Dropshipping Quality Assurance: A Beginner's Guide

You may have found a winning dropshipping product, but you’ll lose money if the quality isn’t up to scratch. Customers who receive damaged or defective products will call the number on the package. Even though you didn’t manufacture the product, you’ll need to step up to fix the problem.

You need to do so to avoid negative reviews, complaints, returns, and order cancellations. While issuing refunds can sometimes help, it’s not sustainable in the long run. Complaints and refunds act as a double whammy, impacting your business’s reputation and profitability.

Dropshipping quality assurance is a business risk that you need to plan for and take steps to mitigate.

In this article, we’ll explore how to improve quality assurance in your dropshipping business.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

Issuing refunds for quality-related issues is not sustainable in the long term. Try to offer a product replacement or exchange instead
Integrate your order management system with the supplier so you can get real-time shipping and delivery status updates
Dropshippers may not directly control product quality. However, agreeing on minimum quality standards with suppliers and adding them to your contract (under a dedicated dropshipping quality assurance section) can help.
To get better payment and delivery terms, consider offering suppliers a long-term ‘partnership’ instead of just another contract.

Understanding Quality Assurance in Dropshipping

Quality assurance ensures that a product matches the advertised specifications regarding performance, look, and feel. However, dropshipping quality assurance is more complex than other business models. You have no oversight over the manufacturing and quality control of the product, including packaging, safety compliance, etc.

This often results in the following prevalent issues mentioned below.

Product defects

Low-quality or faulty products, differences in color, size, shape, or performance, missing accessories or components, etc., can all cause customer dissatisfaction.

Packaging issues

Poor quality packaging can cause product damage during shipping and handling. This may result in escalations and refund claims. If the packaging is too big or bulky, it may also increase your storage and handling costs.

Out-of-stock products

Suppliers may have fewer products ready to ship than they claim. As a result, they may be unable to fulfill all orders, resulting in cancellations and refunds.

Incorrect order processing

Errors in sorting and packaging orders or applying shipping labels can result in customers receiving the wrong product. Shipping accuracy is also considered a part of dropshipping quality assurance since it has a customer impact.

Inconsistent product details

Incorrect or incomplete product information may confuse customers and impact sales negatively. Some might even suspect fraud, impacting your brand reputation. This can put you at a competitive disadvantage. Failing to mention important details like country of origin can also have legal consequences.

Ultimately, poor quality or incorrect product information can negatively impact customers’ minds. This can result in negative reviews, high return rates, and poor sales. It can take a long time to regain lost trust.

In the next section, we’ll discuss best practices for dropshipping quality assurance.

Setting Quality Criteria with Suppliers

They say prevention is better than cure. For dropshippers, setting clear expectations with suppliers is critical to prevent quality issues. When evaluating potential suppliers:

Research their track record in terms of quality, delivery, and cost-effectiveness.
Look up reviews on eCommerce platforms to see how responsive they are to customer feedback. This will help you assess them more objectively and identify potential issues.
Once you’ve selected a supplier, document the key quality parameters and put them in the supplier agreement. Make sure they understand that these parameters are non-negotiable.
To avoid confusion, create a step-by-step checklist outlining product specifications, packaging, quality control, etc., for the supplier to refer to when processing your orders.

Implementing Quality Control Measures

Most dropshippers regularly check in with their suppliers to review quality control measures. However, as order volumes increase, it may not always be possible. This problem can be solved to an extent with inventory management tools.

For example, you can get real-time updates on inventory levels, product details, etc. This information can reveal tell-tale signs regarding product quality, enabling you to hold the supplier accountable for any discrepancy.

Building Strong Supplier Relationships

You’ll need to supplement research with real-world feedback to identify the right suppliers. Review their websites, online marketplaces, and reviews to understand their track record. This should help you shortlist a few suppliers. However, there’s no substitute for real-world feedback.

When you contact the suppliers for samples, ask them to speak with some of their existing clients. Ask questions about their experience. If you’re satisfied with their product quality, check how they stack up regarding response time and how fast they resolve customer queries.

You should consider their location as it can impact shipping times and costs. Consider offering shortlisted suppliers a long-term partnership where you source specific products exclusively from them. This can help you get priority shipping, lower shipping costs, and other benefits.

Always shortlist several suppliers so you can use them as backup in case of shipping delays or other problems.

Gathering Customer Feedback and Making Process Improvements

Dropshippers only have a small window to act on quality-related issues before customers start returning or canceling orders. A speedy response can avert negative reviews on social media and show customers you care. Setting up a comprehensive FAQ page with advanced search functionality is the first step to streamlining customer support.

Beyond that, focus on streamlining the process and making improvements as needed. The key focus areas are outlined below.

Feedback collection

Integrate feedback forms and comment boxes on the contact page
Set up an email autoresponder to generate acknowledgments for messages received
If you sell multiple products on your site, consider implementing a chatbot to prioritize customer requests

Dropshipping product quality tracking — *Source*

Feedback processing

Using a dedicated email inbox for customer requests and escalations may work for a while. However, a help desk tool can help you integrate feedback from all channels (website, social media, email) in one place. This will allow you to prioritize customer requests and assign them effectively to team members.

Most help desk tools, like EngageBay, have a dashboard that gives you a complete breakdown of customer issues by type, status, and owner. This provides transparency, accountability for your team, and a consistent customer experience.

Feedback analysis

Segment customer requests based on the request type and case history to improve response time. It could be part of a larger trend if it’s a recurring issue. Review all your customer support interactions to understand the overall customer impact.

Correlate this information with customer reviews you may have received. Do a root cause analysis to identify when the problem started and what steps have been taken to resolve it.

Examine your shipping, returns, and refund policies and see how they may contribute to the issue.

Implementing a System for Continuous Quality Improvement

Once you’ve analyzed the feedback, document it and develop a time-bound plan for addressing major quality issues. This can include creating dropshipping quality assurance checklists for suppliers to follow before shipping products.

To improve the resolution rate, list all known issues and their recommended solutions and hand them to your customer support agents. Consider using automation to eliminate repetitive tasks.

For example, EngageBay lets you set up autoresponder messages, automate ticket assignments for team members, and provide comprehensive reporting so you can prioritize and resolve cases effectively.

Handling returns and complaints

One of the main reasons for escalations involving product returns is vague terms and conditions. For small online businesses:

An up-to-date FAQ page with a separate section on returns and refunds is necessary. Address customers’ questions regarding the return timeframe, refund policy, return shipping fees, replacement for defective products, etc.
Use real-life scenarios to explain when refunds can and cannot be allowed. For example, if a product had poor finishing, the customer would be eligible for a refund. However, no refund may be possible beyond a specified period.
You could use rule-based automation to process refunds. This saves time and allows your team to focus on the more complex cases.
Since many customers prefer self-service, consider adding a request form to your ‘Contact Us’ page for refund requests. Include drop-down fields for customers to select the exact reason for returning an item. This simplifies filing customer refund requests while making processing them easier for you.
Offering refunds on each defective product is not a sustainable strategy over the long term. Instead, follow up with the customers and offer a replacement or even upsell a higher-value product.

Quality Certification and Training

There may be many differences in quality standards, depending on the location of your supplier. One way to ensure consistent quality is to only work with certified suppliers. This can save you a lot of time and effort over time.

If you have multiple suppliers, consider hiring a quality control agency in the country of origin to perform random checks and in-depth audits. As your team grows, you’ll need to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding returns, cancellations, and other issues.

The best way to achieve this is to create an online knowledge base for your employees to solve customer queries.

Tools like EngageBay provide a built-in knowledge base, allowing you to upload product information and FAQs. Regular training sessions are equally important. Make sure you brief your team on every new product before launch.

Conclusion

Customers don’t mind paying more for quality products. By partnering with certified suppliers, providing streamlined returns and refunds, and using customer feedback to upgrade your products, you can keep returning for more.

A customer-centric approach to dropshipping quality assurance can help you stand out from the competition and help build a memorable brand. EngageBay’s comprehensive customer support features and wide range of integrations enable you to:

Track customer feedback and consistently follow up with suppliers
Set up canned responses to frequently asked questions, improving response and resolution time
Document product information, including policy and procedure guidelines for employees
Survey emails to follow up on complaints and escalations
Generate comprehensive reports regarding dropshipping quality assurance issues and prioritize effectively

Dropshipping is a flexible business model with unique advantages. You can compete head-on with bigger brands by adopting quality assurance best practices.

EngageBay is a low-cost, plug-and-play platform that increases visibility and provides the clarity you need to make better decisions.

FAQ

How to check if a product is good for dropshipping about quality assurance?

While it’s not possible to physically check every product before shipping, here are a few practical steps to ensure the supplier complies with quality requirements:

Buy a few products posing as a customer to examine product quality and performance.
Check the supplier’s quality track record, including customer reviews, complaints, and accreditation.
Communicate your expectations.
Get a commitment in writing.
Have regular check-ins with the supplier.
The supplier must cover shipping and handling costs for items returned due to poor quality.

What are the biggest mistakes dropshippers make concerning quality assurance?

While dropshipping has its learning curve like any other trade, most beginners:

Stick to a single seller for far too long. If deliveries are delayed, they’re left with no backup.
Assume damaged goods are the supplier’s responsibility. Since it’s you that customers are buying from, you need to step in and resolve the issue for the customer.
Takes too long to process returns. The key is to invest in a help desk and workflows for processing returns and refunds.
Don’t include dropshipping quality assurance criteria in their agreements with suppliers.

Is dropshipping still profitable?

Yes, dropshipping as a business model still works. It is poised to grow significantly in the years to come. However, the key to success is researching the market, identifying products that fit customer needs, using omnichannel marketing, building strong supplier relationships, and focusing on providing great customer service.

Dropshipping Quality Assurance: A Beginner’s Guide