Daily ArchivesOctober 17, 2022

WordPress isn’t just for blogging. Many big brands use WordPress as an ecommerce solution.

WordPress offers powerful and customizable solutions for businesses of any size from small start-up retailers to multinational enterprise companies.

Looking for inspiration to build your online store with WordPress? Keep reading to learn about big brand websites using WordPress, why they like selling on the platform, and see five WordPress online store examples.

Explore WordPress ecommerce solutions >>

Websites using WordPress: Why big brands like it

WordPress runs nearly half of the websites on the internet. What makes the content management system so popular? As an open source ecommerce platform, WordPress offers benefits and flexibility that proprietary website builders and ecommerce platforms cannot.

Benefits of using WordPress include:

• Cost. WordPress is free. You only pay for WordPress hosting and any premium themes or plugins. Proprietary web platforms often require annual or monthly subscriptions. They also limit the number of visitors, transactions, or user accounts.
• Ease of Use. WordPress is easy and fast to set up, especially if you purchase a managed WordPress hosting package. The learning curve for WordPress isn’t too steep either. Most people can figure out how to update a WordPress site with minimal training.
• Control. With WordPress, you maintain complete control and ownership of your data.
• Customization. When it comes to open source vs. proprietary solutions, open source lets enterprises can modify the code as needed. Being open source, WordPress is infinitely customizable. Even if you’re uncomfortable with modifying the core WordPress code, you can still customize your site with plugins.
• Themes and Plugin Options. Because of WordPress’s popularity, the platform has one of the largest markets for premium themes and plugins. With so many choices, WordPress users don’t have any problems picking the perfect theme or finding a plugin to activate a certain feature or complete an integration.
• Community. WordPress has a robust and active user community. User communities help companies in two ways. First, when troubleshooting an issue, you can find a solution on a support forum or YouTube channel. Many developers and agencies create quality content and tutorials to help you learn how to use WordPress. You can also find tutorials from the Hostdedi team on this blog, including how to set up a WordPress store. Second, an active community helps with recruiting. The larger a platform’s user base, the easier it is to find and hire developers.
• Scalability. WordPress and WooCommerce offer limitless possibilities. Assuming you have quality hosting and plugins, you shouldn’t experience problems with scaling WooCommerce for enterprise-level sales volumes.

Top 5 big brand websites that use WordPress

WordPress’ versatile platform powers everything from food blogs to major news sites. Here are five WordPress online store examples from big brands. Each of these sites uses the WooCommerce plugin. WooCommerce enables businesses to add ecommerce functionality to any WordPress site.

1. Dr. Scholl’s

People around the world recognize this iconic foot care brand. For more than 100 years, Dr. Scholl’s has provided shoe inserts and other treatments. The brand added an ecommerce function to their existing WordPress website with the help of WooCommerce. As you’ll see in this WordPress online store example, customers can easily find and purchase the best products to help alleviate their problems.

2. Nalgene

Originally developed for plastic pipette jars for science labs, Nalgene quickly grew into one of the most popular outdoor brands. Their BPA-free water bottles continue to increase in popularity as consumers look for more sustainable and eco-friendly products. Nalgene’s website using WordPress lets buyers view their wide selection of products and even customize bottles.

3. Airstream

Next up on our list of WordPress online store examples is Airstream. Best known for their shiny aluminum travel trailers, Airstream also sells campsites and other accessories directly through their website. So while you’ll still need to go into a dealership to buy an RV, their WordPress-powered site offers a selection of camping gear, T-shirts, and home goods for the inside of your trailer.

4. JOCO

Like Nalgene, JOCO cups and containers increased in popularity as consumers looked for environmentally friendly options. JOCO products contain no plastic and come in various colors. Their clean and easy WordPress site lets customers preview all the different options.

5. Wienerschnitzel

You don’t actually have to sell anything on your website to utilize WooCommerce’s platform, as you’ll see in this WordPress online store example. Hot dog fast-food chain Wienerschnitzel uses WordPress and the WooCommerce ecommerce plugin to highlight their menu items and provide nutritional information.

Make your own website using WordPress

One thing all of the examples from big companies have in common is they didn’t start out dominating the market. Building a business takes time. WordPress is an excellent platform for new or early-stage companies because the platform can grow with your business.

Now that you’ve seen some of the top WordPress online store examples, are you feeling inspired?

Setting up a WordPress ecommerce website doesn’t require hiring a team of developers or spending hours writing code. Hostdedi offers feature-rich WordPress solutions that work with you — whether you already have an online store, or you need to start building one.

With StoreBuilder by Hostdedi, just answer a few simple questions about your business, and StoreBuilder installs and activates all the plugins you need to build a beautiful and functional store. StoreBuilder also includes a selection of premium themes to ensure your site looks as good as the ecommerce examples above from big brands.

StoreBuilder, along with Hostdedi’ WordPress hosting services, can support your business as your online store grows. It’s the easiest way to open an online store with WordPress.

Check out our WordPress ecommerce and StoreBuilder plans to get started today.

You’ve decided to build an ecommerce business and zeroed in on the type of products you’d like to sell online. But where do you find them? After all, you have a range of options to choose from depending on your business goals.

If you’re trying to get the ball rolling but don’t know where to start, don’t fret.

Here, we’ll show you how to get products for your online store and what to consider before sourcing products for your ecommerce business.

Product sourcing: what is it?

Product sourcing is the process of buying products from suppliers, in the event that you don’t make your own, to sell in your online store.

It’s usually the last step after determining the product’s potential customer demand and assessing your capacity for investment, storage, and stock replenishment.

There are a few ways to get products for your online store, which we’ll discuss below. Let’s dive into it.

1. Make your own products

If you’re a creative entrepreneur, hobbyist, or want to be a part of the rapidly growing maker economy, then you could opt to create your own products.

The biggest advantage of DIY products is that they are unique, and competitors cannot replicate them easily. You have complete control over the quality of your products and how you brand them.

Your potential customers would love your handmade clothes, jewelry, household items, artwork, or beauty products because they carry your personal touch and uniqueness.

If you’ve got excellent skill sets for specific product niches, you could build an impressive online business with your target audience’s help.

On the flip side, manually making products is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and difficult to scale. Also, it’s challenging for a small business to earn a higher profit margin after investing in sourcing materials, packaging, warehousing, and paying yourself a wage for your efforts.

2. Partner with a dropshipping supplier

Dropshipping is one of the best ways to establish your online business and get products for your online store — even if you don’t have any products and can’t afford significant upfront investments.

It’s also a lucrative way to build your online business. The global dropshipping market stood at $162.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.7% between 2022–2028, reaching $621 billion.

Dropshipping helps you open an online store instantly by letting you team up with manufacturers and distributors to sell their products without buying them beforehand.

According to a report by E-DSS.org, around 27% of online retailers have chosen to dropship as their primary order fulfillment method.

As a dropshipper, you get complete access to the catalogs of your dropshipping suppliers and can select the type of products you’d like to sell.

When a customer places an order to buy a product in your ecommerce store, you send the order and shipping details to your dropshipping supplier.

Your supplier handles the products’ manufacturing, packaging, and shipping and charges a commission from you in return. You’ll get paid the wholesale prices for the products you sell through your online store.

With a dropshipping business, you can eliminate some of the startup costs. Dropshipping could be the best solution if you’re short on cash to invest in inventory, storage, or delivery.

With the money saved from startup costs, you could focus on researching the best types of products for dropshipping and designing and branding your website to appeal to your target audience.

You could scale up your business easily through dropshipping. Over time, you could begin offering additional products. If you have several partners, then you gain access to all their inventories without the responsibility of handling or storing the stock yourself.

However, even though you wouldn’t have control over the quality or supply chain management of the products you sell, you’d still be held accountable by the customers who buy from your ecommerce website.

Moreover, since the barriers to entry for dropshipping are low, you could face stiff competition. And the competition isn’t just down to other stores, but manufacturers as well.

Since manufacturers and distributors are in charge of producing and delivering the orders, they might get more credit if a product does well. Your potential customers may decide to bypass you, the dropshipper, and instead, deal with the manufacturer directly.

Still, that doesn’t mean that you cannot succeed in dropshipping. If you remain dedicated to your business, build a strong brand image, negotiate with the right suppliers, and adapt to the changing market trends, you could become a huge success as a dropshipper.

You must thoroughly research dropshipping suppliers before partnering with one. Check for reliability, product standard, subscription fees, and the extent to which you can customize your products to differentiate them from the other dropshippers.

3. Find a manufacturer

Getting products for your online store from a manufacturer is ideal when you have a unique product idea and have done enough research to ensure demand for your new product.

Finding a manufacturing partner relieves you of the scalability problems that come with making your own products.

There are two types of manufacturers to choose from:

• Private label: Here, the manufacturer creates unique packaging and labeling. It’s suitable for specialized products like designer dresses, cosmetics, and jewelry.
• White label: This is common for products sold through retailers to a larger group of customers.

Manufacturing lets you control the branding and pricing. It also lets you play around with product ideas and add new products to your catalog of offerings.

The drawback is that you have to pay significant setup fees and need to order a minimum order quantity (MOQ). That might lead to a huge upfront cost at the onset.

However, your new business could eventually scale up despite the higher initial investment, leading to lower unit costs and higher margins long term. You could also receive discounts from the manufacturer for bulk orders.

The only risk is that your manufacturer might create similar products for your competitors. You need to protect your unique products’ IP legally. Also, consider licensing your products to receive a royalty for each unit sold.

You can find manufacturers for sourcing products in online or offline business directories.

4. Buy from a wholesale market

Wholesalers buy in bulk and allow you to buy at a reduced price per unit. However, you’d need to pack the inventory into individual orders and ship them to customers.

Moreover, buying in bulk comes with significant upfront costs. It also requires suitable storage facilities and carries the risk of leftover inventory.

On the bright side, you’re free from the hassle of manufacturing products, and you can order stocks according to market demand. Consider opting for white or private labeling for your retail products.

There are two kinds of wholesalers you could consider:

• B2B marketplaces: These are online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba that let you buy different types of products from across the globe and sell them in your ecommerce store. As of 2022, the U.S. B2B marketplaces continue to grow significantly. The Digital Commerce 360 report involved 400 U.S. B2B online marketplaces. In 2021, these online marketplaces witnessed 131% year-on-year growth in sales to $56.5 billion. Sales are projected to grow at the same rate and reach $130 billion in 2022.
• Traditional wholesalers: These are offline wholesalers who let you visit their warehouses and check the quality of products in person.

5. Visit and network at trade shows

Trade shows are venues where businesses showcase different types of products and answer buyer queries. You can visit in person and try out the products from competing sellers before zeroing in on the one you’d like to partner with.

Trade shows are great for networking and negotiation because you’re physically present at the venue, and business representatives compete against each other to offer you better deals.

The pandemic caused a setback to trade shows. The global exhibition industry declined by 68% in 2020. That amounted to around $330 billion worth of missed trades.

But things are back in force now. A survey by Display Wizard found that over 59% of respondents wanted to display at trade shows again.

Since its reopening, the Las Vegas Convention Center has hosted more than 50 expos and events with more than 700,000 attendees.

However, in the aftermath of the pandemic, more decision makers are adopting the hybrid model of in-person meetings combined with virtual ones. According to a 2021 PCMA study, 65% of planners mentioned favoring more hybrid events.

Before visiting a trade fair, make sure you research the trade show’s credibility and your desired products’ market demands.

The Trade Fair Dates website is a great platform to learn about trade fairs across the globe.

Keep in mind trade shows might be overwhelming for first-time buyers who aren’t experienced enough to handle multiple sellers at a time.

Additionally, some sellers prefer working with well-known partners, so if you’re a new business or a small ecommerce platform, you might miss out on partnering with reputed names.

There are expenses and efforts involved in visiting trade shows.

Things to consider before sourcing products for your online store

Here are some things to consider before getting products for your online store.

Study your target audience and market

You must conduct market research to understand the market for your product and your potential customers’ preferences.

You can gather information in two ways:

• Primary research: It includes focus groups, interviews, online and offline surveys, and questionnaires.
• Secondary research: It involves gathering already existing data through the internet, periodicals, journals, books, and so on.

Market research gives you an idea about the market where you’d operate, such as your target audience’s preferences, trending products, competition level, and legalities surrounding your business.

You need to have a good idea about your product market’s supply and demand situation to run an efficient business.

Check samples before placing an order

Once you’ve decided on the product you’d like to sell, the next step is ordering samples from your manufacturer or wholesaler. You can check the samples at trade shows if you opt for this product sourcing method.

A sample lets you examine the product’s quality before placing a bulk order. It also lets you determine whether the supplier properly performed the customizations you requested.

Going by their sample delivery, you could determine the efficiency of your supplier — how long they take to deliver and how they manage packaging, shipping, and delivery.

Have backup suppliers ready for your ecommerce store

As discussed before, even if you are not responsible for manufacturing or supplying your products, you’d be answerable to your customers for any quality-related or delivery-related issues.

That’s why partnering with multiple suppliers is wise, as it helps you better manage your supply chain and deliver products on time. Vet each supplier carefully before entering into a contract with them.

Just remember to avoid adding too many suppliers to your new business because you might not have sufficient orders to place and still end up paying high commissions.

Final thoughts: how to get products for online stores

Creating an ecommerce website and sourcing products for online stores is easier today than ever. There is a whole range of options — from creating your own products to finding a dropshipping partner.

Your choice depends on your budget, the type of product you wish to sell, and the effort and involvement you want to put into the manufacturing, stocking, shipping, and delivering process.

The most cost-effective and easiest option for starting a small business or startup is teaming up with dropshipping suppliers.

So, are you ready to build a solid ecommerce store and grow your business by sourcing products via dropshipping?

Start today by building your own website with StoreBuilder by Hostdedi.