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How does dropshipping work and how does an order flow?
You are the seller and the supplier is the warehouse. The customer only sees your webshop, your price and your terms. The parcel does come from the supplier. So there are two flows you need to get right: information (offer and stock) and orders.
| Step | Who does it | What happens | What you automate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Offer | Supplier to you | Product data, prices and stock arrive in your webshop | Import from a feed or integration |
| 2. Order | Customer to you | The customer buys and pays you, at your price | Nothing, this is your webshop |
| 3. Pass on | You to supplier | The order goes to the supplier with the customer's address | Forward the order automatically |
| 4. Shipping | Supplier to customer | The supplier packs and ships directly | Nothing, the supplier does this |
| 5. Tracking | Supplier to you to customer | The tracking code comes back and reaches the customer | Send the tracking code back |
Steps 1, 3 and 5 are data moving back and forth between two systems. Do that by hand and you soon spend more time retyping than selling. That is why dropshipping only scales once you automate those three steps.
Dropshipping or holding your own stock?
With your own stock you buy up front and carry the stock risk. With dropshipping you only buy once something has sold. You pay for that with a lower margin and less control over shipping and quality. Many shops combine both: own stock for best sellers, dropshipping for the long tail of the range.
Advantages and risks of dropshipping
What it gives you
- No stock up front. You tie up no money in purchasing and need no warehouse.
- Wide range. You can offer far more items than you could ever store yourself.
- Cheap to try. Testing a new product group costs time, not a purchasing budget.
Where it goes wrong
- Margin. You buy per piece, often without volume discount. Count all costs, not just the purchase price.
- Stock accuracy. You see the supplier's stock figure, not the shelves. An outdated number leads to orders that cannot be delivered. Also read how to prevent overselling.
- Delivery time. The customer buys from you, but the supplier decides the delivery time. Show the real delivery time in your webshop.
- Returns. A consumer who buys online may cancel within 14 days of receipt without giving a reason.1 You are the seller, so you must know in advance how the supplier takes back returns and defective products.
- VAT and customs. Whether import VAT or duties apply depends on where the supplier is and where the customer lives. That is not a question for a webshop integration but for your accountant or customs. Settle it before you choose a supplier.
Worked example with made-up numbers
Selling price €40.00 excl. VAT. Purchase €28.00, supplier shipping €4.00, payment costs €1.00. You keep €7.00, a margin of 17.5 percent of the selling price. If the supplier raises the purchase price by €7.00 and you do not pass it on, your whole margin is gone.
Price and stock at the supplier change without you noticing. A webshop that does not move with them sells at an old price or sells stock that has disappeared.
Choosing a supplier and connecting it to your webshop
What to look for in a supplier
- How does it deliver data? A feed or integration with stock and prices matters most. Without it you do everything by hand.
- How often is stock updated? Daily is too slow for a fast seller.
- Can it receive orders automatically? And does it send a tracking code back?
- Delivery time, shipping costs and countries. This decides what you can promise the customer.
- Returns and defects. Who takes back what, and at what cost?
- Neutral packaging and your name on the slip. See whether the supplier ships under your name.
How to connect a supplier
There are roughly three routes. Which one you can use is decided by the supplier.
| How does the supplier deliver? | What flows | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-made integration | Assortment, prices and stock to you; orders to the supplier | What exactly flows is stated on the integration's page |
| Product feed (JSON, XML or CSV) | Titles, descriptions, images, prices and stock to you | Whether orders can go back automatically depends on what the supplier offers |
| One-off file (CSV or Excel) | Product data to you | No continuous stock picture, so only suitable if the stock does not change anyway |
What StoreLinkr does here
StoreLinkr imports the supplier's offer into your product management (PIM) and publishes it to your webshop (WooCommerce, Shopify or SitePack) and to marketplaces. With selection rules you decide which part of the range you carry, and with price rules your selling price including margin. When a customer places an order it goes to the right supplier. If an order holds products from several suppliers, StoreLinkr splits it per SKU. As soon as the supplier ships, the tracking code goes back to your webshop, the marketplace and the customer. Stock is synchronised as often as the supplier allows. See also syncing stock and automating marketplace orders.
Suppliers with a ready-made integration
These are the dropshipping suppliers you can connect today: Wilmar, Shots, Everspring (plants and home decoration) and Pendlr (Kruitbosch) (bike parts and accessories). See the full overview of integrations. If your supplier is not listed, it can often still be connected through a feed.
Read per supplier which data exactly flows. That differs per integration, and an integration cannot pass on more than the supplier delivers itself.
Automate dropshipping with StoreLinkr
Import your supplier's offer, keep stock current and send orders and tracking codes back and forth automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
Checked on October 27, 2026.
- Your Europe (European Commission): returning and cancelling online purchases, 14 day cooling-off period: europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/returns/index_en.htm
