Dropshipping—selling products without holding stock, with the supplier shipping directly to the customer—feels like a modern e-commerce idea. In fact, the model is decades old. It started with mail-order catalogs, moved online in the 1990s, and was supercharged by platforms like AliExpress and Shopify and by a growing layer of dropshipping service providers. This article traces that path from its origins to where it is today.

Pre-Internet: The Catalog Era (1950s–1970s)

Dropshipping in spirit began in the 1950s with large mail-order catalogs from retailers like Sears, J.C. Penney, and later IKEA. Customers chose products from printed catalogs and ordered by phone or post. The retailer did not always stock every item in physical stores; instead, orders could be fulfilled from central warehouses, with goods shipped directly to the customer’s home. That “no inventory in the store, ship from elsewhere” idea is the core of what we now call dropshipping.

By the 1960s and 1970s, some businesses went a step further. Companies such as CompuCard realized they could list the same products available from big retailers’ warehouses in their own catalogs at a markup. When a customer ordered from them, they would buy from the warehouse (or wholesaler) and have the item shipped straight to the buyer, keeping the difference as profit. That “middleman catalog + direct ship” model is very close to today’s dropshipping: the seller never holds stock; the supplier ships on their behalf.

The 1990s: Dropshipping Goes Online

The spread of the internet in the 1990s turned catalog retailers into early e-commerce sites. Mail-order companies began taking orders online and continued to fulfill them via warehouses or suppliers—dropshipping, in other words, just on the web. The dot-com boom encouraged many new online stores to use the same approach to avoid holding inventory and to test many products quickly.

The dot-com bust around 2000–2001 hit the sector hard. High customer-acquisition and shipping costs made many pure-online, thin-margin models unsustainable. Still, the idea of “sell online, supplier ships” had proven workable and stayed in use wherever unit economics made sense.

The 2000s: Platforms Make It Accessible

In the 2000s, marketplaces and store builders made it easier for small sellers to try dropshipping. eBay and Amazon allowed individuals to list and sell goods they didn’t physically have; many sellers sourced from wholesalers or manufacturers who shipped directly to buyers. Later in the decade, Shopify (launched in 2006) gave merchants their own stores and made it simple to connect products and orders to external suppliers. Dropshipping was no longer only for big catalogs or a few tech-savvy sellers; it became a visible option for small online businesses.

The 2010s: AliExpress, Oberlo, and Automation

The 2010s defined the “modern” dropshipping setup most people think of today.

AliExpress (2010)

Alibaba’s AliExpress launched in 2010 as a global marketplace linking sellers to manufacturers and wholesalers, especially in China. Low prices and huge product variety made it the default source for many dropshippers. Long shipping times and quality variance became well-known trade-offs, but the platform made “find product, list it, order when sold” straightforward for anyone with an online store.

Oberlo and Shopify (2015–2017)

Oberlo, founded in 2015, built an app that let merchants import AliExpress products into Shopify stores and fulfill orders with a few clicks. Shopify acquired Oberlo in 2017, making dropshipping a first-class use case on the platform. For several years, “Shopify + Oberlo + AliExpress” was the standard entry path for new dropshippers.

Automation and “service layer”

As volume grew, sellers needed help with order sync, inventory updates, and tracking. A layer of dropshipping tools and service providers emerged: apps for product import, order routing, and sometimes fulfillment support. Dropshipping was no longer just a sourcing model; it became an ecosystem of stores, suppliers, and service providers.

The 2020s: Oberlo’s End, New Tools, and New Players

Oberlo shutdown and DSers (2022)

In 2022, Shopify shut down Oberlo (June 30) and pointed users to DSers as the recommended replacement. DSers and other tools (e.g. Spocket) offered broader platform support (WooCommerce, Wix, etc.) and more suppliers. The “one app, one platform” era gave way to multi-platform, multi-source dropshipping.

TikTok Shop, Temu, Shein

Social and app-based commerce grew fast. TikTok Shop, Temu, and Shein combined viral content, ultra-low prices, and direct shipping from China (or regional warehouses). They competed with classic “store + AliExpress” dropshipping for the same “cheap, fast, discoverable” demand. Tariff and policy changes (e.g. US de minimis) later affected cost and delivery, but the trend toward integrated “platform + fulfillment” continued.

Market size

By the mid-2020s, the global dropshipping market was commonly estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars (e.g. around $350–400+ billion in the early 2020s, with projections toward $400–500+ billion by 2026 and further growth thereafter). Asia Pacific led in both supply and demand; North America and Europe remained large markets for sellers and service providers.

Dropshipping Service Providers: What They Are and When They Mattered

“Dropshipping service providers” here means companies that help merchants run a dropshipping business without doing the sourcing and shipping themselves. They include:

Product and order tools (2010s–today)

Apps like Oberlo, DSers, Spocket, and others connect stores to suppliers, sync product data, and automate order placement. They emerged in the 2010s as dropshipping on Shopify and other platforms took off and became essential for scaling.

Fulfillment and logistics providers

Some providers warehouse bestsellers, repack, and ship under the seller’s brand with shorter delivery times than shipping directly from China. This “dropshipping + fulfillment” hybrid grew as sellers looked for speed and branding without holding their own inventory.

Sourcing and quality services

Agents and agencies help with supplier vetting, sampling, quality control, and negotiation. They became more visible as sellers moved beyond “pick from AliExpress and hope” toward more reliable, scalable supply chains.

Together, these services turned dropshipping from a DIY side project into a repeatable, supportable business model for many merchants.

Timeline at a Glance

  • 1950s–1970s: Mail-order catalogs (Sears, J.C. Penney); “catalog at markup + direct ship” (e.g. CompuCard).
  • 1990s: Early e-commerce; dropshipping moves online; dot-com boom and bust.
  • 2000s: eBay, Amazon, Shopify; small sellers adopt dropshipping.
  • 2010: AliExpress launches; China-based sourcing becomes mainstream for dropshippers.
  • 2015: Oberlo founded; easy AliExpress–Shopify link.
  • 2017: Shopify acquires Oberlo; dropshipping built into a major platform.
  • 2022: Oberlo shuts down; DSers and others take over; multi-platform tools standard.
  • 2020s: TikTok Shop, Temu, Shein; social and app commerce; market in the hundreds of billions; service providers and fulfillment central to scaling.

Conclusion

Dropshipping has a long history: from catalog retailers and warehouse-based fulfillment in the 1950s–1970s, through the first wave of e-commerce in the 1990s–2000s, to the AliExpress–Shopify–Oberlo era of the 2010s, and into the 2020s with new platforms, tools, and fulfillment services. Today it is both a way for individuals to start selling online and a core part of how many brands and marketplaces operate. Understanding that history helps explain why the model exists, how service providers fit in, and where it might go next.