As a fitness facility, maximizing profits is an important objective. And with the advent of more customers purchasing fitness gear and merchandise online, it makes sense to explore opportunities to add drop-ship gear and merchandise to the business offerings.
Drop-shipgearandmerchandiseoffersmanybenefitsforafitnessfacility.Itallowsforincreasedprofits,canprovideanalternativerevenuestream,andallowsthebusinesstoofferawiderrangeofproductsandservices.Drop-shipgearandmerchandisecanalsoprovideahigherlevelofconvenienceandfreedomtocustomers.
Thefirststepwhenconsideringaddingdrop-shipgearandmerchandisetoafitnessfacilityistounderstandwhatdrop-shippingisandhowitworks.Drop-shippingisasupplychainmanagementtechniquewheretheretailer(inthiscase,thefitnessfacility)doesnotkeepgoodsinstockbutinsteadtransferscustomerordersandshipmentdetailstoeitherthemanufacturer,anotherretailerorawholesaler.Then,theretailercandecidewhatproductstooffer,wheretosourcethemfrom,andhowtopricethem.
Onceyouhavedoneyourresearchandunderstandthebasicsofdrop-shipping,thenextstepistochoosewhichproductstooffer.It’simportanttodoyourduediligencewhenselectingproductsandtobemindfulofthequality,pricepoints,andcustomerpreferences.Researchcustomertrendsanddecidewhichspecificproductsyou’dliketoaddtoyourofferings.Additionally,lookfordrop-shipprovidersthatarereliableandhaveagoodreputationintheindustry.
Onceyouhavechosentheproductsandservicestooffer,it’stimetotakethenextstepandsetupdrop-shippingprocesseswithinyourfitnessfacility.Startbyfindingareliabledrop-shipperandsettingupacontractthatworksforbothparties.Then,setuppaymentprocessesandsystemsandcreateaplatformforcustomerstoeasilypurchasetheproducts.Thisplatformcanincludeaddingashoppageonyourwebsiteorintegratingthedrop-shippedproductsintoexistingpurchasingplatformssuchasaPOSsystem.
Finally,you’llneedtodevelopashippingandfulfillmentprocesstoensurethatproductsareshippedoutquicklyandaccurately.Thiscanincludesettingupdifferentshippinglevelsandoptions,settingcustomerserviceprotocolsandresponses,andbuildingareturnandrefundpolicy.
Addingdrop-shipgearandmerchandisetoafitnessfacilitycanbeagreatwaytoincreaseprofitsandoffermoreservicestocustomers.Withalittleresearchandpreparation,afitnessfacilitycaneasilyincorporatedrop-shippingintotheirbusinessandcreateanewrevenuestream.
Interested in your own drop ship store? We'd love to set yours up for you! Check out http://www.gymshirt.store/ and see how we're building out drop-ship apparel stores for gyms just like yours!
