The term “Dropshipping” refers to an online sales model that assumes inventory management entrusted to the supplier rather than the vendor.
In fact, in this case it is not the seller who sends the goods to the end customer but the supplier himself.
The Dropshipping model therefore provides for a reduction in inventory costs borne by the seller, who can thus concentrate his investments in promotion and marketing activities.
To better understand such a sales model, let us look in detail at the different roles assumed by the actors involved:
- entrepreneur: he is the one who manages the eCommerce and is in charge of selling the products. In order to start a dropshipping sales model, he is in charge of searching for suppliers who offer this service.
The relationship between the two parties is governed by contracts that also provide specific guidelines for delivery times and costs that the supplier must guarantee; - supplier: is in charge of the product procurement phase and the costs associated with warehouse management and logistics. It is the figure in charge of actually sending the goods to the end customer;
- customer: is the one who completes the purchase and receives the goods from the supplier. This, however, is usually not made aware that the shipment is organised by the supplier. In fact, the only point of reference, remains for the customer the eCommerce owner.
