When you’ve began researching dropshipping as a possible enterprise mannequin in your subsequent enterprise, you’ll comprehend it’s a brilliant standard means for eCommerce companies to promote merchandise with out storing stock. A lot in order that 33% of on-line sellers already use this order achievement mannequin.
Nevertheless, except for the apparent advantages, reminiscent of no outlay for stock or warehousing, there are nonetheless challenges. Most notably, discovering respected suppliers and syncing product knowledge along with your on-line retailer.
Sometimes, sellers flip to software program that may assist them handle these elements of their dropshipping enterprise. Stock Supply is one such platform.
So, on this Stock Supply assessment, I have a look at what this software program does, the way it works, its options, costs, and execs and cons.
Nevertheless, in case you don’t have time for my total Stock Supply assessment, listed below are my key takeaways:
Inventory Source guarantees entry to over 240 pre-integrated suppliers and the flexibility to sync provider product knowledge and your buyer orders with a powerful array of eCommerce platforms. Nevertheless, I believe this software program is dear, and its buyer evaluations aren’t nice, which might make us cautious of dropping a lot cash on this little bit of equipment.
That’s all for this intro; let’s make a begin.
What’s Stock Supply?
In a nutshell, Stock Supply is a dropshipping stock and order administration firm that is been up and operating since 2003. It gives entry to 240 dropship suppliers and makes a speciality of syncing stock and order knowledge between the person’s chosen dropshipping provider(s) and their gross sales channels in order that any product knowledge adjustments from dropship suppliers mechanically replicate on the person’s gross sales platforms.
Based mostly in Jacksonville, Florida, Stock Supply has helped its clients (collectively) sync 1.6 billion merchandise to their eCommerce shops and processes over $3 million dropshipping orders month-to-month.
How Does Stock Supply Work?
Firstly, you choose which of Stock’s Supply’s suppliers you want to use.
Stock Supply then integrates the provider’s knowledge feed along with your gross sales platform. Throughout this course of, they’re going to push all product particulars supplied within the provider’s feed onto your retailer.
This could embody:
- Merchandise costs
- Product descriptions
- Product pictures
- Product classes
- UPC
…and every other product information.
After that, if the provider modifies their knowledge inside their feed, I.e., product value, amount, standing, and even new merchandise, Stock Supply can then push that knowledge onto your website.
Stock Supply Options
Now that we have briefly coated what Stock Supply is and supplied a surface-level overview of the way it works, let’s intently look at its core options.
Please be aware that the options you will have entry to range relying on which pricing plan you buy (extra on that beneath):
Stock Supply’s Provider Community
Stock Supply has been integrating dropship suppliers into its community for over 15 years, so it is protected to say they’ve some expertise on this division!
Quick ahead to at present, they usually now have over 240 pre-built provider integrations throughout an array of niches, together with home equipment, tub, physique and perfume, residence and backyard, client electronics, medical provides, workplace furnishings, pet provides, out of doors gear, and extra.
Stock Supply claims to solely work with ‘trusted’ suppliers they’ve vetted. As a part of this course of, checks are made to make sure suppliers have a warehouse large enough to retailer most of their merchandise. This ensures no middle-person is concerned in order that Stock Supply can work with the provider immediately.
After that, suppliers are monitored day by day to make sure they maintain an energetic and correct stock feed. Failure to take care of such a feed will consequence within the provider being faraway from the community.
Nevertheless, it’s price highlighting that it’s good to contact the provider on to get an authorised reseller account earlier than utilizing Stock Supply to combine the provider along with your on-line marketplaces and/or eCommerce shops. Stock Supply is clear that it’s not a middle-person, and signing up with them merely means you could have entry to its software program and companies. Confusingly, every provider has its personal reseller insurance policies and agreements that you’re going to want to stick to.
Stock Automation
Stock Supply’s stock automation function is helpful if you have already got an internet site and want to streamline the including and updating of your retailer’s product listings. This goes a good distance that will help you extra effectively handle your stock.
As I’ve already talked about, Stock Supply affords to add your provider’s product knowledge onto your retailer. Then proceed to sync the worth, amount, inventory standing, and different product data day by day, so that you might be protected understanding that your clients are accessing probably the most correct product information.
Stock Supply additionally affords instruments that will help you effectively apply your markups, product filters, and classes in bulk moderately than manually modifying each bit of stock.
Full Automation
Along with the Stock Automation advantages listed above, you can even mechanically:
- Route your buyer’s orders to your suppliers
- Sync order standing
- Handle cargo monitoring
In different phrases, you possibly can course of your drop transport orders mechanically with out manually dealing with them inside your gross sales channel.
How does this work?
When Stock Supply integrates your chosen provider along with your gross sales channel, they place a novel prefix on each SKU so their system can acknowledge which SKU applies to which crucial provider. Because of this, managing a number of suppliers is a breeze.
Catalog Supervisor
As soon as you’ve got built-in along with your chosen provider, you possibly can effortlessly search their merchandise by class, merchandise with pictures, gadgets from particular manufacturers, and so on.
Then while you’re completely satisfied to begin promoting these merchandise, you possibly can mechanically add their pictures, titles, classes, descriptions, weights, and so on., in bulk to your on-line retailer.
Don’t fret; you are free to switch the product knowledge in your gross sales channel ought to it’s good to.
On prime of that, you possibly can obtain alerts when new merchandise seem in your provider’s feed and mechanically add them to your retailer (do you have to want) in accordance with the pre-set pricing guidelines, filters, and product categorizations you’ve got set.
US Direct Providing
This Stock Supply service gives prompt entry to over 120,000 dropship merchandise from over 150 of their ‘favourite suppliers.’
With US Direct Providing, you do not have to undergo the effort of a provider approval course of. As a substitute, Stock Supply manages that for you.
That is the way it works:
Head to your Stock Supply dashboard and combine US Direct as a provider. As soon as you’ve got executed that, you can begin promoting merchandise from Stock Supply’s partnered dropship suppliers instantly.
This avenue gives a faster and simpler strategy to begin using dropshipping suppliers at predictable prices.
Stock Supply Pricing
We have reached the purpose of this Stock Supply assessment we have all been ready for; how a lot does this software program value? Let’s have a look:
Listing Account
Stock Supply’s Listing Account is free! With this free account, you will profit from the next:
- You may view all of Stock Supply’s dropship suppliers and their contact information
- You may preview product feeds
- Learn to change into a reseller (nevertheless, we could not discover out any extra data on what that entails)
- You may search suppliers utilizing ‘superior filters.’
Stock Automation Plans
There are three automation plans to select from:
- Fundamental
- Plus
- Energy Vendor
Under I am going to record the important thing options included in every respective account:
Fundamental
This can set you again $99 a month, for which you will get the next:
- One integration (Please be aware that an “integration” refers to at least one connection between a dropship provider and your chosen gross sales channel)
- You will should pay $75 a month per additional dropshipping provider integration.
- There is a 50,000 SKU restrict.
- Two day by day syncs
Plus
For $149 a month, you will get:
- Two integrations
- You will should pay $50 a month per additional dropshipping provider integration.
- There is a 250,000 SKU restrict.
- Optimized sync (I.e., Stock Supply pulls knowledge as quickly because it seems within the provider feed and pushes it to your gross sales channel as shortly as potential to scale back the chance of promoting out-of-stock merchandise and guarantee clients have entry to correct product information).
Energy Vendor
Lastly, for $299 a month, you will get every part above, plus:
- Six integrations
- There is a 500,000 SKU restrict.
Full Automation Pricing Plans
Once more, there are three pricing plans to select from:
- Fundamental
- Plus
- Energy Vendor
I am going to record the core options included in every account:
Fundamental
This can set you again $199 a month, for which you will obtain the next:
- One integration
- You will should pay $75 a month per additional dropshipping provider integration.
- There is a 50,000 SKU restrict.
- Routinely course of 100 orders a month (further orders value $0.40 every)
- Two day by day syncs
Plus
For $249 a month, you will get the next:
- Two integrations
- You will should pay $50 a month per additional dropshipping provider integration.
- There is a 250,000 SKU restrict.
- Routinely course of 500 orders a month (further orders value $0.30 every)
- Optimized sync
Energy Vendor
Lastly, for $399 a month, you will get every part above, plus:
- Six integrations
- There is a 500,000 SKU restrict
- Routinely course of 1,500 orders a month (further orders value $0.20 every)
Please be aware: When you exceed your SKU threshold, you will be charged $50 a month and given 50,000 additional SKUs.
Buyer Help
At first look, Inventory Source’s buyer help seems to be constructive. When you have an account, you possibly can entry their buyer help group by way of your dashboard, utilizing a dropdown menu to pick which group you need assistance from (technical help, partnership, or gross sales). You may then sort a message to the related group.
With out an account, you possibly can fill of their contact us kind, accessible by way of their residence web page.
There’s additionally an internet Help Middle (accessible by way of your dashboard) the place you could find data organized into the next classes:
- Assist Docs: I.e., help articles together with getting began, account administration, and billing
- Video Tutorials: i.e., how-to YouTube movies, however the newest is 2 years outdated
- Final IS Information: A seven-chapter supply on all issues Stock Supply
- Dropship Guides: Corresponding to change into a dropshipper, dropshipping product niches, and so forth.
There’s additionally an FAQ protecting matters reminiscent of stock automation, promoting on Amazon, and promoting on eBay.
Lastly, there’s an Stock Supply weblog with articles on stock administration and eCommerce advertising and marketing. It’s additionally the place readers can entry press releases, Stock Supply’s newest information, and provider bulletins.
Stock Supply’s Execs and Cons
Execs
- You may choose from 240+ pre-integrated suppliers.
- The dashboard is comparatively intuitive.
- There’s a good array of self-help help supplies.
- There is a huge record of gross sales channels you possibly can combine with, together with popular names like Shopify, Bigcommerce, Walmart V3, Magento, WooCommerce, and lots of extra.
Cons
- Some users complain about subpar buyer help.
- Their web site and self-help documentation makes use of a whole lot of jargon, and convoluted sentences, making it troublesome to familiarize your self with Stock Supply’s key providing.
- It’s totally costly.
- You need to sift via tons of merchandise when researching a distinct segment, and product pictures are tiny.
- Some customers complain that provider merchandise base costs aren’t wholesale, making it troublesome to attain a good markup.
- Some customers complain that their provider integrations generally do not work. One person complained that the mistaken merchandise have been uploaded onto their retailer, resulting in buyer difficulties.
- One other person grumbled that the sync did not ‘work as supposed.’ I.e., a buyer would place an order; then they be taught that their provider was out of inventory as a result of the product knowledge hasn’t been up to date in time.
- One other buyer mentioned, ‘You may’t run a value, amount, and outline replace with no full resync,’ – which is irritating.
- One other person mentioned you could not ‘edit a product variant picture,’ which hindered their person expertise.
Stock Supply Evaluation: My Ultimate Ideas
That’s the top of my Inventory Source assessment. Hopefully, I’ve given you sufficient data to resolve whether or not this software program is price investing in.
Total, I believe it’s tremendous costly and, as such, guidelines out its suitability for fledgling dropship companies on that foundation alone. Not solely that, however buyer evaluations are, sadly, not glowing, and that will effectively put potential customers off.
In mild of that, I might recommend contemplating different dropshipping provider directories like Spocket earlier than making any ultimate choices.
In case your price range stretches to investing in Stock Supply, tell us within the feedback beneath what you assume!
