Drop Shiping- What features do I need to add.

What features can I add tthat would be appealing to pubishers.

[pff_iy]

Hi All,

I have been a member for a while now but have been away from the forums for about 7 months, so I am just getting back into the swing of things. Having said that I am really happy to see that ww is going from strength to stength, congratulations to all!

Now the question I have been working on a site for a wholesaler to conduct e-commerce one of the features they want to implement is drop shipping. Now neither they or me now what features are required so that they can do this and give value to the service rather than just adding it in for the sake of it.

So I would be really pleased if you good folk out there will point us towards the feauteres to implement and the pitfalls to avoid.

Thanks in Advance.

[sun818]

During checkout specify a way indicate this is a drop ship order. Then we can enter in the customer's ship to address instead of our default.

[danieljean]

Better yet, make it so I don't have to go through your checkout. Web services are the way to go!

[pff_iy]

danieljean

Can you please explain the point you made further.

Are you saying that I should employ a third party checkout?

Would this be so that you can lead the potential customer there without highlighting the fact that you are acting as a drop shipper.

Forgive me if the question is irrelevant as I am completely new to drop shipping.

Regards

[danieljean]

sun818's comment made it sound like every time he got an order, he would go to your site, (re-enter the order?) and tell you it was a drop-ship order.

That sounds like duplicated work to me. If I get customers checking out on my site, I want my server to communicate with yours with an XML based protocol. It's faster for all involved.

[sun818]

daniel, I like the idea your propose. I guess I have not run across any drop shippers except the huge fulfillment houses that have such a system in place. But many of the smaller drop shippers I work with just use e-mail or fax. Building an XML interface will be useful if your customers can provide the volume...

[watercrazed]

It totally depends on the nature of your client, how many orders you get from an average customer in x period. The vast majority of publishers/retailers on the internet are small, I am small 10 orders are a good day, 20 is great. 1/2 at most dropshipped spread amoung several manufacturers.

My likes and dislikes
Likes
easy of setup - I give you my credit card then qualify for terms after a period of activity to establish creditbility - I email you customer shipping info and item info you bill me on shipping. ( I could automate the email if volume justified effort, most shopping carts could be directed to send an edited confirmation email based on item id to a third party)

easy of tracking - you send me shipping notification and tracking info. best if the email subject has my order identification in it. Then if order frequency justifys I can automate forwarding to my customer.

Real margins based on internet price not some MSRP that is rarely if ever paid on line - price is critcal on the internet.

Blind shipping

Customized packing invoice - my logo or name address

Allow for customized inserts - ie flyer/brochure on complementary product I carry

Flexible return policies - If I am having items dropshipped from a half dozen companies I do'nt want to have 6 diffent return policies for my customers. ie I do not charge a restocking fee on the products I inventory, generally I will eat a restocking fee from a dropshipper but it goes into my consideration as to whether the margin is adequate to carry the product.

Lots and lots of product detail available on request. high res photos, detail product specs., copy of any reviews, details on the how, where and why of the product. I need to personalize the product based on my customer profile.

Dislikes

Having to enter data into forms for each order. At worst I want to cut and paste name and address into email, address the email, provide a systematic subject - like "order - item name or number - customer lname - my order #

Set up fees - unless you are templating category for me for me with 1000's of products (no experience with that)

online price competition with you

Uncertain shipping costs -

If you deal in health related products email me ;-)

[pff_iy]

Thanks all so far. What I have learnt is invaluable.
Once again thanks alot.

[pff_iy]

Ok one more question.

How would the arrangement for payments be made.

The way I am devising it at the moment. Once the item has been sold by the dropship agent website. Through an XML feed of some type a notification is sent to our system. We then send an email to the agent asking them to to come to our site via a link on the email and there they can confirm the order and pay for it.

Would that be a solution that people would be comfortable with? Or is there something else that I should be considering?

Once again thanks for the feedback so far!