Drop shipping, or dropshipping, is a business model where an ecommerce store sells products that are kept in stock and shipped by a third-party supplier, not by the store itself. Unlike a typical order fulfillment method, the store does not own or maintain any inventory; instead, it purchases the inventory as needed from the supplier. First, a shopper places an order via the store’s website. Next, the store sends the customer’s order to their third-party supplier for fulfillment. Finally, the supplier prepares and ships the order directly to the customer, without the store ever having handled the product.