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Wei Linchao

Wei Linchao

Dropship and Logistics Specialist, the founder of Bestfulfill that help you with order fulfillment from product sourcing, shipping, branding, and customized package.

8 Steps to Start Private Labeling on Alibaba:From Sourcing to Selling

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Alibaba is the go-to eCommerce website for bulk buying. You can use the platform to find a supplier or manufacturer for all your product needs. You can then have the manufacturer custom-make your product, including product and package branding and labeling. 

This how-to guide will show you how to form a private label business on Alibaba, from sourcing to selling.

Let’s quickly recap some basic knowledge:

What is a Private Label Product?

As you probably already know, a private label product is a product made by a third-party manufacturer’s and then branded with the logo of the seller your brand.

A seller may have more than one manufacturing partner, each making private labeled products.

The Pros and Cons of Private Labeling With Alibaba

ProsCons
No production costManufacturer dependency
Easy product creation, addition, or changeLittle to no intellectual property protection
The labeling is an advertising advantage  Market saturation.

Now that we have that out of the way:

Private Labeling With Alibaba: How to Start Private Labeling With Alibaba

Below are the steps you need to take to start private labeling with Alibaba:

Step 1: Conduct market research.

The first step is extensive market research to ensure your product is evergreen or on an upward sales trend.

Let’s assume that you’re unsure about which products to sell. In that case, the best place to start is to list your interests, then conduct market research to test whether any of your ideas have winning products that you can private label.

For example, if you are interested in private labeling teeth whitening strips, you can use the Amazon bestseller list to research, validate, or invalidate your idea.

Ideally, if your private label product idea is in the list of top 50 bestsellers, you can consider it a good sign. For example, in this case, we can see that teeth whitening strips are a bestselling product in the personal care category.

Fundamentally, choosing a product boils down to your niche or market of interest. 

When deciding which product to private label, it’s best to ensure you can fill a demand you can supply, ensure the market is not saturated, and look into your competition’s marketing strategies.

You can also consider targeting trending niches, emerging markets/business opportunities, niching down by interest, etc. This underpins the importance of market research.

Additionally:

Research the market and retail cost of the products you want to sell; this will guide your sourcing, marketing, and advertising budget. If the profit margins are low, that will influence your product selection, supplier selection, and marketing and advertising budget.

Research your target demographic, consumer trends, and habits for at least the past five years. 

Courtesy: BigCommerce

This will significantly influence how you brand and package your private label business and how you will create your targeted ads and marketing plan to ensure the market receives your product well.   

Studying your competition gives you insight into the market and what marketing strategies and targeted ads your target demographic has been responding to. 

Conducting competition research will save you countless hours trying out ineffective marketing strategies —you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

The analysis and data gathered from your market research will give you a firm foundation for selecting your best private label products that are—and will continue to be—successful and in demand. 

The next step is conducting product research on Alibaba. 

Here:

Step 2:  Research Items on Alibaba

After finding high-selling private-label products or niches, you need to zero in on a niche market. 

As shown in the teeth whitening example above, ideally, you want to pursue a niche that has products in high demand in a market that has low or moderate competition but the potential for great growth with an effective marketing campaign. 

To ensure you don’t get many returns and negative reviews, it’s best to avoid complicated products, products with too many big parts, oversized products, products that have PPC advertising limits, and copyrighted products.

More importantly:

Remember that product/niche and market research go hand in hand, and, often, you will need to conduct product, market, and even competitor research to find winning products and determine which markets are worth venturing into.

Step 3: Design/Create Your Brand 

Once you have narrowed in on your product and are satisfied with its market performance, the next step you should take is designing and creating your brand and logo and choosing your brand colors. Remember to consider your target demographic and the colors, fonts, and designs they respond to the best. 

For example, choose fun bright colors such as pink, neon purple, mint, and cyan for the casing and branding if going with the hair bedazzling gem stamps.

Step 4: Find A Private Label Manufacturer 

After finding a product idea you want to research further, you can type the main keywords, plus “private label,” into the Alibaba search bar. In this example, we can type  “teeth whitening strips private label” into Alibaba to find manufacturers and private label suppliers. 

In this example, Alibaba has verified teeth whitening stips private label manufacturers, with one of the top suppliers having a MOQ of as low as 100 strips.

Now that you have done your product research, chosen a product, and created its design and logo, the next step you will take is identifying good and dependable manufacturers on Alibaba that can create your product down to the labeling and packaging. 

Create or log in to your Alibaba account, and begin your search. When choosing a manufacturer, it is important to look for one who has a verification badge, a Suppliers Assessment Procedures tag, and a Minor Customization tag. 

The verification badge is based on an onsite third-party inspection, customer reviews, and feedback. These stop-check measures set and implemented by Alibaba help you find a credible manufacturer who can create quality products for you. 

As the screenshot below shows, Alibaba has a user-friendly interface that provides all the important information about the manufacturer and the product before you initialize contact and negotiations. 

The manufacturer in this example has the relevant badges and tags and can create and customize your ideal product. 

Once you have negotiated for better pricing and agreed on the MOQ, get a sample of your product. If the product meets your quality standards, specification, and labeling, begin production.

https://img.alicdn.com/tfs/TB1g9nif5DsXe8jSZR0XXXK6FXa-22-32.png PROTIP: Many manufacturers have websites and stores outside of Alibaba and may entice you to carry out business on their personal sites. To safeguard yourself and your money, do not carry out business outside the scope of Alibaba to take advantage of the Trade Assurance that Alibaba provides for buyers.  

Step 5: Build your brand

Building a private label brand involves the following fundamental elements that you need to consider and take care of:

#: Copyright Name and Logo

Legally protect yourself and your brand by acquiring all the necessary legal certifications and protections such as Copyright and, where possible, patents and trademarks. 

#: Set Up A Website/Register eCommerce Shops

Create an online store where buyers can access your products directly and stores on different established shopping sites. Create social media accounts and plug them into your stores. 

Take good high-quality product photographs and videos and upload them to your shops with compelling product descriptions. Create social media campaigns and targeted ads to drive traffic to your pages to ensure that your products sell out immediately after they hit the virtual shelves.

An example of a social media campaign is sending the products to niche Tiktok influencers to review and give away and giving them a discount code they can share with their followers.

Courtesy: Feed Dough

Step 6: Create Your Alibaba Listing

Here, you need to:

#: Open a Seller Account on Alibaba.

Registering as a new seller on Alibaba is fairly straightforward. All you need are your personal and company details such as name, email, contacts, and company name. 

Alibaba has diverse selling plans and packages you can choose from for your brand depending on your country of operation. 

Once you register your account, Alibaba will conduct a Business Verification process to ensure your business and products are legitimate. Alibaba also provides a consultant you can work with who will guide you through the process.

#: Create Product Listings

After account creation and verification, you can create individual product listings or use the bulk upload tool to streamline the process. Alibaba also has an integrated AI system called the Intelligent Posting system. 

The system works by optimizing each listing based on the Alibaba.com algorithm and consumer searches on the site.

#: Create a storefront

Alibaba gives you a personal multi-page store dedicated to displaying your goods and business.

This storefront is available to worldwide consumers in 18 auto-translatable languages. The storefront is easy to create and fill in and requires no coding or design knowledge.

#: Getting and Replying to Inquiries

Congratulations, you are now a verified seller on Alibaba. The next step is receiving inquiries from potential buyers and answering them. 

You can answer the inquiries yourself or use your vetted contact person or third-party drop shipping agent to engage the potential buyer through the negotiation process. You can use the My Alibaba seller workbench and the AliSupplier mobile apps to respond to potential buyers in real-time.

#: Protect Orders and Payment

Alibaba offers Trade Assurance in select countries to ensure a satisfactory buying experience and to safeguard the seller and the buyer in the buying process. 

Trade assurance is an escrow service where Alibaba holds the money on behalf of the seller until the buyer okay the deal by showing satisfaction with their purchase. This service promotes buyer trust in the platform and your performance as the seller.

Step 7: Market Your Store

Make sure you register and attend the online events listed on Alibaba to share and showcase your business and products. These events are a chance to network with key players in your field, including manufacturers, competitors, and buyers. 

Alibaba hosts several online product Trade Shows on Zoom conferences. As a seller, you get a chance to showcase your products to verified buyers live. 

You can use various marketing approaches and ideas to market your private label products. For example, you can use social media marketing tools, like PPC advertising, giveaways, contests, etc., to grow your audience, run sales ads, create a loyal brand following, etc. 

You should also consider using other marketing mediums like content marketing, email marketing, and cart abandonment marketing _run omnichannel marketing campaigns that make your brand the go-to brand in your niche.

Step 8: Engage with Your Customers

Timely responses are vital to securing sales. 

Do your best to offer streamlined and engaging customer services delivered efficiently and timely. This ensures higher sales and guarantees a good and enduring customer relationship.

Private Labeling With Alibaba FAQs

Q1: Where can I find private labeling suppliers?

One of the best places to find private labeling suppliers is online, especially on Alibaba. 

Alibaba has many manufacturers specializing in or offering private labeling in bulk supply. Working directly with private labeling supplies from Alibaba means higher profit margins, thanks to buying directly from manufacturers.

However, in some cases, this may also mean a higher capital investment because of the MOQ requirements.

Q2: How to find reliable suppliers?

The best way to find reliable private labeling suppliers on Alibaba is to follow the steps listed on Alibaba: only work with verified suppliers and use the Trade Assurance System when making monetary deals with your suppliers and manufacturers.

Q3: How much can you earn with your own brand Alibaba business?

Profits heavily depend on the cost of purchase, shipping, and competitive pricing of other sellers. 

Alibaba has an extensive customer base, and with a compelling storefront, you can make a lot of money on Alibaba. Alibaba also offers dropshipping packages that you can explore and add to your sales strategy.

Q4: What’s the cost of starting a private label business on Alibaba?

The start-up cost will depend on the type of product you want to sell, the Minimum Order Quantity available, whether you will outsource branding to professionals, and your marketing budget. 

Conclusion

Alibaba is the preferred sourcing website with a growing annual consumer rate. In the first quarter of 2022, the annual active consumers reached 903 million, increasing from 882 million in the previous quarter. 

They have trustworthy manufacturers who specialize in or offer private-label branding at low pricing. They have an efficient supplier and buyer protection to ensure a productive and satisfactory buying process. 

They have a straightforward store application process and verification. They also provide a consultant to guide you through the registration and verification process for easy access. 

Alibaba offers SEO and product optimization tools and advice and apps for you to contact buyers for sales and negotiations. Finally, they offer site support services to you at any time and business-related services such as website design.

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