Is dropshipping dead? A lot of people are asking this because of changes in online shopping. But before you make up your mind, let’s take a closer look.
In this article, we’ll clear up some common myths, share new facts, and show you how dropshipping is still a smart way to start your business. Keep reading to find out more!
Is dropshipping dead?
No, not yet. At Dropshipman, we think that it’s still developing.
But actually, to succeed, more effort is needed. We all know that when something makes money, more and more people will join in to share the cake. The more people there are, the more effort you have to put in.
Because there will always be someone doing better than you. But getting ahead and growing is something that requires overcoming laziness.
Let’s look at the next set of data:
- The changes in “dropshipping” on Google Trends over the past 5 years.
- According to the data, the dropshipping market is worth 366.76 billion dollars in 2024. It will grow from 470.92 billion dollars in 2025 to 3,479.1 billion dollars by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of 28.43%.
The two pieces of data above show that dropshipping still has room to grow. The dropshipping market is a good opportunity. ” Is dropshipping dead?” No.
Let’s look at a successful case from the dropshipping market.
Over ten years ago, Ben Francis, a college student, created the first version of Gymshark. He and his friend Lewis Morgan started selling fitness supplements on the website. They used the money they made from dropshipping, plus money Francis earned working as a delivery driver at Pizza Hut, to buy a sewing machine and screen printing machine to make their own workout clothes. That’s how Gymshark started. Today, this direct-to-consumer fitness brand is worth over 1.4 billion dollars, and it plans to go public in 2021.
The reasons why dropshipping will die?
We also mentioned above that dropshipping isn’t dead and the dropshipping market is still growing.
But honestly, it’s harder to make a dropshipping business successful than before.
The reasons include changes in consumer shopping habits, lower profit margins, higher marketing costs, and so on. Keep reading for more details:
1. Shifts in consumer shopping habits
More and more people are shopping on platforms like AliExpress, Shein, Temu, and TikTok because these apps make shopping easier with good prices, fast shipping, and fun ways to shop.
Because of these reasons, many customers now prefer to use these E-commerce platforms instead of shopping on dropshipping stores.
This change in shopping habits has affected the dropshipping market, as dropshippers need to adjust to the growing competition and find new ways to reach customers.
2. Declining profits and rising advertising costs
More and more people are starting dropshipping businesses. The more people there are, the smaller the piece of the pie gets.
As the competition grows, the prices of products go lower, and the space for profit gets smaller. Also, the cost of advertising is getting higher. We all know that Ads on Google and Facebook are becoming more expensive. If we want more people to see our products, we have to spend more money.
3. Lack of innovative products
Many dropshippers choose to sell the same popular products. These products mostly come from the same supplier and don’t have many differences in quality or appearance. Because they aren’t unique or new, customers don’t have strong favorites when choosing between them.
Even though changes in shopping habits, ad costs, and products can make us scared, dropshipping is still a good choice. It is still a good choice for most people who want to make money with low costs and low risks.
Getting wealth always takes effort and time. If we stay positive, be patient, and use smart strategies and tools, we can still be successful.
So, how can we keep our dropshipping business from failing? Next, we will talk about some common mistakes dropshippers make and how to avoid them. By understanding these mistakes and using the right strategies, we can help our business grow and be more successful.
Debunking dropshipping myths before you start
Before starting your dropshipping journey, it’s important to understand the changes in the dropshipping market. Also, we need to change some mindsets, not just about the market but about ourselves too.
1. Anyone can do dropshipping
Many people think dropshipping is easy because it has low costs and offers freedom. This is why students, stay-at-home moms, retirees, and people looking for side jobs try it.
But to succeed, you need some basic knowledge of e-commerce. Without this, you might face problems early on, even in the product selection phase.
However, if you’re determined and patient, you can still succeed. Just be sure to learn about the dropshipping process and do your research, especially on how to choose products.
2. Dropshipping can make big money
Some people are overly optimistic about making money with dropshipping.
Yes, it can be profitable, but it’s not something beginners can expect to do right away. Think about learning to walk – a child first learns to crawl, then stand with support, and only then walks on their own.
Dropshipping works the same way.
3. Dropshipping stores can sell anything
Many beginners try to sell everything in their stores, thinking it will work because they see popular products online.
But this is a mistake. If your store sells everything, it can confuse customers, and they might not trust your brand. It’s better to focus on a specific niche. This will make your marketing easier and build customer trust.
4. Low prices lead to success
Dropshipman marketing team once ran an experiment to better understand the dropshipping market.
We advertised free products, only charging a small shipping fee. We thought many people would place orders, but only 3 orders came in, even though we got hundreds of clicks.
This taught us that lower prices don’t always lead to more sales. Price is just one factor. Customers don’t just buy because something is cheap.
5. Ads guarantee orders
A common mistake is thinking that running ads will automatically lead to sales.
Some beginners spend hundreds or even thousands on ads without making a single sale. Ads simply bring customers to your store, but there are many other factors at play, like product pictures, price, shipping costs, delivery time, and customer service.
You need to take care of all these factors to convert clicks into orders.
How to succeed in dropshipping?
1. Basic steps of dropshipping
Let’s clear up some misunderstandings. Now, let’s quickly go over the basic steps of dropshipping and explain what it is.
The basic process includes: creating your own website (setting up your store), choosing products, driving traffic, order processing, payments, and customer service.
In this process, there are three participants: the supplier, you, and the customer.
The supplier is responsible for making the products, managing inventory, and delivering the products to you. They also replace any damaged items and restock popular products. The supplier sells the products to us at a lower price and takes on the risk of holding inventory.
We, on the other hand, choose the right products from the supplier’s list and sell them in our store under our brand through marketing. Additionally, we handle customer inquiries and after-sales issues.
Let’s use a simple example to explain how dropshipping works:
Customer A buys a product from Store B for $50.
B sends A’s order to Supplier C and pays Supplier C $15 (wholesale price).
Supplier C ships the product to Customer A under B’s name using the order info provided by B.
As you can see, dropshipping involves less investment compared to other business models. You don’t need to buy a lot of products and take on inventory risks.
Many dropshipping apps now have full features, and a lot of processes can be automated, saving you from a lot of hassle.
Now, let’s dive into the specific steps.
2. Choose a platform to open your store
The first thing to do when opening a store is to decide which e-commerce platform to use. For e-commerce beginners, choosing the right platform can save you a lot of trouble at the beginning, such as basic website setup, store design, payment settings, etc.
The main platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and WordPress.
Here are the pros and cons of these platforms:
| Platform | Pros | Cons |
| Shopify | – Easy to use, beginner-friendly – Rich app and plugin ecosystem – 24/7 customer support – Multiple payment gateways – Built-in inventory and order management | – Relatively expensive – Limited customization options – Monthly subscription fees and additional transaction fees |
WooCommerce | – Built on WordPress, highly customizable – Free to use (but requires paid plugins and themes) – Massive plugin ecosystem – Unlimited customization options | – Requires some technical knowledge – Needs self-hosting and security management – May need a more powerful server for high-traffic |
| BigCommerce | – Strong built-in features, ideal for growing businesses – Multi-channel sales (eBay, Amazon, etc.) – Built-in SEO tools – No transaction fees | – The interface can be complex – Monthly fees – Limited theme and design customization |
| WordPress | – Extremely flexible – Low cost (only domain and hosting fees) – Strong SEO capabilities – Large plugin ecosystem | – Requires some technical expertise – No built-in e-commerce features require WooCommerce or other plugins – Security and performance management are user responsibilities |
3. Focus on product selection
Product selection is a crucial part. If you pick a potential winning product, you may even get some orders in the early days of your store.
What is a potential product? A potential product doesn’t mean it’s a hot seller. When a product is already selling well, and you just sell it too, the selling hype may have passed.
Here are some product selection tips to help you choose the right products:
- Does the product serve a purpose and meet the customer’s needs?
- No restrictions on marketing and advertising.
- Is the product unique and able to attract attention?
- Don’t sell products that are easy to find or buy elsewhere.
4. Drive traffic
In the dropshipping business, increasing traffic is a key step. You need to get customers to visit your store before they can place an order.
Here are some common ways to drive traffic that can help increase your store’s exposure and attract more visitors:
- Google Ads: Running ads on Google Search, so your ad may appear when users search for specific keywords. The advantage of this method is targeted ads, and results are traceable. The downside is that it can be expensive and requires advertising experience.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is a process of optimizing your website to improve search rankings. The advantage is that SEO is free and brings long-lasting traffic. The downside is that it takes time and effort, with slow results.
- EDM (Email Direct Marketing): Sending customized emails to selected email addresses with content you want to promote. We often receive marketing emails in our inbox, which are EDM. The advantage is a high conversion rate (high ROI). The downside is that creating quality content takes time, or it may be seen as spam.
- Forum and Community Marketing: Engaging in online forums and communities to interact with potential customers. The advantage is building trust and relationships, while the downside is that it can be time-consuming, and discussions may not always be under your control.
- Social Media Marketing: Posting content on personal or brand social media to promote products. The advantage is that it can be targeted directly at customers, but it requires effort to create high-quality content.
5. Build your brand
Building a brand for your store can lower marketing costs and leave a lasting impression on customers, so they’ll think of you first when they shop again. In addition, branding can communicate your values to customers and increase their trust in your brand.
Dropshipman marketing team suggests that dropshippers can build their brand step by step through the following steps:
- Research your target customer’s preferences.
- Write engaging copy that communicates your culture and values.
- Design a memorable and attractive brand logo.
- Find suppliers who can offer POD (Print on Demand) and private label dropshipping.
- Consistently promote your brand and its values through various channels.
6. Use tools to boost automation
If you don’t have enough energy to run your store, using some tools is a great suggestion. Because just picking products, marketing, communicating with suppliers, managing inventory, answering customer inquiries, and handling returns and exchanges can be exhausting.
Business automation allows us to run our business with software. In simple terms, a dropshipping tool makes business processes more efficient, instead of doing them manually.
Automation helps us manage our dropshipping store more easily. In other words, automated dropshipping can simplify business tasks and save us time from manual work.
That being said, Dropshipman is an all-in-one dropshipping solution. Dropshipman has a marketplace with one million products.
Here are features that we can automate for our stores:
- Product Imports
- Automated sourcing
- Order Fulfillment
For product imports, Dropshipman allows you to automatically import products from AliExpress and Temu into your store through a plugin. Alternatively, you can simply click the product URL or product ID from AliExpress, and the product will be automatically imported into your store.
Meanwhile, Sourcing automation allows you to expand your product offerings beyond the Dropshipman catalog. Once the product sourcing request has been successfully initiated, our dedicated sales agent will manage the sourcing process.
About Order Fulfillment, Dropshipman simplifies the order fulfillment process, here’s how it works:
1. Order Synchronization: Once you receive orders in your store, Dropshipman will automatically synchronize them to the Orders section.
2. Bulk or Individual Processing: You can process orders individually or in bulk, making it efficient for managing multiple orders.
3. Payment Completion: After placing the orders, you can complete the payment directly within Dropshipman.
4. Automatic Fulfillment: Once the tracking numbers are generated, Dropshipman automatically synchronizes them to your store, fulfilling your orders without manual intervention.
7. Maintain a long-term partnership with suppliers.
If your orders are steady or you’ve found a good supplier who’s reliable and easy to work with, it’s a great idea to build a long-term partnership. This can get you better prices, a steady supply of products, and better customer service.
Some suppliers even help with stocking products so they can ship faster.
A long-term, stable partnership is more valuable than short-term gains.
H2: Future trends of dropshipping in 2025
Trend 1: Higher Demand for Local Warehouses
Trend 2: More Intelligence and Automation
Trend 3: Better Customer Experience and Branding
Trend 4: Focus on Social Commerce
Trend 5: Enhanced Mobile Shopping Experience
Trend 6: Multi-Channel Sales Integration
Trend 1 – Higher demand for local warehouses
If you follow cross-border e-commerce, you may have heard about Trump’s recent policy changes. He first imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods and removed the small-value tax exemption, but later restored the $800 tax-free threshold.
For dropshippers who source products from China, these changes may impact costs and shipping. Some may have to raise prices, while others may temporarily mark products as “out of stock.”
In our opinion, we believe that to run a stable business in the long term and avoid risks from policy changes, it is crucial to find suppliers with overseas warehouses.
Trend 2: More intelligence and automation
“Experts at Prophecy Market Insights estimate that the market for drone package delivery will grow to $38.5 billion by 2034, up from $2.1 billion this year.”
People want their packages to arrive as quickly as possible. When stores sell similar products and offer similar services, shipping speed becomes an important way to compete. By combining AI, automation, and drones, delivery can become faster, more reliable, and more flexible.
- AI can predict when a package will arrive.
- Automation helps manage shipping resources automatically.
- Drones use smart systems to deliver packages quickly.
Trend 3: Smarter and more automated
AI is playing a bigger role in e-commerce. From suggesting products people might like to improve customer service, AI helps in many ways. It can analyze trending products to help dropshippers choose what to sell. It also makes customer service smarter—unlike old chatbots that gave robotic replies, AI can now understand what customers need and respond quickly.
Trend 4: Better customer experience and branding
Good customer experience is more important than ever. While AI can make things faster and more efficient, people still appreciate the human touch. A kind voice and thoughtful service can help build a strong connection with customers. This not only leaves a great impression but also helps create a trusted brand.
Trend 5: Focus on social commerce
Social commerce is a new way of shopping that combines social media with online buying. Social media platforms are now key places for e-commerce. In fact, by 2030, social commerce is expected to generate $6.2 trillion in revenue.
This model is very efficient because it focuses on connecting people. It allows shoppers to quickly learn about products through conversations and social interactions. This makes shopping more fun, convenient, and diverse, giving customers a better experience.
Social channels are crucial touchpoints for e-commerce: In fact, by 2030, social commerce revenue is expected to reach $6.2 trillion.
This business model is very efficient because it focuses on communication between people. It helps customers quickly learn about products, brings them closer together, and makes shopping more fun. It also gives shoppers a more convenient and diverse buying experience.
Trend5：Enhanced mobile shopping experience
Did you know most web browsing happens on phones now?
Studies show over half (55%+) of what people do online comes from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets – and that number keeps growing every year.
Let me show you how mobile internet use has changed each spring season from 2015 to today.
| Quarter | Share | Annual Change |
| Q1 2015 | 31.16% | – |
| Q1 2016 | 39.47% | ↑ 26.67% |
| Q1 2017 | 50.03% | ↑ 26.75% |
| Q1 2018 | 51.77% | ↑ 3.48% |
| Q1 2019 | 48.71% | ↓ 5.91% |
| Q1 2020 | 51.92% | ↑ 6.59% |
| Q1 2021 | 54.8% | ↑ 5.55% |
| Q1 2022 | 59.66% | ↑ 4.86% |
| Q1 2023 | 60.89% | ↑ 1.23% |
| Q1 2024 | 61.21% | ↓ 1.88% |
Additionally, among the 16 most common activities people do on their phones, online shopping ranks fifth, making up 47%.
This reminds us to prioritize the mobile shopping experience. Your site should run smoothly on phones, or people might leave right away. Also, make sure your products are easy to see, and the cart and checkout buttons are simple to find when someone wants to buy.
Trend7：Multi-channel sales integration
Multi-channel sales means using different sales channels to offer products and services to customers. These channels include your own website, physical stores, marketplace stores (like Amazon), and social media shops (like TikTok Shop).
The benefits of multi-channel sales are twofold.
First, it caters to different shopping preferences. Some customers prefer to see and touch a product before buying, while others are price-conscious and like to compare prices online before making a purchase.
Second, it helps reach more potential buyers. Imagine a customer spotting a product while shopping in a mall, and then seeing the same item again while browsing an online store. The more times they see it, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
Conclusion
Dropshipping will not be dead. On the contrary, this business model is still growing. But just because it’s growing doesn’t mean everyone will be successful. To succeed, more effort is needed than before, and common misconceptions need to be corrected.
In my opinion, the future trend of dropshipping is clear: we need to embrace AI tools in areas like automation and intelligence to help us save time and work more efficiently!
