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AFTERNOON LIGHT

How to Start a Dropshipping Business: Expertly Curated Home Goods Delivered to Your Door

Afternoon Light is a new home goods and furnishing startup committed to bringing a curated shopping experience at scale to a diverse audience.

In a market saturated with home goods retailers, Afternoon Light aims to bring a missing aesthetic sensibility to the table.

We created a growth focused eCommerce experience that would seamlessly incorporate editorial content and curated shopping.

afternoonlight.com

“Blank & Co is known for its track record of defining and launching the world’s best digital experiences — especially in retail. That’s why we chose them to help improve engagement with our customers across e-commerce, mobile shopping and in-store experiences.”

Minya Quirk, Co-Founder, Afternoon Light

Our Approach

Our initial approach was to create a data driven user journey, optimized for conversion and growth. We made sure that the content strategy was designed with the audience and SEO in mind from day one.  These basic foundational ideas allowed us to find our marketing cadence more quickly after launch.

AfternoonLight Mobile Screens

Key Takeaways

  • Performance Marketing
  • User Experience Design
  • Content Strategy
  • Shopify Plus Engineering
  • Dropshipping and Jetti Integration

Performance Marketing

Conversion Focused

We built an intent based Omni-channel architecture that was extremely effective in bringing Afternoon Light to customers searching for the most unique home goods. We used Meta, Google and programmatic display as the foundation to deliver fast paced growth.  Our continued work with Afternoon Light is allowing this exciting new brand to grow exponentially.

Launch Metrics

178

%

Growth in M1

64

%

Reduction in CAC

114

%

Increase in AOV

User Experience Design

Filtering Possibilities

For Afternoon Light, personalization is possibility. They aim to offer users the ability to filter home products in a multitude of ways.

This can be complex for a dropship platform, as data is pulled from thousands of stores. Our engineers worked diligently to implement a robust filtering UI to arm users with curatorial power.

AfternoonLight Teapot Product Description

Content Strategy

Stories and Shopping

We built a hierarchical, data-driven content plan to support the brand launch, which also granted Afternoon Light the ability to create unique content.  The founders had numerous ideas and were eager to represent the brands they supported in the best way possible.  Our goal was to make the most of their exceptional ability to create culturally relevant content by optimizing it for search and weaving it into the shopping experience.

AfternoonLight Fathers Day Gift Blogs Detail

Dropshipping with Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus

We built a scalable architecture that allowed a small team the freedom to create content that expressed their “outside-the-box” creative mindset. We utilized Shopify and Shogun to make this possible without compromising conversions or speed.

AfternoonLight Explore Brands & Blogs

Jetti Integration

Our engineering team integrated the Jetti app and built custom large item shipping and payment integrations with Shopify plus. They also built a custom payment integration with Stripe so vendors could be paid directly from Jetti.

Oversized Shipments

We integrated custom 3PL APIs so customers could view the shipping cost for oversized items before issuing payment.

COLLABORATION

We met weekly with the founders and the growing Afternoon Light team to help solve the complexities of a global drop-ship experience. Our engineers collaborated with Shopify Plus and Jetti to build multiple third-party integrations to support the shopping and brand experience.

Get in Touch

If you want to learn more about our work with Afternoon Light, please email us at hello@blankandco.com.

Everything You need to know about DropShipping

01

Understanding Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store does not keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, it partners with a third-party supplier who ships products directly to the customer. This means that the store owner does not have to manage inventory, and the supplier handles the storage, packaging, and shipping of the products. This business model allows entrepreneurs to run an online store without the need for a physical inventory, making it an attractive option for those looking to start a dropshipping business.

02

How the Dropshipping Business Model Works

The dropshipping business model involves three main parties: the store owner, the supplier, and the customer. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works:

  1. Online Store Setup: The store owner creates an online store and adds products from a supplier to their catalog.
  2. Customer Order: A customer visits the online store and places an order for a product.
  3. Order Forwarding: The store owner receives the order and forwards the customer information to the supplier.
  4. Product Shipment: The supplier packages and ships the product directly to the customer.
  5. Focus on Marketing: The store owner focuses on marketing and sales, while the supplier handles the logistics.

This business model allows the store owner to concentrate on growing their online business without worrying about inventory management or shipping logistics.

03

Advantages of Dropshipping

Here are the benefits of dropshipping:

  1. Low overheads: No inventory costs upfront.
  2. No risk: No inventory to manage or store.
  3. Flexibility: Can offer many products without holding inventory, so can adapt to trends.
  4. Scalable: Can scale fast as supplier handles logistics, so you can focus on marketing and sales.

By leveraging these advantages, entrepreneurs can build a successful dropshipping business with minimal initial investment and operational complexity.

04

How to Find the Best Products for Dropshipping

Finding the right products is key to your business. Here are some tips to help you find the best:

  1. Research Popular Products: Use Google Trends, Amazon Best Sellers and social media to find popular products in your niche. This will give you an idea of what’s trending and what consumers want.
  2. Analyse Competition: Research your competitors to see what products they are offering and find gaps in the market you can fill. This will help you stand out from the crowd and get customers.
  3. Product Demand: Use Google Keyword Planner to check the demand for a product. High search volume means high interest and can translate to more sales.
  4. Product Pricing: Choose products with a competitive price point that gives you a good margin. Make sure the price is attractive to customers and you still get a good profit.
  5. Supplier Reliability: Research potential dropshipping suppliers and check their reliability, shipping times and product quality. Reliable suppliers are key to customer satisfaction and on time deliveries.

So there you have it. Follow these and you’ll find the best products for your dropshipping business and be successful.

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