add product to your online store in one click. Drop-shipping products tends to be a bit more expensive that purchasing them wholesale and shipping them out yourself. However, due to the fact that the item is shipped only after it’s been purchased – you’re a lot less likely to have overstock and a lot more likely to turn a profit.
AliExpress offers a lot of different types of purses and handbags with many different designs. The variety of products makes it easier to corner a specific niche and find designs that will appeal to that niche. When looking for products – it’s best to think about branding and pick products that will help build an identity around your brand. Understanding your audience and what they’ll find appealing is essential marketing your purse company – so make sure you know who you’re selling to before you decide what you’re selling.
How to market purses through social media
Once you’ve decided what products you want to start selling and the type of buyer you want to attract – it’s time to start moving on to building an audience by finding those people. If you’re just getting started – chances are you’re looking to keep costs low. This means that – at least in the beginning – your primary marketing platform will be social media.
Purse and handbag brands tend to do better on visual mediums – such as Instagram and Pinterest. Remember also that you want to use a medium that has the right age-group demographics for your brand. Instagram tends to skew to a younger audience – so this is likely the best platform if your target audience is younger. Pinterest’s user-base tends to skew closer to middle-aged – so if you’re selling high-end luxury purses, this might be the best channel to grow your following.
You want to explore profiles and hashtags relevant to the audience you’re looking for. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to exclusively follow purse and handbag companies – but you want to think about which celebrities, influencers and brands your audience would currently be following. For example; if you’re selling casual bags for the outdoorsy type – maybe consider scoping out followers of travel blogs and outdoor gear brands.
Understanding what your audience find enjoyable will help you when creating content that gets your followers attention. You want to produce content regularly – but keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity. Remember to like and comment on audience posts as well. This will help to get exposure for your brand and help you build your following over time.
Purses and handbags are best promoted using lifestyle shots of people using your products. You can take pictures yourself if you’d prefer – or you can use any of the photos in our downloadable starter kit above. As your brand grows, you might also consider posting pictures of your own customers using your products. This helps to build word-of-mouth brand recognition and can make your followers feels like the brand is an extension of themselves.
Instagram influencers are another great wat to market your products on Instagram. Influencer accounts are accounts with large, established audiences. They’re usually catered to a specific demographic and have an established degree of credibility with their audiences. This makes influencers great for cross-promotion. The credibility that an influencer has with their audience can easily translate into credibility for your brand. Some larger influencers do charge fees for promotion, but smaller influencers for specific niches are usually low-cost and more effective.
You can also increase sales by making it quick and easy for your followers to purchase your products directly from their social media account. Shoppable Instagram Galleries can give you the option to tag product in your images and have the tags link directly back to your online store. You can also allow customers to purchase directly through Pinterest if you’ve set-up a Shopify store.
Business Model
Drop-shipping purses and handbags can be both low-cost and low-risk. Since the products are paid for only after you’ve sold them – the cost of goods will always be lower than the price they’re sold at. Purses on AliExpress can range in price from around $15 to $40 for more high-end items. This means that if you sell your products at around $40 – $50 you can expect to make a lot of profit. If you’re selling more high-end purses – you can also get away with higher price points.
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