Overview
Dropshipping has changed online business over the years; Above all, dropshipping is a challenging game to crack, and so does the competition. If you are looking to start your dropshipping online, or you’re in a dropshipping business, chances are you’ve heard of Oberlo. We are going to talk about dropshipping, what it is, and how you can get started with Oberlo, a dropshipping app created by Shopify that lets you source products from the many lists of AliExpress suppliers.
Table of Contents
- Overview
- What is Dropshipping?
- What is the Oberlo Chrome Extension?
- How to use the Oberlo Chrome extension?
- How Do I Configure Oberlo Account With My Shopify Store?
- How Can You Use Oberlo Chrome Extension for Your Dropshipping Business?
- Oberlo Chrome Extension Not Working?
- How to Clear Browser Cache & Cookies and Reinstall the Extension
- Does Oberlo Work with other Websites?
- Features of Oberlo Extension
- How Much Does The Extension Cost?
- How to install the Oberlo Chrome Extension
- What are the Pros & Cons of the Oberlo Chrome Extension?
- Some Frequently-Asked-Question About Oberlo Chrome Extension
- Oberlo Chrome Extension Summary
What is Dropshipping?
There is a brand new method of making money online, with a low-risk business model without incurring huge running costs like a wholesaler would have. Dropshipping is a kind of retail fulfillment structured under online shops, and instead of products stored in warehouse inventory, a merchant purchases items from a third-party supplier—usually a manufacturer or a wholesaler—to execute orders and have the item directly shipped to the customer. This way, the seller doesn’t have to regulate the product directly. Oberlo also links your Shopify store (where your products can be sold) and AliExpress (where you can discover and work with suppliers).
What is the Oberlo Chrome Extension?
The Oberlo Extension’s library of helpful learning resources acts as aid with anything from building your dropshipping business to perfecting your marketing strategy and everything in between. For one, it is a free automation tool that helps enable its user to streamline their dropshipping more efficiently. Oberlo is a dropshipping solution that enables retailers to source products from various suppliers on AliExpress to import and market them on their Shopify stores. This dropshipping solution tracks order volume, market sales trends, and competitor data to help sellers choose suitable products for them to market.
Choose the right products for your store.
From the products section of your Oberlo dashboard, head into the Find Products feature. You will then be taken to a whole page featuring a list of different profitable items for your business solely based on how you configure the product criteria. Following particular standards will help narrow down your product search and ultimately make a more sound decision.
Order Tracking
Setting up your shipping confirmation emails and having them automatically sent to your customers with their unique tracking number as soon as their orders are processed provides insights about a customer’s shipment status. Oberlo’s order tracking feature will save you hours of customer service time because you will not have to respond to several email inquiries coming in every day manually
Control your Pricing
Oberlo lets you precisely calculate the price for your product by configuring pricing rules to automatically adjust your product prices according to the rules you set. You can also compare prices to set up advanced pricing rules open for customization in the future.
Bulk Ordering
Suppose you receive a large number of orders every day. In that case, you can save time by placing multiple orders at once, plus it works automatically with no limit to how many orders can be placed at a time. To access this feature, sellers must be subscribed to Boss plan to fulfill orders in bulk. Oberlo does not limit how many orders you can place at a time.
How to use the Oberlo Chrome extension
Dropshipping businesses present eCommerce entrepreneurs with a lot of freedom. Still, there are some critical points that you will need to take into consideration when you’re sourcing products for your store’s inventory. Suppose you’re new to the whole Shopify/AliExpress thing and the whole dropshipping process. In that case, you’re probably wondering how you can use the Oberlo Chrome extension to get products into your Shopify store. See the rundown of the information below to show you how to use the Oberlo app in AliExpress.
Finding Products
When you enter an item into the search tool, you can sort the results by best match, price, and order count. After a registered click on an item, the directory program will take you instantly to the product page that looks the same as what the page would in the AliExpress. If you’re interested in finding currently trending products or products that are likely to be popular or a trend in the future, you can just search away.
Shortly after you’ve added top products to your preferred dropshipping store, there is no limit to the amount of profit that you can generate. That is because after you have identified your winning products that fit the needs of your store, you’ll be ahead of your competitors and be ready to start making sales.
Importing Products
Now that you’ve done the necessary procedures during the product research, let’s go over how to import the list of products you are interested in to sell online. When you have finally decided on the products you want to market, you can now link and add them to your Shopify store. Oberlo is a great tool for helping you import products straight into your Shopify store with just a couple of clicks of the mouse. To add items to Shopify, you can import the product through the following routes:
- With your Oberlo’s Import List admin
- From aliexpress.com, by using the AliExpress product ID or URL.
Customization
Product research and import are only the first two steps you need to perform, and by means, not the end process. Well-crafted product listings are vital processes that can lead to lower refund rates and more organic sales if done right. You can customize your product listing by reworking the product details in Oberlo and Shopify.
Check if the products are enlisted into your store. If it is visible in the store after you add a product to your Import List in Oberlo. In that case, you can edit the product’s details, such as the description, title, images.
Placing and Fulfilling Orders- Bulk and Single Orders
After you import a product and finish some customization and touch-ups of some elements, you can go ahead with setting configurations on your order placement and fulfillment. The order arrangement can be configured individually or in bulk in the Shopify admin options> Products.
Keep in mind that this option is only available to Oberlo Boss users. Not only that, the CAPTCHA Solver makes placing bulk orders on AliExpress more efficient than ever. It works automatically — and you don’t have to worry about it changing off the settings after each order, as you could fulfill by orders or by SKUs. The file should contain Order Number and Tracking Number (if fulfilling by orders), or Order Number, Tracking Number, SKU, Quantity (if fulfilling by SKUs).
How Do I Configure Oberlo Account With My Shopify Store?
The extensions can be downloaded with no extra charges from Google Chrome’s store page. There are currently over 100 million products sold using the Oberlo Extension. This is a powerful tool for eCommerce merchants, where in just a few clicks, you can choose whether to create or connect a store. To set out your dropshipping venture with Oberlo; proceed with the following steps below:
Existing Store
To link an existing store to Oberlo, perform the following steps:
- While on the Oberlo Admin page, click the create or connect a store button.
- There, a pop-up asking for the store URL will load on the screen.
- Fill in or directly paste the URL in that section and click the connect my store.
- Upon clicking the connect my store, there will be a reminder to install the Oberlo app.
- Confirm the installation to complete the integration process of your Oberlo account to your Shopify or AliExpress marketplace.
New Online Store
If you presently have no active account in AliExpress and Shopify, Oberlo can assist you to start with fully opening your selected store platform while having them integrated into Oberlo immediately.
- Like establishing up an existing store, make sure to open the Oberlo Admin page and proceed to the create or connect a store button.
- Underneath the URL fill-in bar on the pop-up, click the start your free trial of Shopify link.
- Click this, and to create your account, enter the requested sign-up details on the Shopify website.
- Once the sign-up process is completed with Shopify, you’ll be able to return to the Oberlo page.
- From here, go back to the Oberlo admin section, and click the “create or connect a store” again.
- You can now follow the provided instructions for integrating an existing online store with your Oberlo account.
How Can You Use Oberlo Chrome Extension for Your Dropshipping Business?
As mentioned before, before downloading the extension, make sure that you are using a Chrome browser on a desktop or laptop computer. Remember that the extension only works on Windows and Mac operating systems and now works on a tablet or mobile devices. Once you have the extension installed on your Chrome browser, you can start to filter and import products directly from Shopify or AliExpress. To begin, you need to be logged in to both your Oberlo account and your chosen store platform (make sure that before proceeding in, your Oberlo account is integrated into your AliExpress account)
- To explore products in AliExpress, open the product category or use the search bar to type in what you are looking for. (Note: You are not able to directly import products from AliExpress homepage or a supplier’s home page)
- When you are on a page that you’re able to import products from, the icon will turn blue.
- When searching for a product, select the country you plan to target with the filter “Ship to”
If you are just starting in the dropshipping business, start with one or two target countries, and expand once you are comfortable with the dropshipping process.
- Next, open your Oberlo Chrome Extension to see your settings.
- From here, you can select your preferred shipping method.
- It is common to use the AliExpress Standard shipping method in dropshipping because it is affordable and has a tracking number.
- To filter your search result, enable the button “Hide items without this option” to remove any products that don’t meet your preferences. - - After you are done making some changes, click “Update settings.”
- Next, click on its image to see more details about a product.
- On the new page, product information includes available variants to sell, shipping methods, images, supplier information, and the full product description.
- Once you find a product that you want to sell, click “Add to Oberlo”.
- The extension adds the product to the “Import List” on your Oberlo admin, where you can then edit and import it to your Shopify store.
(Troubleshoot) Oberlo Chrome Extension Not Working?
If you ever need to troubleshoot the extension due to some problems encountered when you’re on Oberlo or have all of the other apps. In that case, try these five simple steps that could fix the problem:
- Left-click the three dots found on the top right corner of your Chrome browser> More Tools> Extensions menu.
- When you get to the extensions menu, proceed to the details.
- Authorize Oberlo Chrome Extension when opening within the incognito mode.
- Open the site in incognito and see if the app is appropriately working. If it’s working, one or any of your installed Chrome extensions is messing up with the Oberlo extension. To fix that, enter the hit, and trial> enable, disable, see, and test which one is rendering the internal problem.
- Once you find the primary issue, immediately remove it from your browser.
If you’re having trouble with order placement and product importing with the Oberlo Chrome extension, try to update it or uninstall or reinstall the extension manually. If the extension is updated to the latest version and continues, try to uninstall and reinstall the extension.
How to Clear Browser Cache & Cookies and Reinstall the Extension
Deleting the cache data and cookies can help troubleshoot without much significant constructive intervention. This also allows an increase in the loading time of web pages and the performance of your computer. Here’s how you can pull these methods off:
- Open the Chrome web store
- Install the Clean All extension
- Inspect the Cache, Cookies, & History, and click the clear button.
- Open the Oberlo Chrome Extension and try whether it is working or not
- Or if the above steps fail to resolve your problem, try to contact Oberlo’s customer support: hello@oberlo.com
Does Oberlo Work with other Websites?
Oberlo works exclusively by connecting to your Shopify and AliExpress platforms, making it quicker and easier to sell products found there. The application allows thousands of products from AliExpress to be imported directly into existing Shopify stores so that you can start selling right away. In light of this, you won’t be able to use Oberlo on any standalone websites or any other e-commerce platforms. You can find Oberlo in the Shopify app store or get Chrome extensions in the Chrome Store. So far, there are currently a little over 6,500 Shopify stores operating with the help of Oberlo, with combined sales having surpassed $36,000,000.
Features of Oberlo Extension Feature
As you have already guessed, to enjoy more features or add more than the product limit of the starter plan, you’ll have to upgrade to one of Oberlo’s Grad or Boss package plans. Because with that, you’ll get access to other handy Oberlo features, including:
1. Effortlessly research and import products from AliExpress to your Shopify store
Dropship products in a few clicks. Oberlo allows its user to browse the massive product database of AliExpress and Shopify with products added with just a single click. The process of product researching helps a user identify the series of customer needs validating a product idea if it meets the current market demand. The result is a better investment return on your product, which can also help you decide on new products for your next store update.
2. Epacket delivery
Also, you can make use of the ePacket filter to directly import products with the most immediate delivery times. ePacket delivery is an arrangement between the USPS and Hongkong Post that boosts the speed of delivery of small deliverables – in most cases just 7-10 business days vs. the 30+ days previously experienced. Also, the ePacket feature qualifies for free returns for undeliverable items and door-to-door tracking.
3. Automated inventory management update
Moreover, Oberlo has a designated inventory software system feature that automatically sends you inventory reports of several products published on your online shop. That is so you won’t ever run the chance of selling something that has gone out of stock. An automated inventory management system can do many repetitive inventory management chores and simplify the retail workflows on its own through the help of pre-build automation conditions to help you manage the inventory system on a real-time basis.
4. Product customization
Just because you’re using Oberlo doesn’t imply that your product presentation on Shopify or AliExpress has to look just like everyone else’s. With Oberlo’s product customization feature, you can customize your product listing, including modifying the titles and images, which is great for including important SEO keywords. Product customization calls a great deal with offering goods to include their unique listing identity, elements, and features transformed according to your visual preferences. There is a selection of options for you to choose whether to conduct partial or complete customization of your product details in product customization.
5. Fulfill and track orders automatically
With just a click “Order Product” to confirm that you want to ship the product to the customer, once you receive the payment, Oberlo will process the order and provide a unique integrated tracking code. The order tracking feature’s value also offers to organize your entire backend from a simple and intuitive interface— everything from partial fulfillment, dropshipping to backorders, customer tagging, order invoicing, inventory counts, and more.
6. Track your sales
By keeping track of products and services sold, you can get to know which products/services in specific geographies bring in the maximum revenue and gain a deeper understanding of customer’s interests and behavior to plan your strategy thoroughly. The sales tracking feature keeps a record detailing all aspects of your sales process, including activities ranging from email marketing initiatives lead management to social media outreach and more
7. Multiple user accounts
As you scale and grow your online businesses, so do the roles and commitments of the people behind a business. Having the option to enforce multiple users accounts for your other vital employees will surely strengthen teamwork and team management more.
How Much Does The Extension Cost?
Oberlo has three existing price points, each suitable for supporting your dropshipping business to the best possible start or assisting experienced dropshippers looking to scale their business to the next level. To get started with the monthly subscription cost:
Free Plan Insights
The lowest tier plan for Oberlo is entirely available free of charge, so it’s effortless to get started with your new dropshipping venture. Not only that, Oberlo allows its users under the free plan to resume using its free service for as long as they want it to, and for a limitless number of orders too. This package’s features include:
- Access to Level Up with two digital courses containing ebooks, blogs, and guides.
- Dropshipping products up to 500 per month.
- Product limit: 500
- Unlimited monthly orders
- The Oberlo Chrome extension
Grad Package Plan Insights
Alternatively, suppose you’re looking to scale your business further. In that case, you’ll need to upgrade to either the Grad or Boss Package (which we will about following this). The graduate package is mid-level, apart from the free plan. Prices start at $7.90 per month. It retains all the features of the Explorer package, plus:
- Access to Level Up with unlimited courses containing ebooks, blogs, and guides.
- Product limit: 500
- A weekly members-only talk with reputed Oberlo advisors
- Trending product reports
Boss Package Plan Insights
The conclusive and most expensive Oberlo monthly subscription option is the Boss package plan, which comes with a cost of $79.90 per month. This subscription might seem like quite a high price to pay for your Shopify add-on. To begin with, it’s actually an excellent value when you consider getting the complete Oberlo experience and get access to more cutting-edge dropshipping features, such as:
- Access to Level Up with unlimited courses containing ebooks, blogs, and guides.
- Product limit: 30,000
- The ability to conduct bulk orders.
- Shipment tracking.
- A weekly members-only talk with reputed Oberlo advisors
- Affiliate program
- CAPTCHA solver.
- Multiple staff accounts.
- An affiliate program.
- Variant mapping.
How to install the Oberlo Chrome Extension?
Similarly, If you want to install the Oberlo extension, you must connect with the use of a laptop or desktop computer. Otherwise, you cannot use Oberlo on your mobile or tablet device. Now follow step by step guide to install the Oberlo Extension for Chrome:
- Fast open the google chrome web store
- Once in the store, type Oberlo in the search bar
- Click the Add to chrome> Add Extension.
- The Oberlo extension is then added to your browser bar.
By default, the Oberlo extension icon appears to be a purple-grey color. And when visiting certain AliExpress pages, the icon will display as blue, indicating that action is available.
What are the Pros & Cons of the Oberlo Chrome Extension?
As you probably know, Oberlo makes it easy to set up an online dropshipping business. They have customer support and a chrome extension that helps you every step of the way. Unfortunately, like any other alternative, Oberlo has a few downsides. To sum up, these are the major pros and cons that you can expect if you are using or have a plan to use Oberlo as an eCommerce and dropshipping solution:
Pros of Oberlo Chrome Chrome Extension
- The process of importing products is incredibly quick and efficient.
- Modern dashboard and intuitive interface
- No excessive hassle during the signup process
- Includes a free plan that can last indefinitely and a 30-day free trial for their Grad and Boss package plan.
- High-quality app with a convenient extension for Chrome.
- Automated order fulfillment and processing
- Day-to-day product syncing.
- Ability to scale.
- Loads of education resources, video tutorials, and even access to online coaching and courses.
- Ability to scale your business with easy-to-set-up product customization.
- Get in contact with product suppliers based on what they offer and shipping times.
- Outstanding customer support.
- An integration of ePacket filters that allows its users to find the promptest suppliers and shipping
Cons of Oberlo Chrome Extension
- Currently, it is not compatible with other eCommerce platform providers aside from Shopify stores.
- Users can only import items originating from AliExpress.
- The “Bestsellers” category can increase the levels of competition and make it more difficult for a business to stand out.
- Oberlo restricts some products.
Some Frequently-Asked-Question About Oberlo Chrome Extension:
Q: Is Oberlo Chrome Extension Free?
Oberlo’s Starter plan is 100% free, but there are free and paid subscription options in Oberlo. The free version will get you a product limit of 500 with restricted features, unlike their other two paid plans that let you take advantage of their more advanced features, which is highly beneficial if you are looking to scale your dropshipping business.
Q: How Do I Download the Oberlo Chrome Extension?
Like how other extensions work, you can find the Oberlo extension in the chrome web store; simply search Oberlo Chrome extension and approve of some terms and conditions process, then you are good to go.
Q: Is it Possible to Access the Bulk Order Feature Using Oberlo Chrome Extension?
Yes, it’s possible only if you are under the Grad or Boss plan, as bulk orders are not inclusive of the starter plan.
Q: Will the Oberlo Extension Work on All Browsers?
Although the Oberlo team is constantly working on the extension to work with other websites like Firefox, Safari, or Opera. As of now, Oberlo works officially only on the Google Chrome browser.
Q: Does Oberlo Work with other Websites?
Oberlo works exclusively by connecting to your online store, in conjunction with Shopify and AliExpress platforms, making it quicker and easier to sell products found there. The application allows thousands of products from AliExpress to be imported directly into existing Shopify stores so that you can start selling right away. In light of this, you won’t be able to use Oberlo on any standalone websites or any other e-commerce platforms.
Q: Does Oberlo work for countries outside the USA?
Absolutely, there are no significant country restrictions when using the Oberlo extension. As they have operated the app to run smoothly around the world, regardless of the geographical location your store is running, you can definitely use Oberlo, given that you won’t need to worry about holding physical inventory. What’s more, Oberlo is now available in several languages aside from English, including French, German, and Spanish.
And there you go: the most generally asked questions and inquiries about dropshipping, Shopify, and Oberlo.
Oberlo Chrome Extension Summary
Like any other third-party business model, building your dropshipping online business model is far from the get rich quick scheme misconception everyone is jumping to, but certainly is not impossible to find success from it, but the hard part is spending money on advertising and getting the right targeted customers for your products. Also, you’re totally dependent on your supplier getting orders right and hoping that the quality of the products is up to scratch, or else you’ll get a ton of refunds.
There are many online dropshipping apps for sourcing products now available, and choosing the right one for your business can feel really difficult. It’s noteworthy that every successful dropshipping business has two main components that have to be there for your store to take off. Oberlo has proven itself to be one of the largest and most trusted eCommerce platforms available. And overall, Oberlo is probably the best dropshipping tool we’ve come across, as it is a fully integrated e-commerce solution, providing access to many industry-grade features that you can tweak and customize to your heart’s content.