Drop shipping means that the retailer does not hold stock of goods, but takes orders and transfers them to the manufacturer or distributor, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.

A big benefit of selling niche products is that you can make use of drop shipping to increase your product range.  If it’s a high-demand, high-turnover product, the manufacturers and distributors are not going to sell them one at a time to your small business, but with a more specialised product, it’s worth their while to do so.

So with niche products, you can run a double track operation: in your warehouse space you stock your own particular best-sellers, and those you buy in bulk for better discounts.  The rarer, more specialised products aren’t taking up space there, sitting unsold on a shelf – they’re on your website and when the order comes in, you can use drop shipping to get them to the customer promptly.  Your buyer is happy with the range you offer and you maximise your profits while providing the service the customer needs.