There are many eCommerce platforms that can help you set up a dropshipping business. However, many fit specific needs. Understanding their advantages will help you choose the best.
After much testing, we think that Shopify is the best eCommerce platform for dropshipping. That said – it’s not the only option!
Dropshipping is an exciting business model that allows your business to scale rapidly without taking on many risks. It also lets you avoid building and managing inventory.
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Choosing the best dropshipping platform needs to combine its features with your needs. For example, our research shows that the most expensive platforms aren’t necessarily the best. If you need help getting started, this article’s a great place to begin!
Dropshipping is still potentially highly lucrative. Over the past decade, eCommerce has been on a sustained growth trend. Analysts expect the global eCommerce market to reach $7.4 trillion by 2025.
While that’s a massive pie, remember that more eCommerce businesses than ever are slicing it up. That includes dropshippers, drawn in by seemingly low startup costs and the lack of need to maintain inventory.
Like any other business model, dropshipping comes with its challenges. One clear objective should be to choose the most suitable eCommerce platform for your dropshipping needs.
No. of Products
Unlimited
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
$19 /mo
Key Features
“Shopify simply focuses on helping you sell anything, anywhere.”
Shopify is one of the leading eCommerce platforms in terms of market share. Its cloud-based system is powerful and provides robust multi-channel sales capabilities. Shopify helps thousands of individuals and businesses grow their digital income.
Shopify is a great platform for dropshipping because it’s so easy to set up and use. Beyond that, it offers some of the most extensive eCommerce features available. Many eCommerce platforms focus on specific areas of expertise. Shopify covers them all.
Shopify can get quite expensive as your business ramps up. Only the native payments system is commission free – and it’s only available in some countries. Shopify also doesn’t include email services, so you’ll need to fork out extra on another platform.
No. of Products
500
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
$3.99 /mo
Key Features
“Zyro is an excellent jumpoff point for new dropshippers.”
Zyro is the brainchild of Hostinger, one of the more reputable brands in the web hosting space. It comes with everything you need to create a professional online store. That includes amazing templates, payment gateway integration, and advanced marketing tools.
With Zyro, you can create an online store quickly and easily. It has many tools designed to help you get started quickly. Zyro’s features lean towards user-friendliness. It’s an excellent option for those who need to grow a business without any technical knowledge required.
While Zyro is beginner-friendly, it can feel a bit restrictive for advanced users. There’s also little scalability due to limited plans and integration options. Unless your store doesn’t grow, you’ll likely have to move once business picks up.
No. of Products
Unlimited
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
Free
Key Features
“WooCommerce offers the independence that many seasoned dropshippers will welcome.”
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that allows anyone to create an online store with the help of a few clicks. It is one of the most flexible and powerful eCommerce platforms available today. Like WordPress, WooCommerce is free to use – but the right plugins for dropshipping may not be free.
The popularity of WooCommerce as a platform for dropshipping is not surprising. With its open-source nature and the large community of developers contributing to it, WooCommerce has become one of the most popular eCommerce platforms in the world.
Althought WooCommerce is extremely powerful and flexible, there is one major caveat. It’s only for WordPress – there isn’t any way to work around that problem. If you don’t mind, then it’s fine. Commercial plugins can also quickly add to your overall operational cost.
No. of Products
Unlimited
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
$17 /mo
Key Features
“Wix offers excellent stability and is very easy to use.”
Wix has been around since 2006, and they’ve been growing ever since. Today, they have over 200 million users worldwide. The highlight of Wix here is its drag-and-drop website builder. While many other eCommerce platforms have this, Wix takes it above and beyond.
Wix is an excellent option for dropshipping because it has all the tools you need to succeed. Aside from core eCommerce store building features, you get many other valuable tools. For example, the Wix logo maker, email marketing tools, and more.
Wix is a website builder first and an eCommerce-building platform second. While that’s excellent for new users, those seriously in the eCommerce business may want a platform with more “selling” features.
No. of Products
10
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
Free
Key Features
“Ecwid is a rare service for those who already have an existing dropshipping platform.”
Ecwid is an eCommerce platform for small businesses. It’s easy to use, has a low learning curve, and gives you everything you need to sell online. If you’re looking for a simple, affordable way to sell your products online, Ecwid could be the right choice.
Ecwid may not be as full-featured as Shopify, but it has some excellent advantages that are attractive for dropshipping, depending on what you sell. Its greatest appeal lies in simplicity – something that competitors often forget.
Ecwid brings an interesting eCommerce approach, but this novelty has several disadvantages. Prices can feel expensive for what you get. Many features feel somewhat incomplete or unrefined, like the multi-currency feature.
No. of Products
Unlimited
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
Free
Key Features
“Why struggle to build a sales market when Amazon has already done the work for you?”
Amazon is one of the best eCommerce companies and online shopping platforms. Besides efficiency and profit, there are a lot of things that make Amazon a great platform to start your drop shipping business.
Millions of businesses have started with Amazon. According to many, it’s considered the top platform for making money online as an alternative to other eCommerce platforms like eBay and Etsy. The best part is that it’s easy to get started.
Amazon is Amazing, but one of its main advantages can also be a disadvantage. You can, indeed, sell to a ready-made audience. However, moving from this platform means you may lose everything since the audience isn’t uniquely yours.
No. of Products
Unlimited
Overall Rating
Price (USD)
$23 /mo
Key Features
“Squarespace is a leading choice for eCommerce store owners and rightly so.”
Squarespace is a popular website-building tool that allows you to create your eCommerce store without learning how to code. It’s easy to use, has a relatively low cost, and it comes with a ton of features.
If you’re looking for an easy way to get started with dropshipping, Squarespace is a great place to start. Here are some reasons why:
Like Shopify, Squarespace is quite comprehensive and powerful. Unfortunately, this platform’s website builder aspect is quite weak. The limited SEO features also indicate some potentially deeper systemic problems.
There are two main eCommerce platform types; self-hosted and hosted. Each has distinct advantages (and drawbacks), but both are possible solutions depending on your needs.
Hosted eCommerce platforms are Cloud-based. They’re all-inclusive services that are available on a subscription basis. You don’t need to worry about maintenance or technical aspects of running an online store.
Hosted solutions are typically more expensive than self-hosted solutions but offer many more features out of the box. Their highly specialized support teams can often provide more effective assistance if something goes wrong.
Examples of Hosted eCommerce solutions are Shopify, Zyro, and Wix.
Self-hosted eCommerce platforms are apps that you need to install on a separately-available web hosting solution. These hosting servers can be web-based or even run on local premises. You’ll be responsible for managing your store’s infrastructure and ensuring it remains secure.
The advantage of self-hosted solutions is greater control of your dropshipping store. For example, you can choose the web hosting category. Those seeking cheap solutions can opt for shared hosting.
However, keep in mind that site speed significantly contributes to sales conversions. It’s often better to opt for better quality hosting like Virtual Private Server (VPS) or Cloud hosting plans.
Examples of self-hosted eCommerce platforms are WooCommerce, Magento, and PrestaShop.
Dropshipping is a relatively mature business segment. Because of this, there are distinct advantages you can seek out when building your new venture. The best dropshipping features to look for in an eCommerce platform include:
Dropshipping is all about making sales. An eCommerce platform that helps you quickly design and launch your store is a must. That allows you to spend more time where it counts – generating more leads and increasing your numbers.
Security is a top priority for any eCommerce business. It’s not just about protecting your data and website; it’s also about protecting the customer experience. Ensuring that shoppers can trust the security of your platform is a vital part of ensuring that they’ll feel comfortable making purchases from you.
Dropshipping customers typically pay for their orders through their preferred payment method (e.g., credit card or PayPal). However, some platforms offer additional payment options such as cryptocurrencies or gift cards that can increase sales opportunities for small businesses by allowing them to reach customers who don’t have access to traditional payment methods.
You should be able to create customer accounts, view their order history, and manage their shipping address directly on the platform. That removes the need for manual order management. Your order management process should also support automated fulfillment.
Integrations are very important for dropshipping because they allow you to extend functionality. For example, you can access more third-party services like payment gateways, shipping carriers, and inventory management software.
If you’re just starting with dropshipping, setting up integrations can be overwhelming. There are so simply too many options available. Here are some of my top picks:
| Specifications | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.printful.com/ |
| Integrations | Multi-platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Ecwid) |
Printful is a print-on-demand (POD) fulfillment company founded in 2012 and based in San Francisco. The service helps dropshippers connect to partners worldwide, handling everything from design to delivery. All you need to do is sell.
| Specifications | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.spocket.co/ |
| Integrations | Multi-platform (Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, and Ecwid) |
Sprocket gives dropshippers instant access to a wide range of products to sell. It covers multiple product categories, including apparel, electronics, home goods, and more. You can sync Sprocket products directly with your online store.
| Specifications | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.wholesale2b.com/ |
| Integrations | Multi-platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Ecwid, Amazon) |
Wholesale2B is a wholesaler for dropshipping, offering the best products for you to sell on your eCommerce site. It gives instant access to thousands of products, including clothing and accessories, home decor and furniture, jewelry, beauty products, shoes, and more.
| Specifications | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.salehoo.com/ |
| Integrations | Shopify |
The SaleHoo marketplace is a well-known and reputable place to shop for dropshipping products. While similar to Wholesale2B, it specializes in supporting Shopify stores via direct product imports.
| Specifications | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.inventorysource.com/ |
| Integrations | Multi-platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Ecwid, Amazon) |
Inventory Source is a dropship automation software that helps retailers to scale their businesses by automating everything from sourcing to fulfillment. It comes with tools to manage your customers and track their behavior so that you can adapt to their needs.
Starting a dropshipping business isn’t rocket science. All you need to do is find a product to sell, create an eCommerce website and set up your payment options.
The first thing you must do before starting your online dropshipping business is decide on the niche. You can check out Amazon’s best-selling products list or search for popular products on eBay to give you an idea of what’s good to sell.
Next up, you need to find a dropship wholesaler that sells the products you want to list. For example, if you want to sell Apple watches, search for “Apple Watch Wholesale.” An easier way to do it is to find a big wholesaler that covers multiple platforms and categories.
With the major sales decisions out of the way, it’s time to build your online store. Choose an eCommerce platform and sign up for a plan. They provide an easy way to build your dropshipping store quickly and jump right into the business.
The eCommerce dropshipping platform you choose will be the backbone of your business. It is what allows you to list products and sell them online. The platform should also help with payment processing, order fulfillment, and shipment tracking.
Here’s the recap of our best eCommerce platforms for dropshipping:
Remember that some platforms may be too basic for businesses that require more advanced features. Others may be too expensive for smaller businesses that are just starting. Always match your eCommerce platform with your business needs and you’ll be all set.
Dropshipping supply chain is a process of getting products from the manufacturer to the customer. It is also known as the e-commerce supply chain. The chain encompasses manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers.
Dropshipping is legal. However, dropshippers need to be aware of the products they sell. Selling prohibited products is illegal and can open you to liability for prosecution. Legitimate products such as food and clothing typically have no issue with legality.
Most dropship suppliers have a return policy that allows you to return items ordered incorrectly or broken. Some suppliers will even give refunds or replacements for items damaged in transit. Others may require you to pay for shipping the product back to them.
You don’t need a lot of money to start dropshipping. You can get started with as little as $50. However, be aware that it will take some time to generate revenue – so don’t quit your day job too quickly.
Shopify is one of the most powerful platforms you can find for dropshipping. It’s incredibly robust and has a broad support ecosystem. If you prefer a self-hosted platform, then opt for WooCommerce instead.
