DropShipping with EKM and Avasam

Starting an online retail business is hard work – and if you’re already a business owner, we’re willing to bet that you would agree with that statement! While hard work is essential if your business is to get off the ground and to thrive, there are an increasing number of tools that will help to automate many of the processes you need to tackle.

DropShipping is just one way of getting an online retail business off the ground, but if it is the best method for your business, then you’ll need to look at how to find the best suppliers, as well as the right sales channels to reach your customers – including your online store.

EKM is one of the solutions that many UK retailers – including household names such as Oxfam, Chicco, and BAE Systems – turn to for their online stores. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at DropShipping with EKM, including what DropShipping is, what EKM and Avasam offer, and how you can make use of both systems to create a powerful business.

What is DropShipping?

Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you’re probably already well aware of what DropShipping is, so if that’s you, go ahead and skip this section! Should you have stumbled on this post and be wondering what DropShipping actually is, here’s a quick recap.

DropShipping is a retail fulfilment method where the seller doesn’t hold stock. The retailer sells products before they buy them from their supplier, and when they receive orders from their customers, they buy the products from their supplier. The supplier then picks, packs, and dispatches each order directly to the customer. The seller never sees the product – the DropShipped orders are completely hands-off for the seller. This allows the seller to focus on selling, rather than running warehouse operations.

Why do DropShipping instead of buying stock?

In general, buying stock in bulk is likely to mean you will make a better profit margin on each item sold, but that doesn’t mean that business model is the right one for your business.

DropShipping can be the right business model in many different scenarios, including:

Some types of DropShipping allow businesses to create their own products using print on demand services, which we’ll talk about in a moment.

Using EKM and Avasam for DropShipping

Whether you already have a retail business, or you’re starting your business right now, EKM and Avasam is a powerful combination that work together to create your online store, and to fill it with products to DropShip from verified UK suppliers.

What does EKM do?

EKM is the UK’s number one online store provider, and makes setting up an online store easy. You’ll have access to customisable themes, responsive designs (so your store looks great whatever device a customer views it on), order processing tools, apps to help you with marketing, payment gateways, and many more additional services.

In addition, EKM have a huge number of eCommerce experts in their team applying everything they know to make creating a new online store for a business simpler. They can even help you manage Google Shopping, which is an inexpensive way to get your listings in front of customers.

If you sign up through our link, you’ll get up to £400 of free ad credit!

What does Avasam do?

Avasam is the UK’s only multi-channel DropShipping marketplace, providing all the tools you need to integrate your online store, source quality products from UK-based verified suppliers, and automate your order processing, payments and shipping. With an automated returns and refunds process, if you’re thinking of DropShipping, you’ll be hard pressed to find a simpler way to start your business.

How do Avasam and EKM work together?

Avasam and EKM share a goal – to help entrepreneurs and businesses to create their online stores easily, and to have the tools they need to do so. With our common goal in mind, it made perfect sense to partner and create the required technical connections, so that EKM customers could access stock from verified UK suppliers for their online stores. Avasam created an integration with EKM, so when you sign up for your EKM website, you can start sourcing from Avasam suppliers right away.

Are there alternatives to using Avasam and EKM?

Of course there are – and we’ve covered many of them on the blog before, including BigCommerce and Shopify. But every solution isn’t perfect for every business, or every entrepreneur – that’s why there is enough room in the market for all the solutions. Whatever stage of your business you’re at, we encourage you to narrow down the options that might work for you, and then make use of trial periods before you commit. With EKM, you can access a free 14 day trial, and with Avasam has a free trial account, so there’s plenty of time to make sure both suit your business perfectly, and to ask questions if you need to.

Who can DropShip with Avasam and EKM?

There aren’t any restrictions on who is allowed to do DropShipping with Avasam and EKM, but as with many things in life, beginners with no experience will find there is a steep learning curve. That shouldn’t stop them though, as there is plenty of support available. Many of our users already know they want to do DropShipping, or they are already in the eCommerce industry and know what they are looking to create, and how DropShipping will be a part of their strategy.

How can Avasam and EKM make scaling your business easier?

We hear from a lot of businesses that are already selling from warehouse locations, and want to scale their business, increasing their sales and profits – but they don’t have the capital to invest in more stock, or to increase the size of their warehouse, or take on the additional staff they would need. Those restrictions can make it seem like it is impossible to scale, but they don’t have to stop you – DropShipping can provide the support you need to make it to the next step.

The additional sales you make through your EKM store from Avasam suppliers can be a key part of your strategy to scale your business further, with the profits going towards expanding your business, with little additional effort required on your part.

Print on demand DropShipping

We’ve talked about the different elements of your business and how DropShipping can be just one part of your strategy for success. If you’re thinking about creating your own products, a great place to start – before investing in white label products – is with print on demand.

If you’re thinking of scaling your business in this way, then just like with DropShipping, having integrations that connect directly with your store will make it easier to create your listings and handle your orders. With EKM, you can choose from three different print on demand suppliers – Two Fifteen, Snuggle, and Printify.

Print on demand is essentially still DropShipping, just with the extra step. All you’ll need to do is to create the designs you want, and then the print on demand suppliers do the rest, creating your products when you receive your order, and dispatching them straight to your customer.