ShipStation launched a new add-on tool specifically designed for dropshippers as it becomes an increasingly popular way for online sellers to fulfill their orders. The shipping-software company said thousands of its customers have adopted the practice of dropshipping and said its new solution streamlines and automates order fulfillment processes and reduces errors caused by manual vendor management.
“Dropship fulfillment has grown exponentially, and thousands of ShipStation customers have adopted the practice,” a Shipstation spokesperson told EcommerceBytes. “But when dropship managers begin working with a larger network of vendors, it gets challenging to aggregate orders, route those orders to each vendor, and maintain real-time order statuses between vendors and end customers. Some dropship managers are still coordinating with their vendors over email and phone.”
A page on Shipstation announcing the new solution describes dropshipping and how it works as follows:
Dropshipping is an order fulfillment model where the business selling an item doesn’t handle their own physical products. Instead, orders are fulfilled and shipped by vendors or fulfillment warehouses that receive their inventory directly from a supplier or manufacturer.
How Dropshipping Works
Step 1: Your customer places an order on your online store
Step 2: Your store automatically sends the order to your dropshipping vendor
Step 3: Your dropshipping vendor prepares your customer’s order
Step 4: Your dropshipping vendor ships the order directly to your customer
Shipstation’s Dropship Manager costs sellers an additional $150 per month + $0.03 per shipment that exceeds 1,000 monthly shipments. Details can be found on the ShipStation blog.
