Branded Dropshipping - What it is, the Benefits & How to Start - HyperSKU (2023)

The Introduction of Branded Dropshipping

What Is Branded Dropshipping?

When it comes to the branded dropshipping meaning, as the name suggests, the phrase refers to a business model where the retailer dropships products under their own brand name. However, the products being sold are still manufactured and shipped by a third-party supplier.

There are four phases in the product life cycle – introduction, growth, maturity, and decline – and customizing your brand can help scale your business in each phase. There are four options for building and customizing your brand: thank-you cards, shipping packaging, product packaging, and product customization. Thank-you cards can be used to add a personal touch to orders, while customizing shipping and product packaging can enhance the unboxing experience. Product customization can involve selecting specific products or variants to sell, creating custom descriptions, and adding your own branding to the packaging.

By tailoring your customer’s experience, you can optimize your dropshipping business and drive growth in each phase of the product life cycle. When you’ve covered that, you’re ready to make the next move and explore what type of brand dropshipping you’re looking for. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Types of Branded Dropshipping

Private Label Dropshipping

Private label dropshipping involves creating a private label or brand for the product you’re selling. With this model, you won’t have to invest large sums in warehousing, starting the company, and developing the products. This is why it’s a more attractive opportunity for entrepreneurs that don’t have sufficient investment for product development.

Basically, this business model involves selling third-party products under your own brand. You can do this for clothing, food, beverages, phone cases, skincare products, and a variety of other products.

Branded Dropshipping vs Unbranded Dropshipping

Compared to unbranded dropshipping, branded dropshipping gives you a competitive advantage in the market. When you don’t have a brand for your product, far fewer people will be enticed to buy it as there is no meaning or message behind your products.

Consumers love brands, and only once they understand and want to support your vision will they shop from you. That’s why having a unique brand on your products is a great way to create a loyal customer base and increase your chances in the market.

When you use the branded dropshipping model, you create the opportunity to have a higher profit margin by differentiating your products from what’s already on the market and charging a premium price. So, it should be no surprise that branded dropshipping is the way to go for most dropshippers nowadays.

What Are the Benefits of Branded Dropshipping?

Branded dropshipping has many advantages, which is why people have been switching to this model in recent times. Here are some of the key benefits you’ll get when you switch to a branded dropshipping model:

• Higher profit margins – branded dropshipping allows you to increase the retail price of your products, increasing your profit margins
• Increased customer loyalty – customers will stay loyal to unique and trusted brands. So, through branded dropshipping, you can cultivate loyal customers.
• Stand out in the market – there are many dropshippers on the market, and if you want to stand out, you need to have a unique brand
• Sell more products – when you have a unique brand on your products, it’s easier to sell.
• Easily scalable – you can easily scale your branded dropshipping operation up or down, depending on your needs.

What Are the Disadvantages of Branded Dropshipping?

While there are many advantages to dropshipping, there are also some disadvantages to be aware of. When starting a new business model, it’s important to have realistic expectations and a clear view of the pros and cons. So, here are some of the drawbacks to using the branded dropshipping model:

• It’s harder to set up
• Branded dropshipping suppliers typically ask for a higher minimum order
• Branded dropshipping takes a longer time to set up and get rolling
• Building a unique brand can result in higher costs

How to Start Branded Dropshipping Stores

How to Run Branded Dropshipping Business Step by Step

If you’re trying to figure out how to do branded dropshipping for your brand, don’t worry. Once you break down the process, finding branding dropshipping products and handling every other aspect of the businesses gets much simpler and easier. So, let’s get into the steps of dropshipping your own brand.

Step 1: Define Your Target Audience

The first step is determining your audience or the customers you want to cater to. Branded dropshipping is all about targeting the right demographic and building your brand to satisfy that demographic by providing them with what they are looking for. So, it’s crucial that you determine who you want to sell to and what products would be best for that market.

Step 2: Conduct Product Research to Identify Your Niche

The next step in running and setting up your dropshipping store is conducting product research and identifying the niche you want to target. This process can take quite a long time, but even if that’s the case, it will be worth it in the end.

What you don’t want to do is rush this step and end up choosing a product that the niche you’re targeting doesn’t want to buy. That will cause you not only to lose a lot of time, but resources too. So, our best tip is to take your time, do your research, and only settle on a product or niche if you have a good feeling about it.

Step 3: Choose Your Products

After conducting the research, you need to determine what dropshipping branded products you want to sell. Ideally, you want to find a product that directly satisfies the needs of your niche. This will take some time, but it will be worth it if your product ends up being a winner.

Step 4: Choose Your Brand Name, Create a Brand Message, and Other

This is arguably the hardest part of branded dropshipping. Creating a unique brand and releasing a memorable brand message into the market isn’t easy. But then again, we never said that setting up a successful branded dropshipping operation was going to be a walk in the park.

When ironing out your brand name and message, make sure to take your time. You want to ensure that people will remember your brand and message when you advertise your product. That way, there’s a higher chance that they’ll search for your brand when they enter the market.

Step 5: Choose the Right Suppliers

Once you settle on the products you want to sell, it is time to choose the right suppliers. This step is crucial because you should not only look for quality but be able to buy the products at a great price too. That way, customers will get a high-quality product, and your dropshipping business can enjoy a decent profit margin on each sale.

Step 6: Choose a Platform to Sell Your Products

Another important step in setting up a branded dropshipping operation is choosing the right platform. You always want to use a platform that allows you to reach your target audience. So, try and research where your demographic does their shopping and choose platforms that allow you to reach them.

Step 7: Set up Dropshipping Automation Apps

The beauty of dropshipping is that you can automate many of the processes involved in running your store. This makes it easier for you to service orders and ensure that your customers get their products on time. This is why you must set up your dropshipping automation apps before launching your marketing campaigns. That way, you’ll have a much easier and more convenient time when the orders start pouring in.

Step 8: Create Marketing Campaigns and Promote Your Products

If you’re starting from zero, you will need to advertise your products on the internet in order to generate sales. This is why you need to craft a creative marketing campaign that speaks to your target audience. It’s best to find ways to incorporate your brand and logo in your marketing, so you establish solid brand recognition in the market.

Promoting your products is one of the most direct ways to get sales at the beginning of your dropshipping journey. That’s why it’s crucial to market your products properly. That way, you attract more customers to your brand or store, bringing in more revenue you can reinvest.

Step 9: Monitor Performance and Make the Necessary Adjustments

When you run a dropshipping store, nothing will be straightforward. Even with the most skilled and talented marketing team by your side, you’re never sure how successful your campaign will be. In fact, there’s a high chance that you’re going to need to make adjustments eventually, even if you had a successful marketing campaign at the start.

Dropshipping is an active industry. If you want to succeed, you must continually adjust your operations and marketing campaigns. That way, you’re always going to be making sure that you’re making the most out of all the resources you’re investing.

Tips for Running a Branded Dropshipping Store

Running and making a success out of your branded dropshipping store will require a lot of work and effort. To ensure your efforts don’t go to waste, read through our tips for running a branded dropshipping store.

• Dive deep into market research
• Design creative and captivating branding and marketing materials
• Make your products different from the products sold by the competition
• Target a specific audience
• Monitor your performance and make adjustments
• Have a consistent brand voice
• Align all your decisions with the overall goals of the brand

Who Are the Best Branded Dropshipping Suppliers?

If you search the web, you’ll find dozens of branded dropshipping suppliers out there. And while having a lot of options is great, many of the branded dropshipping suppliers you’ll come across are not great. So, in the section below, we will go over some of the best (according to our own research) branded dropshipping suppliers in the world.

HyperSKU

Founded in 2018, HyperSKU is a China-based, private label dropshipping supplier. Customers using HyperSKU can customize their products according to their exact needs and specifications, from the branding of the product all the way down to the packaging.

One of the biggest benefits of using HyperSKU as a private-label dropshipping supplier is the sheer variety of products you can choose from. You can private label anything from electronics and home appliances to beauty products and more. Not only that, but since they handle the entire fulfilment process, you don’t need to physically deal with any of your private-label products. As a result, you can solely focus on marketing and customer support.

• Service Rating: 4.5/5
• Price: No upfront fees
• Niche: Women’s clothing, pet supplies, electronics, and more
• Advantages: Extensive quality checks & factory comparisons from a wide range of customization options
• Disadvantages: Might have MOQ for custom orders. Price quotes upon request.

Printful

Printful is by far the most popular print-on-demand supplier in the world. Using Printful, you’ll have exclusive access to a wide variety of products you can customize, including clothing, home decor, and accessories. Their specialties lay in providing a high-quality printing service, which includes embroidery, sublimation printing, and direct-to-garment. Aside from that, Printful also offers its customers a handful of tools to create custom designs while the supplier handles the entire production and fulfillment of products.

• Service Rating: 4.2/5
• Price: Custom
• Niche: Clothing, car accessories, smartphone accessories, more
• Advantages: Easy to use, integrations, a wide variety of niches
• Disadvantages: Product options aren’t balanced

Apliiq

Apliiq is one of the global dropshipping leaders for custom hoodies, hats, and t-shirts. Their services involve embroidery, applique, and screen printing. What makes them unique is the variety of fabrics and materials you can choose to make your clothing out of. On top of that, they will also handle the entire production and shipping side of your private label business, meaning you will only need to focus on marketing and customer service.

• Service Rating:4.6/5
• Price: Custom
• Niche: Printing
• Advantages: High-quality prints, fast service, various brands
• Disadvantages: Lacks transparency

Supliful

Supliful is a dropshipping supplier that makes owning a private label business a hassle-less experience. Using Supliful, you can private label and dropship a variety of products, including home goods, electronics, and clothing. All of the products that you can find on Supliful are sourced from China. Aside from the product front of the business, Supliful also offers its customers services such as product sourcing, shipping and fulfillment, and quality control. Using the Supliful platform, you will have access to your own dashboard, where you can keep track of orders and access the different shipping options available.

• Service Rating: 4.7/5
• Price: $149-$249
• Niche: Wellness
• Advantages: No upfront fees, lots of customization options
• Disadvantages: Relatively expensive

CJ Dropshipping

CJ Dropshipping offers its customers the ability to dropship a variety of electronics and clothing, and beauty products. The products you can dropship from CJ Dropshipping are made in China, but the supplier offers you the option to take complete care of the product sourcing, quality control, and fulfillment. On top of that, you can use their platform to keep track of your orders and tracking, as well as choose the shipping option that best works for you.

• Service Rating: 4.6/5
• Price: Custom
• Niche: Electronics, Clothing, Accessories, and more
• Advantages: Wide variety of products, relatively low fees, fast shipping
• Disadvantages: Website could use some work

Blanka

Blanka is one of the leading print-on-demand branded dropshipping suppliers of clothing and accessories. What makes Blanka unique is the fact that they offer a variety of printing options, ranging from embroidery to direct/to/garment. Using the Blanka platform, its customers can use integrated tools to create custom designs while the supplier takes complete care of the printing, shipping, and fulfilling any incoming orders.

• Service Rating: 4.7/5
• Price: $0-$99
• Niche: Beauty
• Advantages: Great products, a wide range of plans, easy to use
• Disadvantages: Options can be overwhelming

Spocket

Spocket is a renowned dropshipping supplier of clothing, jewelry, and home goods. Spocket is unique because they source the products on their website from the United States and Europe. Aside from that, this dropshipping supplier also provides its customers with a platform for managing and tracking their orders. Customers can also take advantage of various shipping options, some of which include fast shipping, but that is limited to certain products.

• Service Rating: 4.2/5
• Price: $0-$99
• Niche: Beauty, clothing, accessories, and more
• Advantages: Easy to use, great customer service, wholesale products
• Disadvantages: Doesn’t facilitate major drop shipping platforms

Dripshipper

Drippshipper is one of the more unique branded dropshipping suppliers in the sense that the company’s only focus is coffee products and supplies. From private labeling the products you want with your own logo to launching your website, the Dripshipper claim that thanks to their unique and sophisticated service, you can start a private-label coffee business in 1 day.

If you visit their website and take a look at the “Our Coffee” page, you will be surprised at the large variety of coffee that you can label and sell as your own. Besides that, Dripshipper will also handle the order management, tracking, shipping, and fulfillment of orders. That way, all you’ve got to do is focus on the marketing.

• Service Rating: 4.3/5
• Price: $30 – $197
• Niche: Coffee
• Advantages: Great customer service, reporting, analytics, shipping management
• Disadvantages: The cost of products is a little pricey

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) About Branded Dropshipping

• What Is the Difference Between Regular and Branded Dropshipping?

Regular dropshipping deals with generic and unbranded products. Branded dropshipping requires the dropshippers to customize the product and add their own unique brand to them.

• How Do I Transition from Regular to Branded Dropshipping?

Transitioning to branded dropshipping will take time and effort. To make the shift, you must find the right product, determine your target market, and create a unique branding and marketing campaign to attract customers who are interested in your brand, the products you sell, and the message you want to share with the world.

• Is it Legal to Dropship Other Branded Products?

Yes, you can. However, there are some brands that won’t allow you to rebrand the product, and you must find a legitimate wholesaler to ensure that you’re doing everything legally.

• Do I Need to Consider MOQ Cost When Doing Branded Dropshipping?

Yes, certain dropshippers require a MOQ when ordering. This is why it’s very important to consider the cost of MOQ when transitioning to branded dropshipping.

Key Takeaways

Branded dropshipping is a great way to reach a wider market and tap into a new audience. It takes a lot of time and effort to make the transition, but you can attract a much wider market and make more money when you make the shift.

That said, if you want to succeed in dropshipping, you need to find the right suppliers and create a unique marketing strategy. To get yourself started, visit the HyperSKU website to find the best products from dropshipping today!