Is Shopify Dropshipping still selling well? Experience stories from students of various courses
When this system spread to Thailand, some Thais, who either learned from international courses or self-taught, tried and implemented it. This led to a group of successful individuals who adopted it as a profession. They are divided into two groups: those who teach others and those who solely focus on doing the work without teaching anyone.
*Note: The image above is a general example found online, not our sales figures.
This year, 2023, as social media trends gain momentum, the landscape of earning money online has shifted. The focus is now on content creation, led by TikTok and Facebook Reels. The trend of dropshipping with Shopify seems to have significantly faded. Most people are now interested in generating income through social media by live streaming and creating video content or daily life vlogs, known as Video Blogs (Vlogs). This trend increasingly appears to be disrupting the online retail website industry.
Personally, I believe websites will remain resilient for various reasons, such as being our own system, controlled by ourselves. It's our website, our rules, and we can customize its internal systems as needed. This supports business growth at all levels and enhances credibility. Another point I'm unsure about is that we can register our own website as a company, but I'm not sure if the law permits registering social media as a company. I need to consult an expert on this. However, in practice, no one would likely try to register social media as a company. At most, they might try to register it as a shop or e-commerce business, indicating the business or activity they are undertaking, including its name and the products or services offered.
Even if it's our website and our rules, it's not everything. With the Shopify system, if you sell copyrighted products, you risk being sued and banned or having your website system immediately shut down.
One reason why websites remain essential is the numerous advanced marketing features and extensive product and inventory management systems. They also manage large amounts of data and incur lower fees compared to online marketplaces or social media. Brands with dedicated marketing personnel for websites thus try to attract buyers directly to their websites. However, they might live stream on Instagram, Facebook, or other permissible platforms to save a portion of the commission fees that would otherwise be paid to various marketplaces. When influencers gain enough followers and recognition, they can direct people to purchase on any platform they choose.
Now, back to the question of whether dropshipping using the Shopify system is still viable. In the early days, it was very effective, with many successful individuals earning from tens of thousands to millions of US dollars. However, in Thailand today, because the younger generation grew up with social media, and using social media is easier, with platforms like TikTok starting to have shopping carts and Facebook having marketplaces for selling products, we see many people in Thailand primarily using social media for selling. This is the situation in Thailand. But it's different abroad. Many people are still accustomed to buying and selling through websites, or they use websites extensively for selling. There are also many who will not order products through social media or a large number who don't even use social media but still buy products through websites. Here, the market or customer base is diverse. Some people who get bored with social media disappear for months or years, never opening it again, choosing to live their real lives. Some might even quit if it doesn't generate income or improve their lives. This is why platforms are starting to push people worldwide to create useful content for others, sharing a portion of the revenue from that content. For example, Facebook Reels offers a share of advertising revenue from educational and entertaining videos, and TikTok has integrated shopping carts.
The reason many foreigners still buy products through websites is that marketing products abroad through social media remains challenging. Moreover, some social media platforms have a high incidence of fraud, making customers hesitant to purchase products through them due to insufficient control over scammers. This causes trade to gravitate towards platforms that can control swindlers. Websites can display business information more comprehensively and systematically than social media, and they continuously evolve with advanced technology. Therefore, websites remain timeless and will endure for a very long time, impervious to the passage of time.
In Thailand, Shopify is just one type of website system. Regardless of the era, if you can market effectively enough to attract people to buy products through your website, you will certainly make sales, whether in Thailand or abroad. Recently, one of my clients managed to generate millions of baht in sales by drawing people to their website, largely because they were already an influential figure in purchasing decisions.
Regarding whether Shopify Dropshipping is still viable today, a review of information across various groups indicates that it is still being done, even if some people start and then give up. However, it might be more challenging to do dropshipping using a website to sell online in Thailand. This is because in Thailand, people prefer to buy products through social media and online marketplaces like Shopee and Lazada, primarily for safety reasons – to avoid being scammed or defrauded. Many people use social media, and while Facebook seems to have a lot of fraud, most buyers are not without knowledge; they can assess whether a seller is genuine or not by observing various credibility factors and doing comparative searches. On TikTok, there seems to be more control. Additionally, sellers of goods or services often offer cash on delivery and focus on selling on their most preferred platforms, aiming for sales through those channels. This doesn't mean that selling online through a website or dropshipping is impossible if the website is sufficiently credible and the payment system is easy. For example, Shopify now offers a one-page payment system, plus the option for cash on delivery, which increases customer confidence in buying through websites, provided sellers highlight this advantage in Thailand.
For international markets, I'm unsure if cash on delivery is available and would need to research it further. However, from what I've seen, credit card payments are popular, utilizing secure payment systems. Various messages and security logos are used on product and website pages to confirm legitimacy, along with reviews to build customer confidence. Therefore, dropshipping can still be successful if sellers can instill confidence in customers, provide incentives, understand what motivates buyers, and have good marketing and brand building, depending on individual ability or website branding. For example, suppliers of certain product types might allow their brand to be sold, such as handmade goods or products from manufacturers with whom there is an agreement. We often see this in print-on-demand (POD) products, which include clothing, household items, and jewelry. Some products might not even have a brand, with only the seller's website serving as the brand.
Now, what about the experience of those who took dropshipping courses? Those who enrolled in cheap courses, costing a few thousand baht, whether online video-based, live online, or in-person, or even more expensive courses, know internally who provides good or bad post-course support. If one talks to and asks direct students, not accidentally asking shills, most of them don't provide clear reviews or word-of-mouth about whether it's good or bad. For example, an instructor might provide good post-course support to one student, who then gives a good review. The instructor collects these good reviews and disseminates them to attract new customers. Since every business needs money to sustain itself and daily life requires money, new customers must constantly be sought, and older customers cannot be fully supported. This is because most knowledgeable instructors are individuals and do not have a system with a team of deeply knowledgeable experts to assist with support. Therefore, support takes time to respond. This applies to all businesses that rely on deeply knowledgeable individuals, who are difficult to find. And deeply knowledgeable instructors do not train people to provide post-course support. The lower the course price, the poorer the post-course support, which might disappear completely or take a very long time to respond.
Due to various factors that make support difficult, students end up seeking additional instructors because they encounter problems when trying to implement what they learned and do not receive post-course support, requiring them to spend more money. Students are willing to pay if they genuinely want to succeed, leading them to take multiple courses, or, simply put, learn from multiple instructors. This is because they are still stuck and no one has been able to solve their problems or provide advice at their sticking points. Why do I know these things? Because some of these stuck students have come to me, and I have helped them resolve their issues. I charge them for the specific problems they encounter that their instructors couldn't solve, for whatever reason. For example, if it's too advanced a function, the instructor can't do it, or if it requires additional coding, the instructor can't do it, or if the website needs to be made beautiful and appealing according to the student's wishes, the instructor can't do it. Here, I can confidently say that the instructors are not at fault. The system was designed to be easy for ordinary people to use, but there are still advanced or complex aspects that ordinary people cannot do. When people come to me, I offer to work on the specific additional tasks they want, if I have time. If I don't have time, they have to wait. If they can wait and follow up with me, I will complete the tasks point by point, case by case.
Because it's hard to find experts for this system and hard to find a support team, many places are fully booked. If you contact them, they'll say they can't take on new work right now because they're full. All websites advertise for work. The "full" status might not even be full of Shopify work, because agencies or companies that build websites don't just do one system. They might have a lot of other web system work or a large volume of work during that period. So, their workload will be full. When you contact them, you'll find that they apologize and say they're full, and their company or that freelancer can't take on new work. They'll ask if you're in a hurry, or if you can wait. Something like that.
As for support, if not managed well, it will be similar to teaching dropshipping. There's no difference. It happens in every business: slow responses or complete silence, no further support. If a customer has many issues that need solving, new issues always arise, but there's no budget for them, or if increasing demands fall outside the scope of work, it's normal for businesses to take on new customers to generate revenue to cover various costs. Therefore, they might not be able to support existing customers as quickly or effectively as they should, or they might simply disappear.
On my part, I try my best to support as much as I can if I am paid for my work. Some matters, I can offer advice and help if I have the time. And truthfully, I am always busy 24/7 if I choose to be, as I have my own websites promoting various digital products with unfinished work that is constantly being developed. Although it doesn't generate a huge income, I keep working on it. Mostly, I prioritize client work before working on my own digital products or allocate time for it. I don't abandon client work. However, there are also times when clients are busy, and we try to follow up, having to wait for everything. If the client doesn't provide the materials we need to start, then both sides might just go silent. This is normal because I have already followed up. Or sometimes new work comes in, but there's no budget for it, which is also normal. There might be silence, or in some cases, I might be direct. I don't mean to be silent; I am genuinely busy with other work because I need to generate enough income for the business to cover its costs, expenses, and daily expenditures.
If any instructor reads this far, don't worry, I'm here. You can recommend your students to me for their sticking points. I will charge your students for the work, specifically regarding website creation and system setup, or customizing various points with code. If I have time at that moment, I'll take it on. If not, I won't, and I'll let others do it. Normally, we share the work. Sometimes, clients come to me saying they contacted various places with specific needs, but no one would take the job. In the end, I'm the one who does it. Similarly, when I'm fully booked and can't take on new clients, they'll go elsewhere, which is normal.
And mostly, some places will co-operate. If they are full, they will recommend to a partner. Actually, I have many partners who can build Shopify websites and code, but I need to oversee the work because some requirements cannot be met without me. Pure programmers need help with bottlenecks; they are skilled in coding but not proficient with all applications. However, I can work with all applications. So, programmers and I collaborate, each working on what they are good at. I don't know the deep coding myself, but I have a team of programmers who help. The group of programmers we co-operate with offer various prices that can compete to some extent, but I don't want to compete on price. Except for some periods when there's no work, I might offer a slight discount, but mostly I don't want to cut much. For example, if I understand the requirements well, say these ten requirements, what would the budget be? It will be according to that. Or if it needs to be cheaper, what kind of work would it entail? It will be like that. I once quoted for a job, but I didn't do it because the client put the project on hold. I quoted 800,000 baht. My competitor, a foreign company, quoted over 900,000 baht. Initially, the client said they chose the foreign company for over 900,000 baht, but later said they suspended the work and didn't hire anyone. When I informed them that I was okay with the foreign company getting the job, I also mentioned that if there were any points that the foreign company couldn't do or didn't cover in terms of support for working with various apps, monthly maintenance in Thai, and compatibility with all apps the client used, they could hire me for services.
I believe the Shopify system will continue to grow as more people and companies promote it. Instructors teaching dropshipping or other Shopify-related topics all contribute to the system's development and an increase in workforce. More people are studying this field. It's possible that one day, Thailand might have many individuals or companies developing applications to sell on the Shopify app store, on par with foreign developers, if our knowledge catches up. But currently, it seems that for truly in-depth work, people from America and India are the most skilled at coding and working with Shopify. In Thailand, we can only hope that Thais and Thai companies will help promote Shopify more, leading to an increased number of website and system users.
If Shopify's monthly rental fee is too expensive, I have a system developed by my partners and offered to entrepreneurs for rent. This is an alternative for businesses that genuinely cannot afford the monthly rental fee. The system rental starts at just 300 baht per month. Web development companies or instructors who read this and wish to use the system can do so at https://hosting.jadewebtech.com. This is for cases where there is truly no capital or they are not ready for the expenses. Because in any case, I still support Shopify. The problem I encounter is that many people flee when they see the combined cost of essential applications, monthly usage plans, and various fees after I calculate it for them. So, I prevent customers from fleeing. Some customers have high-level functional requirements. When estimated, the development costs, monthly maintenance, or system rental also become high, and customers flee. To prevent this, I have prepared this system for such cases.
Conclusion: Some of the content is based on experiences shared by students of dropshipping courses in the market. No one is right or wrong, and in summary, a website is a website. Marketers can make it trustworthy, build a brand, and choose the right products for themselves, along with many other factors. Dropshipping can still sell because dropshipping is a product, and a Shopify website is a website. Selling products through a website will still be viable if marketers can attract customers to buy products from the website.