So your dropshipping business is booming, and you’re now thinking about how you can grow and expand, but what exactly should you do? Where do you start? Do you offer more products? Start delivering to more countries?
This article is going to explain why adding Germany to your dropshipping roster would be an incredibly beneficial move for your business. It will walk you through why Germany is the best country to ship to next, as well as the positives and negatives attributed to shipping to the new country.
Firstly, to make sure we’re all on the same page, we will explain exactly what we mean by ‘dropshipping.’
Businesses traditionally like to mass purchase large quantities of specific products in order to have the products immediately available when consumers wish to buy them. The product that is unsold from this bulk purchase often ends up being used in in-store and online sales to get rid of the leftover stock.
This is where dropshipping steps in. Dropshipping businesses don’t bulk buy or store unnecessary products, meaning that the need for sales is essentially eradicated, and therefore also a loss in profit. Businesses built around dropshipping act as a metaphorical ‘middle-man’ in the purchasing process. Consumers will order products from said businesses at their set retail price, the business will then seek out a third party to purchase a said product from at a wholesale price, and the item will then be delivered to the customer. In turn, the need for unnecessary storage for the surplus stock is cut, and the business saves money that would have been spent on the additional storage.
With the continued rise of eCommerce industries, it is crucial to expand your customer base as soon as you are able to ensure your continued growth. One of the best ways of doing this is by expanding your company to deliver to more countries.
But with so many different potential countries to deliver to, why Germany?
Well, Germany is the fifth largest eCommerce market in the world with $109 billion in revenue in 2021 – placing it just behind the United Kingdom. Additionally, 10% of all eCommerce retail is coming from Germany in 2022.
There is a huge eCommerce market in Germany that can be unfortunately forgotten by English-speaking countries. But with such a huge consumer base to be tapped into it makes perfect sense for Germany to be the next country to venture into.
Germany has the largest economy in Europe, and the second-highest population; over 66.6 million people have access to the internet in Germany. Germany is the fifth-largest market for eCommerce, and in 2021 had a revenue of approximately $109 Billion USD; so now would be a good choice for growing your brand and start tapping into that market.
In Germany, they are more likely to purchase high ticket items because as a whole Germans tend to value high quality and durability the most in their products.
Germany’s space within the eCommerce market is growing every single year, so if you want to build your customer base, Germany is a great place to start.
The main negatives attributed to starting to dropship to Germany are the same as adding any new country to your dropshipping roster.
The first issue is the potential language barrier, you would need to offer a German version of all your policies and product descriptions. This can be addressed by paying a German speaker to translate everything for you, which in the long run would be worth the initial cost. However, the language barrier would still be an issue for direct customer inquiries, and if you are unable to respond to these messages you may lose some customers.
The solution to this lies with the size of your company, whether you’re able to employ a German speaker to aid with translation, or whether you just have it as a loss.
The second issue may be any additional postage restrictions in the country that your native country may not have. For example, any products that are sent from the US to Germany must also include a customs declaration for what’s included. These restrictions are unlikely to make or break issues but are worth keeping in mind.
Germany is a great option for the next country to add to your dropshipping delivery list. There is already a large market available, and a lot of preexisting scaffolding for you to build upon to start retailing. It would be a missed opportunity if you didn’t consider it to be the next country that you begin shipping to.
There are naturally some issues that may arise, but that would be true for most expansions. Being prepared and educated on the subject is the best way of mitigating arising issues. Any negatives are massively outweighed by the positives, and if your business is in the position to expand it is highly recommended to do so in Germany.
