Dropshipping Designer Shoes 101
In recent times, the idea of starting a dropshipping business has certainly been on the rise and it seems like its popularity doesn’t cease to accelerate, with plenty of dropshipping examples to prove its success. As it removes the burden of having to manage inventory and doesn’t require high startup costs, it’s no wonder why plenty of inspiring entrepreneurs give this business model a chance with the idea of building a full business or earning just a dropshipping passive income.
When it comes to choosing the right dropshipping niche and trying to avoid certain niches that could turn into failure, many online retailers like yourself settle with dropshipping designer fashion products. After all, designer clothes are known to enjoy a greater reputation than non-branded apparel. Some opt to offer their customers a variety of clothing pieces, while others decide on selling only certain articles of clothing such as dropshipping designer handbags, luxury watches, or dropship shoes from famous brands, for example. If you happen to relate to the latter ones, stay tuned to find out all the details about what dropshipping designer shoes entail.
Shoes are one of those indispensable apparel items everyone buys throughout the whole year. Whether they purchase them for everyday use or for special occasions, people have always been showing interest in footwear, and most of the time, they tend to buy more pairs than they actually need. In this article, we draw attention to the profitability of selling designer shoes and provide you with in-depth information regarding the shoe segment of the apparel market. In addition, we’ll give you advice on things you should take into consideration before launching your footwear dropshipping store and how to build a loyal and extensive customer network.
Check out: How to Start Dropshipping T-Shirts 101
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Is dropshipping designer shoes a lucrative niche?
The question every dropshipper has asked at some point, and surely you’ve thought about it too, is if dropshipping shoes pays off in the long run. You wouldn’t want to find yourself investing in something that turns out to be a rather unsuccessful business idea. Therefore, it’s crucial to carry out comprehensive market research that would get you informed about all the relevant details concerning the income you’d be earning.
As previously mentioned, shoes represent a staple piece in everyone’s closet, meaning people tend to purchase them on a regular basis. As a result, their market has been expanding uninterruptedly and thus, accumulating a larger number of buyers. To demonstrate, as stated by a report conducted by Statista, between 2022 and 2025 shoe sales are expected to grow annually by 7.65%. In other words, the demand for this essential item is predicted to keep on increasing throughout the following years, making the shoe industry one of the top-earning apparel businesses.
Footwear is currently the third market with the highest revenue in the clothing sector with an estimated $480 billion USD right after the women’s and men’s apparel segments which amount to approximately $880 billion USD and $550 billion USD respectively. So, to answer the question, yes, with the right strategies in place, running a dropshipping shoe store can result in considerable profit gains. Taking the above-mentioned numbers into account, shoes have become a popular clothing niche that can elevate your store’s success and bring you numerous favorable outcomes.
What to pay attention to when looking for designer shoes suppliers?
Before getting your dropshipping store off the ground, you’ll have to get in touch with potential suppliers that are in the branded dropshipping industry. However, prior to making any hasty decisions, it’s important to take notice of a few things that can easily make or break your business. Be careful when picking out a supplier, as not all of them will be a good fit for your online store. Here’s what you need to particularly be aware of:
- Make sure the shoes you source are high-quality manufactured products;
- Verify if the supplier’s products are designed by authentic brands;
- Investigate your prospective supplier in order to ensure they’re trustworthy.
Double-check for quality issues
Your products’ quality will have a major influence on your customers’ purchases. When buying non-branded goods, it’s expected that they might come with some production malfunctions. However, when it comes to designer shoes, they come with this unspoken rule that they’re assumed to be of impeccable quality and design. Therefore, if you truly commit your dropshipping store to selling branded shoes, you need to be quite cautious about the company that’ll be supplying you. Don’t hold back from asking your prospective dropshipping supplier questions, or carrying out a thorough investigation of their products in order to assure the shoes you’d be offering are long-lasting and minimize any chances of returns and order cancellations.
Closely look into the shoe sizes
When shopping online for footwear, many customers stumble upon size issues. Dropshipping returns happen when stores put on their website a certain size table, but when the products are delivered to the clients, they don’t fit, which makes customers see no other option than demand a return. In order to avoid confronting such inconvenience, confirm with your supplier that their size charts are as closely accurate as possible. It’s normal for sizes to slightly vary from one shoe design or brand to another, a fact most customers are aware of. However, giving out approximately correct shoe sizes is equally important.
Check for authenticity assurance
It’s no secret that some suppliers out there offer replica goods that dropshippers promote as the real deal, not knowing that in reality, they’re counterfeit products. So, to avoid getting into such a situation, during your search for dropshipping suppliers, do a thorough analysis of whether they offer fake or genuine designer items, and don’t be uncomfortable making direct inquiries regarding the authenticity of their shoes. After all, in case your designer footwear doesn’t come from genuine brands, your store will be the one suffering the consequences.
Look for a reliability proof
In the end, it all comes down to finding reliable suppliers. Trustworthy suppliers will guarantee to provide you with the best shoe quality, make efforts to supply you with mainly precise size charts, and immediately present you with authenticity assurance. The easiest way to find proof of your dropshipping supplier’s credibility is by scrolling through customers’ reviews. It’s of the foremost importance to have the reassurance that the supplier you’ll be working with will stock up your online store with designer footwear from authentic fashion brands.
Why should you start dropshipping designer shoes with BrandsGateway?
With BrandsGateway by your side, your shoe dropshipping store will be able to enjoy remarkable advantages. Considered to be one of the most reputable online B2B fashion eCommerce marketplaces specializing in luxury clothing, this supplier will offer you exquisite designer shoes from a number of estimable brands that manufacture products of only the most exceptional quality.
How to get started with BrandsGateway?
You can register with BrandsGateway in only a couple of simple steps. Go to their dropshipping signup page, and choose the dropshipping package you prefer. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be asked to fill out your billing information and credit card details and in the end, you’ll be required to create an account. After completing the registration process, you’ll be provided with instructions on installing and connecting the BrandsGateway plugin to your dropshipping store. Pick out the clothing categories you’d like to import and allocate your markup. And just like that, you’ve successfully signed up with BrandsGateway.
What benefits does BrandsGateway offer you?
- No minimum order quantity is required;
- 100% authenticity assurance on all products;
- Possibility to work with high margins and earn up to 250% for every order;
- Integration available for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and Shift4Shop-based stores via a practical plugin and a Shift4Shop and Shopify app;
- Rest API integration for custom-built websites;
- Automatic inventory updates feature, offering real-time inventory synchronization;
- Automatic order placement feature, allowing all orders in your store to be automatically redirected to BrandsGateway without having to be manually forwarded;
- Worldwide delivery with reliable carriers such as DHL, FedEx, and UPS;
- Affordable shipping costs of 15€/17$ per order;
- 14-day return policy counting from the day the order has arrived at the customer’s destination.
What kinds of shoes could you sell with BrandsGateway?
With BrandsGateway as your dropshipping supplier, you’d have at your disposal to choose from a variety of designer brands for shoes including Dolce & Gabbana, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Phillip Plain, A. Testoni, to name a few. Your shoe collection would consist of diverse shoe designs and styles for both men and women:
- Casual and formal footwear;
- Various types of boots;
- Sneakers;
- Ballerina flats;
- Low, middle, and high heel pumps and sandals;
- Loafers etc.
To sum things up
Since the shoe segment of the fashion market has been generating outstanding sales for a long time, dropshipping designer shoes is certainly a business opportunity worth investing in. Of course, like with any other type of business, there are things you should pay careful attention to, in particular, if you’re a beginner and you still don’t know your way around dropshipping. But that shouldn’t represent a barrier as everyone at some point has been in your shoes. By sticking up with our advice and tips, you can have a great chance of successfully starting your dropshipping store of branded footwear.
About the Author
Nedina Gjorgjieva
Proud bookworm, passionate content writer and devoted Arctic Monkeys fan. Always in the mood for travel and sightseeing.
