Tag: Running A Drop Shipping Store

Dropshipping

AliExpress Drop Shipping Q&A series №1: AliDropship Plugin

how to use alidropship plugin

Do you remember our project managers team we introduced recently?

These awesome fellows deal with all the questions and requests that come from you and your fellow dropshippers!

Some of these questions are really unique, but of course, many of the questions are similar or even identical.

To deal with it, we have created a special knowledge base where you can find answers for the vast majority of the most common questions.

Still, we found it necessary to make several articles dedicated to the most popular questions. We are going to do it on a regular basis – this way, you will always be able to find something helpful.

This series of our Q&A session is all about AliDropship plugin – we have collected top 10 questions that we get from our clients and readers most often.

So here we go!

1. What is AliDropship plugin?

Simply speaking, AliDropship plugin is an additional piece of technology that you can install on your WordPress website. It will work with WooCommerce as well!

With the help of this plugin, you can easily build your own drop shipping store.

What can you do after you’ve installed the plugin?

  • Filter and search products on AliExpress and import them to your website in a few clicks
  • Get the product info updated automatically
  • Quickly and easily set a price markup for your items
  • Automatically get in touch with AliExpress sellers to fulfill your clients’ orders
  • Track orders and automatically notify your clients about their current status
  • Customize your store and make it look unique and memorable
  • Get an access to all-in-one dashboard helping you manage the whole thing
  • See the live statistics about your store performance
  • And many many more!

With the plugin, you are fully independent with your business choices.

It’s up to you what products to sell, what markup percent to add, and how to run your store.

Basically, you’re your own boss now!

2. Can I start drop shipping business living in my country?

OF COURSE!

The whole model of drop shipping business means that you are free to do it from ANY point on the globe. AliDropship plugin has no limitations as well – you can use it in any country.

Speaking of the geography, it’s important to say you can use AliDropship plugin to customize your store if you’re targeting some specific country.

Maybe you just want to go global, and this is awesome.

But if you want to work with people from some exact country or region, you can easy make your store appealing for them.

How?

Well, first of all, you can set any currency you like. US dollars, euros, British pounds, etc. – you are free to choose any national currency to make your store visitors comfortable. They will see this currency in items’ price, and also on the checkout page when they are ready to make the payment.

Secondly, remember that the language matters! For example, when you’re editing single product pages to make them look good, you can import customer reviews from AliExpress. That’s a really good thing because people trust other clients’ reviews, right?

Thanks to the plugin, you can automatically translate the reviews left in any foreign language. Or alternatively, import only the reviews left by a citizen of a specific country – the plugin can do this, too.

3. What is the difference between AliDropship plugin and AliPlugin?

Oh, we’re speaking of 2 really different things now, so be attentive!

AliPlugin is an affiliate plugin. You can’t build an independent store with it.

Yes, AliPlugin lets you import products from AliExpress, but your site will NOT be a marketplace. When your store visitors click on a product, they are redirected to AliExpress, and that’s where they make a purchase. With this type of business, your profit is the commission for every purchase that happened on AliExpress with your help.

At the same time, AliDropship plugin is the thing that helps you build your very own drop shipping store. You’re a full owner, and all the purchases happen in your store.

4. How many sites can I create with the Plugin?

When you buy AliDropship plugin, you get your own personal license key.

This key is valid for one website/domain name. But if you decide to create another webstore in future, you can transfer your license to it for free.

5.  Is $89 a one-time payment?

Yes, it is!

You only need to pay ONCE.

When you buy AliDropship plugin, you get a lifetime license. You make only one payment to get the plugin, there are no regular payments or any hidden fees.

6. Can I use AliDropship plugin with WooCommerce?

Sure!

AliDropship plugin has 2 different versions: the original AliDropship, and AliDropship Woo.

So, if you need a plugin for WooCommerce, it is better to choose AliDropship Woo. 

Check out this guide to learn more about AliDropship Woo.

7. Can I switch to AliDropship Woo plugin in the future?

Yes, you can.

Please remember that all of your settings will be lost in this case.

The original AliDropship plugin and AliDropship Woo are not compatible with each other. So, you will need to reinstall your WordPress, and start your website from scratch.

On the bright side, you won’t have to buy another license key! Just let us know, and we will reset the license you already have.

8. Is AliDropship plugin compatible with Shopify?

No, it is not. AliDropship only works on WordPress-based dropshipping sites.

9. What are the payment gateways available?

These are payment gateways integrated with the original AliDropship plugin:

  • PayPal
  • 2Checkout
  • Stripe
  • net
  • PayU
  • Payubiz
  • PayU Latam
  • PayPlug
  • DusuPay
  • Pin Payments

If your webstore is based on WooCommerce, there are tons of gateways to choose from! Please check out this guide to learn which payment gateways you can use.

10. What themes & design can I use?

Again, there are differences.

The original AliDropship supports our built-in themes only – you can take a look at them here.

AliDropship Woo plugin is compatible with any existing WooCommerce theme – feel free to use anything you fancy!

Read more about themes and design of AliDropship stores.

Well, this is it.

These were the top 10 questions about AliDropship plugin we most commonly get.

And the topic for our next Q&A series will be…

…DROP SHIPPING STORE MARKETING AND PROMOTION!

So if you have any questions related to the topic, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

And if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask them as well!

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Dropshipping

Ordering A Custom Drop Shipping Store: Q&A Series #4

Considering the constant demand for AliDropship custom stores, we decided to devote a whole separate Q&A session to it. Enjoy!

1. What’s a custom drop shipping store?

It’s a ready-made drop shipping store that is created for you exclusively. The store is developed by the team of highly skilled designers, programmers, and other technical specialists who make it all from scratch.

This is a wonderful solution for people who don’t know how to make their own store (or don’t want to waste their time on this). That’s why a huge part of AliDropship clients prefer buying a ready store.

2. What does the whole process look like?

First of all, you place an order and make a payment.

PLEASE NOTE: you only make ONE payment. There are no regular (monthly, yearly, etc.) fees!

After that, a dedicated member of our project management team gets in touch with you. We assign a personal project manager who will guide you through all the steps of the work.

He or she gives you an access to Basecamp – the special platform where you can monitor the progress and leave your feedback. We will also ask you to fill in our questionnaire – this way, we will learn your requests and preferences.

Read this article to learn more details about the development process.

3. What will I get? What will the store include?

When the development process is over, you get a customized webstore adapted for your needs and wishes. The store fully belongs to you: you get 100% ownership, and you are free to do ANYTHING with the site.

This store has a number of unique features you won’t find anywhere else:

  • At least 50 already imported products with professionally edited pictures and descriptions (the number depends on the package you choose)
  • Automatic updates of product information
  • Automatic price markup for any product groups
  • Professionally designed theme optimized for high conversions
  • Unique design elements (logo, header, icons, favicon, etc.)
  • Integrated promotional tools: discount coupons, emails for abandoned carts recovery, and subscribers lists for further interactions
  • All-in-one dashboard to monitor your sales, orders, stats and activities
  • Integrated Google Analytics
  • Integrated payment gateways (2Checkout, Stripe, PayU, etc). to accept payments with both PayPal and credit cards
  • On-site SEO and social networks accounts
  • Up to 12% AliExpress cashback

For the Ultimate package, you will also be provided with our special social media promo tool. We install and set up the Social Rabbit plugin that will automatically promote your business on 4 top social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

4. In the custom stores options, you mention that there is a niche research which is brilliant. However, can I choose my own niche?

Basically, you can choose ANY niche you like. It’s recommended to work in a niche you’re passionate about (or at least know quite well).

You will then need to evaluate the niche from the point of view of:

You can take a look at our exclusive ‘Niches and products’ blog section. There, we systematically post the results of our regular market research, and give you ideas of the most promising product types and categories that you can try in the upcoming season.

To check the commercial potential of the niche you’ve chosen, use our free niche research tool!

5. If I want to create a webstore with branded/copyrighted products, will I have any legal issues?

Yes, it is likely.

Every country has its own laws and legal requirements in terms of selling branded products, and every holder of intellectual property right has their own policy of dealing with such cases. You need to be really careful about your niche and products choice!

6. How do you choose and edit products for the website?

The drop shipping stores we create are filled with items from AliExpress – here you can find the detailed instruction on choosing the nicest products.

In short, we evaluate the items from the point of view of:

  • Product rating
  • Number of orders
  • Sellers rating
  • The option of e-Packet shipping or free delivery

If you want us to import products of a particular type or style, please, let us know before we start uploading products. You can attach some examples of products for each category.

We also have a guide on editing product pages, and we follow it with every item we add to the stores. The basic rules are:

  • Only add high quality pictures
  • Edit titles to make them short and clear
  • Rewrite product descriptions made by Chinese suppliers

7. Do you have any guides how to promote the website?

You can use a range of our free educational resources:

8. Can you integrate a special payment gateway for my country?

Generally, we integrate PayPal and credit cards payment options into our drop shipping stores. Here you can find the list of all the options available.

Sometimes, clients ask us to include some other additional systems. We always notify our developers team about these requests, but the development process is not easy. The developers might agree to try a certain additional system if it is requested often, but it will be considered to be a ‘non-typical amendment to a website’, and it will cost you extra money.

9. If I only have enough money to buy the Basic Package, can I upgrade it later?

Of course! If you can’t afford the desired package right now, just start with getting the Basic one. Later on, as soon as your finances are fine, you can upgrade your store to the Advanced or the Ultimate level.

For all these packages, we do the same work, but on a different scale. For example, the number of the items we add to a store is 50 for the Basic package, 100 for the Advanced package, and 200 for the Ultimate package. But it’s not the limit! The numbers can be increased if necessary.

The same goes for all the extra services that only are available on the higher levels. Even if they are not included in the package you’re buying, you surely can ask us to add the necessary ones for an extra cost (or you can do it yourself if you wish).

Please note that the store theme choice doesn’t depend on the package you’re ordering! It doesn’t matter if you’re buying a Basic or an Ultimate store – you can anyway choose one theme out of the four options we offer.

10. If I buy your Ultimate Package, when I can start making money? The description says “This package is perfect for those who want a 100% hassle-free start and immediate profits”, so what do you mean by immediate profits?

What do we mean by immediate profits?

The day you receive your store is the day you can make your first sale.

Everything is set up already, so you can accept payments and process orders IMMEDIATELY after getting the site from us. From the technical point of view, your webstore is fully ready for operation when we hand it over to you.

We gladly share our marketing experience and knowledge with you – we provide tons of educational materials(check out the question #7). Still, we can’t predict how soon you will start getting income – it all depends on your own promotional efforts.

Did we cover everything you wanted to know about buying a custom store? Feel free to leave your questions in the comments section below!

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Dropshipping

How to Easily Manage Day-to-Day Operations in Drop Shipping Business: Q&A Series #5

Every day we get hundreds of questions from absolutely different categories of people.

Can you guess who are the most common askers?

Happy new owners of drop shipping stores have more questions than anyone else!

It’s an absolutely normal situation if you don’t know how to run your brand new business. Don’t worry, you will learn it all in due time. And as for now, we’re always here to guide you.

1. What should I do day to day to manage my webstore?

It may sound obvious, but you need to actually run your drop shipping business every day if you want it to be successful.

It’s not enough to simply own a store without doing anything to it. Take a look at the success story of Alex – during the first month of his newly opened store operation, Alex did nothing to manage the operations. As you can guess, the results weren’t satisfying at all. Everything changed as soon as Alex started paying attention to the business, and now things are going more than well.

So, as an owner of a drop shipping business, you need to:

  • Manage orders and payments, inventory, and track delivery

Well, this is the essence of drop shipping business, right? You don’t have to handle storage and shipping issues (and it saves you tons of money!), but still, there are business operations that must be managed.

You have nothing to worry about, though, if you have AliDropship plugin already installed. In terms of business operations, it does the majority of necessary tasks, so the only thing you actually need to deal with is human factor.

  • Communicate with your customers via email and other means

Communication and interaction is probably the only thing that can’t be automated in this business field.

People value personal attitude, and it becomes exceptionally important when it comes to e-commerce.

Just think about it: someone decides to buy a product from you without seeing this item first; basically, this person trusts you with their money, and, to be honest, takes a risk.

Don’t leave them confused and uncertain! Help them, guide them through the store and the shopping process, encourage them to make a purchase, and thank them for their decision.

This is how you will turn their random purchase into a very personal and pleasant experience. This is how you will create additional value of your store, and this is how you will carefully build an audience of loyal and engaged customers.

  • Drive traffic to your webstore

People won’t locate your store easily, you know?

The competition is astonishing, and Internet is huge.

This is the challenge that can and must be taken. All you need to do is pay attention to your promotional efforts. If you don’t know where to begin, take a look at our Marketing Tips blog section.

  • Search and import new products for your webstore

It is important to do it regularly – this is how you will keep your existing customers enthusiastic about new offers they didn’t see before. Also, don’t forget about trends and fashion – technologies and interests change quickly, and it is vital to go with the flow. Nobody likes outdated and boring items!

  • Edit the pages content to make the store look neat and professional

Mostly, it refers to single product pages – when you import new products from AliExpress, the titles and descriptions you get are not perfect at all. This is why it is necessary to take some time and edit everything that doesn’t look good.

Also, don’t forget about search engine optimization – keep it in mind when you’re editing the pages’ content. You won’t see immediate results, but in the long run, these efforts will give your more benefits than you can imagine.

2. What are the costs of running and managing a drop shipping webstore?

Oh, no one can tell you that, actually.

Let’s think of all the possible costs you might have in this business:

  • Hosting payment – sorry, you just can’t go without it.
  • First orders payment – you need to order an item on AliExpress to get it delivered to your customer. So, at the beginning of your drop shipping journey you will spend your money first to get later paid by your customer.
  • Marketing activities – everything is up to you here. Maybe you will launch a full-scale campaign that will cost you hundreds of dollars, and maybe you will simply install some promotional plugin like Social Rabbit.

As you can see, it’s impossible to predict the amount of your expenses. No one defines it but you!

3. What should I do when I receive an order?

Step one: get excited.

Step two: go to the Orders section and click the “Place order automatically” button.

AliDropship plugin will visit AliExpress and create an order for you automatically. It will select necessary product variations, add items to your shopping cart and fill your customer’s shipping details on the checkout page. You will just need to click confirm button to complete a purchase.

Alternatively, you can place the order manually by clicking “Place order manually” button.

Step three: celebrate!

4. Will the cost of an item on AliExpress be deducted from my PayPal account?

AliExpress doesn’t support PayPal as a payment method which is why you can’t use your PayPal account to pay for purchases on AliExpress.com.

In other words, the cost of an item won’t be deducted from your PayPal account. Instead, while placing an order on AliExpress, you can use one of the payment methods supported by the platform.

5. Does the plugin import the shipping costs or do I have to add shipping options to my products?

AliDropship Plugin doesn’t import items’ shipping costs.

We highly recommend offering your customers a free shipping service by taking advantage of the free/low cost shipping offered by many AliExpress sellers. However, the Plugin has a special section where you can enable or disable different shipping options.

You can add up to four different shipping options (including free shipping) to any or all products.

6. Are the customers able to create an account on my website?

Yes, your clients can get the option to create a personal account on your website.

This account gives your customers the opportunity to store their contact and shipping details, check the list of products they purchased, and track the status of any order.

7. Will the customer receive a tracking number? How can our customers track their orders?

Once you placed an order on AliExpress and your supplier shipped an item, you get your tracking ID.

The plugin will automatically collect this tracking data and add it to your order details.

Please note: you need to be logged in your AliExpress account and your AliDropship orders section to activate this tracking auto-filling option.

8. How can I know if the package was delivered to the customer?

If there’s a tracking number available, you can easily track the package delivery.

With this tracking ID provided by the AliExpress supplier, you can check if the customer received an item.

9. My customer didn’t receive the order. What should I do?

First of all, stay calm and don’t panic.

Unfortunately, this happens.

Maybe something went wrong within the postal service, or the customer provided a wrong address, or a seller is shady (did you choose the seller carefully?). You’ll figure it out later, but right now it’s not the first priority.

Secondly, apologize.

Whatever happened, it can all be fixed. Your behavior and personal attitude will help a lot to solve this issue.

If your client did not receive the order or is not satisfied with his purchase, you should follow AliExpress Buyers Protection Policy.

We recommend you to talk to the seller first. Go on AliExpress, open “My Orders” page, select the faulty order and write a private message to the seller. The seller should respond quickly and offer different solutions to fix it. The reputation of the sellers is rather exposed and they are willing to do anything to maintain their feedback rating.

10. How will I handle refunds?

One of the reasons why AliExpress is perfect for drop shipping is its good protection system with full money back guarantee.

So, if your customer is not satisfied with a product and asks you for a refund, you should dispute the purchase with AliExpress seller.

If you are selling inexpensive products, your AliExpress suppliers usually refund you quickly and don’t ask you to return the items. They don’t want to waste their energy on managing disputes and receiving returns for relatively low value items. You can read about it more in our interview with an actual AliExpress seller.

As the result, you can give a full or partial refund to your customer through PayPal without asking them to return the product. This is why we recommend you not to spend all your earned money at once – keep a small fund just to be safe.

Are there any questions we didn’t cover? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below!

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Uncategorized

How To Make My Website Secure: Q&A Series #8

How to make my website secure

Our newest Q&A session is dedicated to the issue of online store security: read all about the technical aspects of keeping your website safe!

Taking care of your personal belongings is #1 priority.

And your drop shipping store is not simply a website you own – it’s not less than your personal achievement, your source of income, and, most importantly, your key to building a better future for yourself and your family.

How to make sure that this valuable asset won’t fall into the wrong hands?

Let’s figure it out!

1. What could be the most likely threats to my store?

From the technical point of view, there are 3 basic threats that are important to consider:

  • Website platform or plugins malfunction

If you haven’t updated your CMS platform for a long time, or if you have installed some pieces of additional software (themes, plugins, add-ons, etc.) from an unreliable source, you are basically putting your store at risk.

  •   Password hack

If you have a ‘weak’ password or if you keep it written in an easily available place, it won’t be difficult for hackers to steal your store data, as well as your money…and your business reputation.

  •   Viruses

If there is no trustworthy antivirus software installed on the device you use to run your store, or if you use an outdated browser version, the device (and the store) gets especially vulnerable.

2. How to make my website secure if it’s not ready yet? What can I do on the store development stage?

While your store is just being developed, you can do the majority of the steps necessary to ensure its safety:

  •   Consider which devices you’ll use to run your store. Contemporary automated solutions make it possible for you to access the store with the help of personal computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. It gives you more freedom, and at the same time, more responsibilities. You need to check the browser versions on EVERY device and make sure you’re using the latest browser version.
  •   The same is fair for antivirus programs: check if you have them installed on EVERY device you’ll be using for your drop shipping business, and update them to the latest version if necessary.
  •   Create a strong password for your hosting account and for your website admin panel. Ideally, these passwords should contain at least 8 characters each, and it’s a great idea to include numbers and uppercase letters in them. The general rule is: the more complicated is the password, the harder it will be for a hacker to get an illegal access to your website.
  •   Pay a special attention to the place where you are storing all your valuable passwords. It’s not a good idea to use any kind of online storage for this purpose.
  •      Make sure that you’ve used the latest version of a CMS platform as the basis for your online store. Check its official website to learn more about the newest updates and most relevant proven versions.
  •   Do your best to only install plugins, themes and add-ons that are officially recommended by the CMS platform developers. Be really careful about so-called nulled plugins that are distributed for free – they are very likely to contain viruses and hurt your webstore.

3. How to make my website secure if the store is already running?

First, make sure you’ve taken all the steps described above.

Then, do the following:

  •      Follow the updates as soon as you learn about the newest ones. It’s vital for everything you use: the CMS platform, themes and plugins, antivirus software and browser versions. If all of them are kept up-to-date, it’s much harder for hackers and viruses to do harm to your store and you.
  •      Change login and password from time to time to prevent any unpleasant surprises. Make sure to always use an actually working email address – this way, you’ll be able to restore the login details in case you lose or forget them.
  •     Create backup copies of your webstore regularly – if something goes wrong, you won’t have to destroy the store and start all over again, you’ll simply have to go back to the latest saved version.

4. I’m worried and I don’t think it’s enough. Can I do something else?

If you think you need to do more to protect your website, our developers can recommend one of the following safety plugins for WordPress:

Simply speaking, these free plugins limit the number of login attempts when somebody tries guessing your login details and enter the admin panel, and they also alert you if there’s a security threat.

5. There’s a virus! Or a hacker attack. Or a dangerous software, I don’t know what’s it exactly! What should I do?

Stay calm! It’s gonna be fine, just follow these simple steps:

  •      Scan your device for viruses and delete all the suspicious things your antivirus finds
  •      Change the password to your hosting account, and the webstore login details
  •      Try to remember if you’ve installed any pieces of software recently, and delete all the questionable elements
  •      Update your CMS, all the trustworthy plugins and extensions to the latest version available
  •      Restore your webstore using the most recent backup copy you have
  •      If your store is built with the help of AliDropship solutions, don’t hesitate to contact our support team! The best option is to send an email on support@alidropship.com address – this way, you’ll be able to describe the problem in detail, tell about your actions, and attach screenshots if necessary.

Follow these simple rules and safely enjoy your thriving business!

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Dropshipping

Your Questions About EU GDPR: What Is It And How To Make Sure Your Webstore Is GDPR Compliant

EU GDPR: What Is It And How To Make Sure Your Webstore Is GDPR Compliant

Everyone is talking about EU GDPR and its effects. Let’s find out the definition of GDPR and talk about its impact on your dropshipping business!

Data protection is no joke.

Everyone needs privacy and safety while being online, and of course, everyone wants to shop online with confidence.

This is why there’s such a buzz around EU GDPR, the newest set of legal requirements that regulates the storage and use of online shoppers’ personal data.

Let’s try to figure out what it is, exactly!

What does EU GDPR stand for?

GDPR is an abbreviation that means General Data Protection Regulation.

Simply speaking, it is a regulation in the law system of the European Union. The main idea behind GDPR is to protect the personal data of EU citizens, and to guarantee their privacy.

What will happen to GDPR in May, 2018?

The basis for GDPR was introduced in 1995 – as you can guess, the world of informational technologies has changed radically over these years, and it’s now really necessary to edit the regulation.

This is why in April, 2016, the updated version of GDPR was adopted. It will come in effect on 25 May 2018.

What’s the GDPR 2018 summary?

A brief GDPR overview makes it clear that the new regulations oblige companies to be more careful while storing and processing the customers’ personal data.

What does it mean?

Let’s go over the most important aspects – you can find the full explanation of the updates here.

You must follow the regulation if your customers are EU citizens

It doesn’t really matter where your business physically exists, or where it is legally registered. Generally speaking, if your website visitors are EU citizens, you must ensure the full protection of their personal data, and modify all of your data policies in accordance with the GDPR requirements.

Any piece of the website visitor’s data can be considered personal

Interestingly enough, the updated version of GDPR doesn’t give the exact definition of personal data and the types of information details that must be protected under the new regulations.

Still, the European Commission’s official website explains that any pieces of information that can possibly be used to identify the personality of the website visitor can be classified as personal data.

It means that online store owners must be exceptionally careful about the following pieces of information provided by their clients:

  • Name and surname
  • Email address
  • Home address
  • Identification card number
  • Location
  • IP address
  • Cookie ID

These (and some else) personal details must be handled in full accordance with the GDPR.

The website must ask the visitors to give their consent on the data usage

Simply speaking, there must be some kind of a designated page, or a form, or a pop-up window that:

  • Explains what kind of personal data is collected on this website, who will get and use it, and for what purpose (in clear terms and a simple language)
  • Asks the visitors to confirm they agree to provide this kind of information
  • Makes it possible for a user to easily cancel this agreement and withdraw the consent

The website must notify the visitors about data breaches

If the website gets hacked, or something similarly dangerous happens to it, there is a chance that the visitors’ data might have gotten stolen.

The companies must notify their buyers and website visitors about such events within 72 hours of discovering the breach.

The website must provide its visitors the right to access the gathered information

So, the webstore visitors now have the right to ask what kinds of personal details this website collects, and how the data is used.

The website, in turn, must be able to provide the necessary explanation on an electronic format and tell what’s the purpose of collecting and using these details.

It must be possible to delete a person’s data upon request

The website must have a technical possibility to erase personal data of an individual, stop it from further spreading, and prevent it from being used by third parties if an individual asks for it.

Is it really necessary to make my store a GDPR-compliant site?

Absolutely!

Even if you’re not residing in the EU and aren’t specifically targeting the EU customers, the global nature of drop shipping means that anybody can stumble upon your website, and order something from you.

Across different countries in the European Union, there will be set special Supervisory Authorities (SA): their purpose is to perform websites audit, issue warnings for non-compliant websites, and suggesting improvement measures for every particular case.

According to the updated version of GDPR, non-compliant organizations will need to pay a penalty charge. It can be amounted up to 4% of the company’s annual global turnover, or €20 million (whichever is bigger).

What exactly do I need to make a GDPR-compliant store?

Follow this step-by-step guide, and it will be fine!

1. Revise the types of data you collect

Since you’re running a drop shipping store, most likely, the personal details you gather are names and surnames, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, payment details…anything else?

This analysis is a good reason to rethink your questionnaires and data forms (if you have any): both you and your customers will benefit from the renewed, ‘minimalistic’ forms.

As you probably remember from our conversions boost guide, the less details a shopper has to provide during checkout, the more likely he/she is to complete the purchase.

At the same time, a short personal details form fully matches your interests, too. Your goal is to gather only the strictly necessary personal info: if you don’t collect unimportant data that is not required for the order processing, you don’t have to protect it – and you don’t have to explain your visitors why you need to know their eye color or Zodiac sign.

2. Think who you share these details with

At this point, you can surely say what types of customers’ data you collect. Now, it’s time to think whom you provide with these personal details.

Typically, you share such info with mass mailing services (Aweber, MailChimp, etc.), with outer plugins and themes, and, obviously, with AliExpress sellers.

Mostly, you need this breakdown to give a clear data usage explanation to your clients – later, in your privacy agreement, you’ll list all your partners/technical solutions and clarify who uses the personal details, how exactly, and for what purposes.

Also, if you have a list of entities/tools that have some kind of access to your clients’ personal data, you can conveniently go through this list and find out whether each one of them is GDPR compliant. It’s a good idea to only do your business with those who stick to the new regulations.

3. Write a new privacy note

It’s wise to have a separate website page designated specifically for this purpose, but you can also write it all on your Terms and Conditions page.

First, write that your webstore is GDPR compliant.

Then, write the full list of personal details your webstore collects (IP address, the type of device used to browse the site, cookies, the visit duration, email, phone number, physical address, postal address, etc.)

Then, repeat the same list, and specify who exactly uses the collected personal details, and for what purposes (for example, Google gets the device information and visit duration within the sphere of Google Analytics goals tracking, Aweber uses email addresses to send mass emails, manufacturers/stock owners use the order product details to assemble the packages, delivery companies use the buyer’s physical address to send the orders, etc.).

Then, explain (in simple and understandable terms) that every store visitor has the right to demand a copy of his/hers personal details collected by you, and can even ask you to delete all these details permanently.

Then, write a specially created email address: it will be the emergency contact address for the people who have questions or requests about their data privacy. Don’t use this address for any other purposes, and don’t show it in your regular contact details – this way, you’ll be sure that every letter coming on this address is related to this particular issue.

Finally, write that if after reading this, the visitor keeps browsing the site, it means he/she fully agrees with these terms and gives full consent to use his/hers personal details for the legally approved and business-necessary purposes. If the visitor doesn’t agree to the terms, he/she must leave the site immediately. If the person has already given consent to use his/hers data, but now wants to withdraw it, he/she should contact you by email and ask to delete all the data.

Please note: since May, 25th, every new custom-made store developed by AliDropship team has a GDPR-compliant ‘Terms and Conditions’ page that covers these basic points. Clearly, the details (contact email, the list of third parties using the personal info, etc.) should be amended by the owners of these stores because every business is managed in its own unique way.

4. Set up a pop-up or a push notification on your landing page

This is a highly useful action if you want to prevent the cases of misunderstanding (for example, if your store visitor claims he/she has simply looked through the products in your store and hasn’t specifically visited the privacy note page, and therefore, hasn’t given the consent to collect his/hers data).

To ensure your own safety, you can set up a privacy notification that appears when someone visits your site. The message should say that:

  • The website collects some personal details of every visitor
  • It is recommended to read the full explanation of the webstore’s privacy policy (here, you provide the link to the page with your privacy note)
  • By clicking ‘OK’ on this notification, the visitor confirms he/she has read the privacy note and agrees with its terms

For this purpose, you can safely use the GDPR Banner plugin for WordPress: it helps you create a catchy banner that is linked to your privacy policy page.

5. Think how to handle every procedure

Under the new regulations, you must be able to:

  • On a visitor’s request, show what kind of this visitor’s data you’re collecting
  • If necessary, delete a user’s personal details
  • If required, withdraw a user’s consent to further use his/hers personal data

Do a little research and pick the relevant plugins that would perform these tasks if necessary: developers all over the globe are currently offering various GDPR-friendly solutions for WordPress that can make your webstore more compliant with new regulations.

Our team has tested several options, so we can recommend GDPR plugin that covers a wide variety of the necessary tasks, and Delete Me plugin that specifically allows users to delete their data from a particular website.

6. Improve the store security

If your store is well-protected from malware and hackers’ attacks, most likely, you won’t have to deal with security breaches.

Read this article to learn how to make your website secure.

7. Think what to do if a data breach still happens

According to the new regulations, as soon as you learn about a data breach, you need to do the following within the next 72 hours:

  • Write down its details and keep a record of every incident
  • Report the incident to the local Data Commissioner (supervisory authority)
  • Notify your clients about the breach in case it threats their personal rights and freedoms

8. Consult your local lawyer

We strongly recommend you to get legal advice concerning the GDPR: many of the statements in the new regulation are quite ambiguous, and if you want to interpret them in the most favorable way for you, it’s necessary to discuss it with a professional lawyer.

Now you have a general idea about EU GDPR and its influence on your business. Don’t worry – with the due preparation, you’ll keep enjoying your thriving drop shipping store without any troubles!

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