We have been looking back at the last 20 months that DropHippo has been running and noticed that we have shipped over 100,000 orders, over 8 figures in stores revenue and hundreds of customers. We are very proud of these numbers as we know it is still only the beginning of the DropHippo journey and, as we come into the 2nd half of 2020, we are confident we will continue to grow each month and help more stores scale in confidence with us.
As you all know, we have all been in lockdown these last few months so, with the permission of our customers, we took the opportunity to have a deeper look at some of our biggest customers stores and we noticed right away that a high percent of them actually run in a very similar way. All stores that we looked at have done over $100k in revenue with us so we know that they understand Ecommerce and are running a very tight ship.
Unique Design
One of the 1st things we can across was that most stores did not look like the majority of “normal” Dropshipping stores you see on FB or beyond every day. With these very well designed stores they are able to stand out from the crowd and ensure they don’t just look like the last 100 online stores most customers have seen on a daily basis. This ensures not only that they are unique but also look like brand so they can easily take to the next level.
Product Pages
SALES COPY, SALES COPY, SALES COPY. This is one of the main features that sets these stores apart from others. With a well written and carefully thought out sales copy they ensure when a customer lands on their sales page that they are able to not only get all information need for them to make a decision on buying the product there and then but they also highlight exactly how the product can enhance there life or solve an issue they never knew they had. We have to say that some of the sales copy we have seen on these stores even impressed us and we cannot stress enough how important it is to have great sales copy on your store and not just for the product you are driving ads to. Put yourself in the shoes of a customer – would you buy from a website that does not have compelling sales copy?
High Quality Product Images
Ensuring you show the product in the best light having well made pictures and videos are a must. Most we know buy the product themselves and will then have videos and pictures taken of them by a professional videographer or photographer. Having the product in your own hands also lets you see the quality and be able to write better copy about it. If they don’t buy it, they do request some more images from us which, if we have, we are more than happy to provide but nothing beats having the product in your own hands.
Split Testing
A/B split testing is a must. We all say we do but most never do it and that is testing many different angles for your sales page. This can be as simple as changing the sales copy or using a collection of different images. By doing this you ensure you are getting the maximum out of your sales page as well as freshening up your ads. By also aligning your ads to what is on your sales page this will give the buyer a better journey through your sales funnel.
Know Your Numbers
One of the most important parts of running a business is knowing your numbers. Knowing what your breakeven point is is essential when running paid ads to your store. By knowing your numbers, you can run more effective paid advertising campaigns ensuring you get the most out of your adsepnd. When you don’t know your numbers, you can easily end up running at a loss very quickly which I have seen many times in my time in this business. There are a few different apps you can use to do this but nothing beats good old spreadsheet to do this. Keeping a good profit and loss sheet and updating it daily will also stand you well if you come to sell your store in the future.
Customer Service
We all don’t like this task but it is one of the most important parts of running an online business and that is customer service. This is a key part of any business but it is especially important in this sector due to being online and it being to easy for customers to be able to leave negative reviews. Ensure your customer support team are well trained and have clear guides or processes to follow for different customer enquiries. Also make sure someone is following up to any disputes you receive to ensure you keep your Payment processors in good standing. By making videos and PDF or word docs for your staff will help them be more confident when replying to customers.
Always Testing
TEST, TEST, TEST. In this business it is definitely a numbers game. The more you test the more chance you have of hitting winners consistently. By always ensuring you have new launches lined up weekly it will ensure you are able to find successful products. When you find a winning product the last thing you want to do is stop testing and only be running ads for that one product. Keep testing to ensure when one campaign slows down you have another one or two to take its place.
Solid Supply Chain
The reason these stores can scale to massive numbers is they have a solid supply chain in place. This is why they use DropHippo. With us they are able to relax and concentrate on other parts of the business and let us run the sourcing and logistics for all their stores ensuring that they have a transparent and trusting supplier.
Yes there are many other factors to take into account for a successful 6-7 figure online store but we found that after looking at many of our customers stores the above steps are common on all stores.
