Can Blockchain Technology Help Dropshipper?

by Fauzan Anandika

Online shopping becomes a new trend in this millennium. People trade in an online marketplace. Millions of sellers and buyers entering the marketplace every day searching for anything they need. Customer and seller meet each other in an online marketplace, a digital platform where sellers displaying their product and interact with the customer. Online marketplace begins to substitute traditional department stores in providing consumer goods. Even now, we can buy luxury stuff and a car in the online shop.

Online shopping brings so many values in our lives. As if we have our mall in our hand, shopping anywhere and anytime. Many big suppliers and production factories use marketplaces to direct selling their products to end customers. They offer a lower price to attract customers and keep maintaining their product selling. Online shopping creates new opportunities to get more income with drop shipping. Reselling a product and take some margin to gain profit that’s how dropshipping works. Dropshipping used by many people starts from unemployed moms, college students, or even office employees to earn extra money. Despite its benefit, the online marketplace has some potential risks, especially for a drop shipper. Not owning any product to sell makes them can’t give an actual status of product availability, they can’t respond quickly to the customer since they need to conform to the product owner. Drop shippers bet on their credibility to gain customer trust. If communication with the supplier is troubled, it will cost to lose the customer.

Drop shippers need a real-time supplier inventory. So they can communicate faster after receiving the order. Since a drop shipper is the first contact who made a communicating with the customer, they also need an actual and transparent shipping status. Blockchain technology can solve these problems in dropshipping. A decentralized database using blockchain makes every supplier connected to all your supply chain. Every time there is an updated product, it will become easy to trace. 4 ways will improve trading in the online marketplace by blockchain.

1. Actual inventory
   Drop shipper is an all-day work. Whenever a customer calls, they need to make a professional impression as if they are the owner of the product. With an updated inventory, they can negotiate well whenever a customer changes the products that they want to buy. Dropshipper can offer other items without worrying its availability in the supplier.
2. Actual prices
   Using cryptocurrency, buy and sell across the globe becomes faster, and its prices are stable. Since cryptocurrency transaction only needs a small fee, the price won’t change much. The customer and seller don’t need to add an extra fee for the transaction.
3. Real-time shipment status
   Customer needs to know where is their package, is there any damage during the shipment, or when I can receive my package. Using blockchain in the shipment jobs makes the shipment process becomes so transparent, tracking packages become easy. Customer also can update their package status condition.
4. Prevent fake suppliers
   Meeting with a fake-supplier will cost an amount of money and credibility. Using smart contracts will prevent every drop shipper from a fake-supplier since the transaction only can be progress if all the requirements are fulfilled.

Applying blockchain in an online marketplace can be used as long as the system already integrated with all the supply chains. The seller, buyer, supplier, and the shipment must have already familiar with blockchain. It could be troublesome if they accidentally make a wrong transaction since all the transaction in the blockchain is irreversible. This accident will cost money lost and almost impossible to refund. Stay alert whenever doing a trading transaction is the key to create safety transaction.