I wonder how many dropshippers out there download info manually from a dropshipper with product info and inventory info in a file, do a manual conversion to fit the import setting of their website, and then upload that spreadsheet into their website.  I bet its a pretty large number of merchants.  If you are a merchant and this is a task you are regularly doing… then I suggest you do some research.

First, the task at hand as a manual task is tedious and at the very least is subject to human error.   Secondly, it’s a task that you would need to perform fairly frequently, possibly everyday.  If you have a website that has a lot of traffic and sales, you simply can not update inventory in this manner.  Most distributors out there provide files with inventory values that you can download regularly, or you can assess by way of an api method.  Doba, the largest dropshipping company in the world, allows for this, and with several shopping carts, they offer direct integration.  But what about the websites that don’t offer such an integration?  There are other options out there I assure you.

The First thing you need to find out is if your website is capable of an automated import, either by way of some kind of database upload or api method.  Some shopping carts that allow for this are Volusion (Gold or higher), ProStores, ShopSite,  and Magento, are just a few of the shopping carts out there that allow for this (there are several more).  And even if you run your own custom database driven website, there can almost always be a way to develop such an import that works for your store.

The key is to focus on streamlining your processes, especially the repetitive ones.  It really is amazing how many processes are done manually, that can be automated.  You should be focusing your time on sales, not on product maintenance.   Look into other ways of syncing inventory and adding distributor products instead of doing a tedious manual process.