As the dropshipping industry continues to develop, many dropshippers are looking for US dropshipping suppliers in order to reduce their shipping times and quality concerns. In the past, most dropshippers have relied on overseas suppliers for their supply chain. This is because countries like China have a surplus of labor, low wages, and tremendous amounts of manufacturing infrastructure. While this is a great system for manufacturing products inexpensively, it is at odds with some recent changes in consumer behavior.
Western consumers are becoming more conscientious about where their products are from. Consumers are asking questions about the labor conditions and wages in the factories where their products are made, as well as the environmental impact these companies have. People are beginning to care more about sustainability and convenience than price, and this is unlikely to change in the near future. While foreign-made products might be a good fit for some businesses, there are a growing number of companies that are seeking to distance themselves from Chinese-made products.
In this article, we will be going over 6 of the most compelling reasons to partner with US dropshipping suppliers. At the end of the day, it might be in your best interests to source your products from overseas. But, in this article, we aim to show you why it might be in your best interests not to.
Let's begin.
#1 - US Dropshipping Suppliers Offer Faster Shipping
The most obvious benefit of using US dropshipping suppliers in your eCommerce store is faster shipping for your orders. Dropshipping's reputation has been tainted in part due to the fact that most people are shipping cheap goods from overseas. Shipping to the USA from China can regularly exceed 4 weeks and can be even longer for other countries. With Amazon is offering 2-day shipping, consumers are being trained to expect their packages within days, not weeks. Businesses that make their customers wait 4-6 weeks for delivery are sure to lose some customers to competitors with quicker shipping. Long shipping times can also lead to lower conversion rates, order cancellations, and even chargebacks. Simply put, long delivery times can create endless problems for your dropshipping business.
Using US dropshipping suppliers can cut most of these problems out of the equation. Since the majority of your customers are usually American, their orders will arrive much quicker than those being shipped internationally. While shipping times are a bit higher for customers outside of the USA, they are still better than those being shipped from China. This is because the USA has some of the best freight networks in the world.
This issue is actually what led to the creation of our company, DropCommerce. We saw that there was a growing demand for US dropshipping suppliers and that there weren't many options available.
This is why we chose to focus exclusively on North American suppliers. We wanted to give dropshippers an alternative, and enable them to sell products that they can stand behind. The result is that most of our products can be shipped to addresses in the USA within one week.
#2 - Communicating with US Dropshipping Suppliers is Easy
While a diverse workplace has been shown to increase a company's performance in relation to its competitors, it is unlikely that you'll reap any of those benefits by partnering with an overseas manufacturer. In fact, the language barrier can often add a layer of complexity to your communications. As a small business owner, you need to be able to communicate with your team and your partners. The more difficult that process is, the more issues and miscommunications you will encounter.
When you partner with an overseas supplier, they may only have a few team members who speak English. This means that all of the communications with your supplier would need to go through one or two people. As you can imagine, this can slow things down considerably. Also, some countries (such as China), limit the communication channels that their citizens can use. Facebook, Whatsapp, and Telegram are all banned in China. Although there are workarounds that exist, and channels that are not blocked, it adds complexity to your business. Lastly, China is in a time zone 12-13 hours ahead of New York. This means you will likely only be able to exchange a few messages per day, and that order issues might not be resolved overnight. None of this is ideal if you are looking to provide a positive customer experience and avoid complaints.
At DropCommerce, 100% of our suppliers are from North America. We don't do any outreach in other languages, so you can rest assured that all of our suppliers speak English.
You can easily get in touch with them through our in-app messaging service, email, or social media. If you're in a North American time zone, then you can follow-up on issues without delay. If you ever have trouble getting in touch with a supplier, DropCommerce can provide you with their most recent contact information, or even reach out on your behalf. And, if you're having any issues, DropCommerce is there to help you keep our suppliers accountable.
#3 - Higher Product Quality
When you're sourcing products from overseas, it's hard to tell what you're getting. You probably only have a few photos of the product, and if multiple sellers are offering the same item, then you have no way of confirming who the original photos belong to. Some sellers choose to put their business on hold for 1+ months while they wait for samples to arrive, but most will decide to forego any due diligence in favor of starting to sell products quickly. This can be a recipe for disaster.
As we mentioned earlier, products shipped from China can take 4-6 weeks for delivery. This means that you can sell products for a full month before quality issues begin to arise. By that point, you might have dozens or even hundreds of orders. This can lead to a nightmare of complaints, negative reviews, and the dreaded chargebacks. This is definitely not the position you want to be in one month after launching your business.
At DropCommerce, we make sure that all of our products are being shipped from North America. Our samples arrive just as quickly as our orders, usually within 4-7 business days. This means you can test the product in the first week, and start selling a few days later. Additionally, most of our suppliers have their own sales channels, so their reputation is at stake as well. With all of these factors at play, we are certain that DropCommerce can offer a higher level of quality than other dropshipping suppliers from overseas.
#4 - The Supply Chain is More Reliable & Transparent
The supply chain is the least transparent part of the dropshipping process. When you set things up with a supplier from overseas, you likely have next-to-no information on who they are or what they do. It can be difficult to research a Chinese supplier because much of their information will not be translated, or it doesn't turn up on Google (Google is banned in China), or you can't find any third-party sources that review them. You essentially only know what they want you to know.
An overseas supplier might not have a website of their own, and if they do, it's probably very basic. They might be re-using pictures from other suppliers who offer the same products. They might lie about where their products are — telling you that your orders will ship from the USA when in reality they ship from overseas. Or, they themselves might just be dropshipping from another supplier who you haven't heard of. Navigating a supply chain like this can feel like exploring a maze. If your orders arrive late, broken, or never arrive at all, then you won't have much recourse other than filing a complaint. They might help you, or they might not. Either way, it's a very frustrating system with a lot of room for error.
Dropshipping through DropCommerce is a much easier process.
We partner with real brands that are often already selling their products through their own sales channels. This means that it will be easy to research potential suppliers since you will be able to find their website, their social media pages, or their contact information. You always know who you are dealing with. DropCommerce is here to support you every step of the way and has the power to cut suppliers that are constantly breaking expectations. We have set up our network with transparency in mind, and we allow you to communicate directly with your suppliers through our platform. This is what modern dropshipping looks like. Simple, transparent, and powerful.
#5 - It Supports Small Businesses in North America
This might not be very relevant to you if you aren't from North America, but let's assume you are. When you're starting a business, it's important to think about how you might impact your local community. When you source products to be dropshipped from overseas, you are sending that money out of North America. In the short term, it won't matter much, but this can bring some pretty big implications over time. Since you are outsourcing production, this can reduce the number of job opportunities available on your home turf. At a macroeconomic level, this also contributes to a trade deficit. Over time, a trade deficit can lower the exchange rate between the United States Dollar and the Chinese Renminbi, making it more expensive to purchase goods from China in the long run.
On the other hand, when you use US dropshipping suppliers, you are keeping your money in the United States.
When you dropship from a small business, the business owners are spending that money on their business expenses, their employees, and their families. It creates jobs. Furthermore, by preserving small businesses, the competition leads to a wider product selection and better prices for consumers to benefit from. When you dropship through DropCommerce, you are supporting small & medium-sized businesses in the United States and Canada. We don't partner with anyone else.
Want to learn from the best? Check out this video guide where we will walk you through the top 9 best dropshipping store examples and dissect them in-depth to learn how they do things so that you can use them as a blueprint for your own dropshipping store
#6 - US Suppliers Have A Better Public Image
Although they can be tough to avoid, many consumers prefer not to purchase products that are made overseas. Every now and then, we hear a story about a company whose overseas manufacturing facilities are riddled with ethical issues. Nike was criticized for using sweatshops with deplorable work conditions, low wages, and child workers. Apple faced its own criticisms after it was revealed that one of its partner factories had installed nets around the building to prevent workers from committing suicide by jumping off the roof. And if Apple and Nike, two of the world's biggest companies, face these kinds of issues in their factories, then we simply do not know what the conditions are like in the factories that supply dropshipping products. But my guess is that they are not much better.
Beyond the ethical concerns, many American consumers look down on products that are made in China. A recent 2020 survey by dbDig, the big data platform supporting the German company Deutsche Bank, revealed that as many as 41% of American consumers claim that they have no intention of purchasing a product made in China ever again. Between the ethical concerns, environmental concerns, quality concerns, and the ongoing US-China trade war, we find it to be unlikely that consumer opinions will sway in the other direction anytime soon.
DropCommerce, of course, helps circumvent this issue.
Since DropCommerce only partners with US dropshipping suppliers, there's no need to have any ethical concerns. Because we deal with real brands, these brands are eager to protect their names. Any concerns can be addressed with the supplier themselves, who will bear the brunt of the responsibility if an issue arises. And while some of our US dropshipping suppliers might source bits and pieces of their products from overseas, the fact that they are being shipped from a US-based business will help add a degree of separation between your customers and those concerns. This is dropshipping that you can be proud of.
Wrapping Up - Where To Find US Dropshipping Suppliers
Now that we've covered the benefits of using them, let's talk about where you can find US dropshipping suppliers. There are two general ways to go about this. First, you can do your own research, and find companies with products that you would like to dropship. You can reach out to these companies, and inquire about setting up a dropshipping relationship. Then, once you have received an order, you can manually send the order and payment to the supplier for fulfillment. This strategy will get the job done (most of the time), but it isn't ideal. When you're doing everything manually, there are an endless amount of potential issues. If your supplier runs out of stock for something you just sold, then the order needs to be canceled manually. The process simply isn't streamlined.
The second option is to use a dropshipping application like DropCommerce.
DropCommerce seamlessly integrates with your eCommerce store through Shopify or BigCommerce (WooCommerce and Wix coming soon) and allows you to import products with the click of a button. Your store automatically syncs with the supplier's inventory through our system, so that you never sell an out-of-stock product again. All it takes is one click to send the order to the supplier for fulfillment, and you can even automate this if you have a subscription to our Pro plan. All of our products come with a margin of >30%, and we never take a commission on orders. Best of all — 100% of our suppliers are from North America.
If you're ready to find out what makes DropCommerce different, then come have a look around by clicking here. We'll be happy to answer any questions you might have or can even set you up with a 14-day free trial. The sky's the limit!
Guest Post by Zennen Leggett @DropCommerce
