How People Set Up 100 Online Stores in 1 Hour

User: Hi Manus, I heard some people set up 100 online stores in 1 hour simultaneously, of course they had many domains at hand, but how did they do this? I mean they even filled the stores with many real products for sale in a batch, as I heard

Manus: Of course. What you’re describing is a sophisticated strategy that leverages automation, specialized software, and specific e-commerce models. It’s definitely possible, and here’s a breakdown of how it’s done.

The core idea isn’t to manually build each store one by one. Instead, merchants use powerful tools and platforms to duplicate a “master” store template across many different domains simultaneously.

Here are the key components and steps involved:

1. The E-commerce Model: Dropshipping and Print-on-Demand

First, it’s important to understand that these stores rarely hold their own inventory. They almost always use one of two business models:

Dropshipping: The store lists products from a third-party supplier (like AliExpress, CJ Dropshipping, or private agents). When a customer places an order, the store owner purchases the item from the supplier, who then ships it directly to the customer. This means no upfront inventory costs or logistics headaches.
Print-on-Demand (POD): The store sells custom-designed products like t-shirts, mugs, or posters. When an order is placed, a POD service (like Printify or Printful) prints the design on the product and ships it to the customer.

These models are crucial because they allow a store to be populated with thousands of “real products” instantly without ever buying them first.

2. The Technology: Shopify and Headless Commerce

The most common platform for this is Shopify, due to its robust API (Application Programming Interface) and extensive app ecosystem. Here’s how they leverage it:

Store Cloning/Duplication Apps: There are specialized, often private or high-end, Shopify apps and scripts designed for this exact purpose. A merchant creates a single, highly optimized “template” store. This template has the theme, layout, essential apps, and basic pages (About Us, Contact, etc.) already configured.
Automated Store Creation: Using Shopify’s API, a script can programmatically create new Shopify stores.
Theme and Settings Deployment: The same script then applies the pre-configured theme and settings from the master template to each new store.
Headless Commerce Architecture: Some very advanced operations use a “headless” approach. They build a custom storefront (the “head”) that can connect to multiple Shopify backends. This allows them to manage products and orders from one central system that pushes data to dozens of different domain frontends.

3. The Process: Batch Product Importing

This is the “magic” of filling the stores with products so quickly.

Product Sourcing Tools: Merchants use tools like DSers (for AliExpress) or custom-built software to find and bundle products. They can curate a list of hundreds or thousands of products into a single “import list.”
Bulk Importing: These tools connect to the Shopify stores via API and can push the entire product list—including images, descriptions, and pricing—to one or many stores in a matter of minutes.
AI for Content Generation: To avoid having identical product descriptions across all stores (which is bad for SEO), they often use AI-powered tools. These tools can rewrite thousands of product descriptions in unique ways for each store, all in a batch process.

Summary of the 1-Hour Workflow

Here is a realistic step-by-step of how it could be done in about an hour, assuming the domains are ready and the master template is built:

(0-10 mins) Initiate the Script: The operator runs a script. The script asks how many stores to create and which domains to use. It then starts creating new Shopify instances via the API.
(10-25 mins) Deploy the Template: As each store is created, the script automatically applies the pre-configured theme, installs the necessary apps (like a review importer or countdown timer), and sets up the basic pages.
(25-50 mins) Import Products in Bulk: The operator uses a tool like DSers to push a pre-curated list of 500 products to all the newly created stores simultaneously. AI tools may run in the background to rewrite descriptions.
(50-60 mins) Final Checks: The operator does a quick spot-check on a few of the new stores to ensure everything looks correct. The payment gateways and domain connections are often automated as well.

This high-speed, scalable approach is a numbers game. The goal is to launch 100 stores targeting different niches or products, see which ones get traction, and then focus advertising efforts on the winners while discarding the losers.

How These Stores Handle Customer Service

User: How do these stores handle customer service for so many shops?

Manus: Excellent question. Managing customer service across dozens or even hundreds of stores seems impossible for a small team, but they rely on a highly systemized and outsourced approach. It’s all about efficiency, centralization, and minimizing direct involvement.

Here’s how they handle it:

1. Centralized Communication with a Helpdesk

Instead of logging into 50 different Shopify accounts to check messages, they funnel all customer inquiries into a single dashboard using a multi-store helpdesk platform.

How it works: Tools like Gorgias, Re:amaze, or Zendesk are connected to all the Shopify stores. These platforms pull in emails, live chat messages, and social media comments from every single store into one unified inbox.
Benefits:
- One Dashboard: A customer service agent sees a ticket from “SuperCoolGadgets.com” and another from “BestKitchenAids.net” in the same place.
- Customer Context: When a ticket comes in, the helpdesk automatically shows the agent the customer’s order history, tracking information, and which store they ordered from, all without leaving the dashboard.
- Efficiency: This eliminates the chaos of managing multiple inboxes and allows a small team to handle a massive volume of inquiries.

2. Automation and Templated Responses (Macros)

The vast majority of customer questions are repetitive. The most common ones are:

“Where is my order?” (WISMO)
“How can I return my item?”
“Is this product available?”

Helpdesk platforms allow store owners to create Macros—pre-written templates that can answer these questions in one click.

Example: A “Where is my order?” ticket comes in. The agent clicks the “WISMO” macro. The system automatically pulls the customer’s name and tracking number and populates a polite response:”Hi [Customer Name], thanks for reaching out! Your order is on its way. You can track it here: [Tracking Link]. Please allow 24-48 hours for the tracking to update. Let us know if you need anything else!”

This allows one agent to resolve hundreds of tickets per day. Gorgias even has features that can automate responses to these common questions without any human intervention at all.

3. Outsourcing to Virtual Assistants (VAs)

The store owner is rarely the one answering tickets. They hire and train Virtual Assistants (VAs), often from countries with lower labor costs.

The Process:
1. The store owner creates a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) document. This document explains how to use the helpdesk software and provides scripts for every imaginable customer issue.
2. They hire a VA (or a small team of VAs) from platforms like Upwork or OnlineJobs.ph.
3. The VAs are given limited access to the helpdesk system. They do not need access to the Shopify admin for each store.
4. The VAs handle 95% of customer inquiries. Only complex issues (like a chargeback dispute or a technical problem with a store) are escalated to the store owner.

4. Self-Service Options

To further reduce the number of support tickets, these stores make heavy use of self-service tools.

FAQ Pages: Each store has a comprehensive FAQ page that answers the most common questions. Re:amaze allows you to create a unique FAQ for each “brand” or store you manage.
Order Tracking Pages: Instead of emailing support, customers are directed to a tracking page on the website where they can enter their order number and email to see their shipment status.
AI Chatbots: Many stores now use AI-powered chatbots. These bots can understand customer intent and provide instant answers about order status, return policies, and product details, 24/7.

By combining a centralized helpdesk, aggressive automation, outsourced labor, and self-service tools, a very small team can effectively manage customer service for a massive network of e-commerce stores. The goal is to turn customer service from a manual, store-by-store task into a streamlined, assembly-line process.

Typical Profit Margins for a Dropshipping Business

User: What are the typical profit margins for a dropshipping business like this?

Manus: That’s the million-dollar question, and the answer is more complex than a single percentage. The profit margins in this high-volume dropshipping model can vary wildly, but they generally fall into a specific range after all costs are accounted for.

Let’s break it down from the initial “on-paper” margin to the final net profit.

1. The “Rule of Thumb” Pricing Strategy

Most dropshippers start with a simple pricing formula to establish their initial or Gross Margin. A very common strategy is the 3x Rule:

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): This is what you pay the supplier for the product + shipping. Let’s say a product costs $10 from the supplier, and shipping to the customer is $5. Your COGS is $15.
Retail Price: You multiply the product cost (or sometimes COGS) by 2.5x to 3x. So, a $15 COGS product would be listed on your store for $37.50 to $45.

If you sell it for $45, your initial Gross Profit is $30 ($45 – $15), which is a 66% Gross Margin.

This looks incredibly profitable on paper, but this is before the single biggest expense in this business model.

2. The Biggest Cost: Customer Acquisition (Advertising)

This is where the high gross margin gets eaten away. Since these stores have no organic traffic or brand recognition, they rely almost entirely on paid ads, primarily on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Cost Per Purchase (CPP): This is the key metric. How much do you have to spend on ads to get one sale? This can fluctuate dramatically based on the product, competition, and ad creative.
A good CPP might be $15-$20.
An average CPP might be $20-$25.
A high (but still potentially profitable) CPP could be $30.

Let’s re-run the numbers using our example:

Retail Price: $45
Cost of Goods (COGS): -$15
Advertising Cost (CPP): -$25
Profit Before Other Fees: $5

Suddenly, that impressive $30 profit has shrunk to just $5.

3. Other Essential Costs (The “Hidden” Fees)

On top of ads, there are several other operational costs that nibble away at the profit:

Payment Processing Fees: Platforms like Shopify Payments and PayPal charge around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. On a $45 sale, that’s about $1.60.
Platform & App Fees: Shopify’s basic plan is ~$39/month, but for the multi-store operation described, they are likely on higher-tier plans. Plus, the essential apps (for reviews, upselling, helpdesks) can add up to $100-$500+ per month, per store, though some costs are shared.
Outsourcing: The Virtual Assistants for customer service might cost $5-$10 per hour.
Refunds & Chargebacks: A certain percentage of orders (typically 2-5%) will result in refunds, which means you lose the ad spend and processing fees for that sale.

4. Calculating the Final Net Profit Margin

Let’s put it all together for a single, successful sale:

Item	Amount	Notes
Retail Price	+$45.00	The price the customer pays.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)	-$15.00	What you pay the supplier.
Advertising Cost (CPP)	-$25.00	Average cost to acquire the customer.
Payment Processing Fee	-$1.60	Approx. 3% of the retail price.
Net Profit (per sale)	$3.40	Profit before monthly overheads.

In this realistic scenario, the Net Profit Margin on a single sale is 7.5% ($3.40 profit / $45 revenue).

So, to answer your question directly:

Typical net profit margins for a successful, scaled dropshipping business range from 5% to 15%.

Below 5%: The business is barely sustainable and highly vulnerable to rising ad costs.
10%-15%: This is considered a healthy and successful margin. To make significant income, you need massive volume. A store generating $100,000 in monthly revenue with a 10% margin yields $10,000 in net profit.
Above 20%: This is rare and usually only happens with a viral “winner” product that has an incredibly low cost per purchase for a limited time before competitors flood the market.

The entire game is a battle between maintaining a high enough retail price while fighting to keep the Cost Per Purchase on ads as low as possible.

Examples of “Winning” Dropshipping Products

User: Let’s look at some examples of “winning” dropshipping products.

Manus: Of course. Looking at examples of “winning” products is the best way to understand the strategy. A winning product is one that sells like crazy, often because it solves a problem, has a “wow” factor, or is emotionally appealing.

These products are rarely groundbreaking inventions. More often, they are simple, clever items that are perfect for impulse buys on social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook.

Here are some classic and recent examples of winning dropshipping products, broken down by category.

Category 1: Problem-Solving Gadgets

These products fix a common, often annoying, problem. Their marketing is simple: show the problem, then show the product as the instant solution.

Product Example	The Problem It Solves	Why It’s a “Winner”
Gel Migraine Relief Hat	Provides cooling and gentle pressure for headache and migraine sufferers.	Offers immediate, drug-free relief. It’s a highly targeted solution for a painful problem, making people willing to buy it instantly.
Vacuum Food Sealer	Food goes bad too quickly in the fridge, leading to waste and extra grocery costs.	Extends the freshness of food, saving the customer money. The visual of it working is satisfying and easy to demonstrate in a short video ad.
Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box	Scooping a litter box is a daily, unpleasant chore for cat owners.	Automates a hated task, saving time and improving home hygiene. Pet owners are known to spend a lot on their pets’ comfort and their own convenience.
Invisible Height-Increase Insoles	A person feels insecure about their height.	This is a discreet solution to a deeply emotional problem (self-confidence). It’s a product people might be too embarrassed to buy in a physical store, making it perfect for online sales.

Category 2: “Wow Factor” & Novelty Items

These products are unique, eye-catching, and often have a viral, shareable quality. They make you stop scrolling and say, “Whoa, what is that?”

Product Example	The “Wow” Factor	Why It’s a “Winner”
Magnetic Levitating Desk Lamp	The lampshade floats and spins in mid-air, seemingly defying gravity.	It’s a mesmerizing and futuristic piece of decor. It’s not something you can find in a typical store, giving it an exclusive feel.
Wearable Shark Blanket	A blanket shaped like a shark that you can wear like a sleeping bag.	It’s fun, quirky, and highly “Instagrammable.” It went viral on TikTok, creating massive demand among kids and adults who love novelty items.
Moon Lamp	A spherical lamp with a textured surface that realistically mimics the appearance of the moon.	It creates a unique and calming ambiance. It has a high perceived value and strong emotional appeal, making it a popular gift item.
Smart Portable Home Projector	A small, affordable device that can project a large screen from a phone or laptop.	It allows anyone to create a home theater experience anywhere. The idea of watching movies on your ceiling is a powerful and appealing visual.

Category 3: Evergreen Niches with a Twist

These are products in consistently popular categories like pets, babies, or fitness, but with a unique feature or angle.

Product Example	The Niche & The Twist	Why It’s a “Winner”
Pet Cooling Mat	Niche: Pet Supplies. Twist: A mat that cools pets down in hot weather without electricity.	Solves a real concern for pet owners: their pet overheating. It’s a simple, effective, and affordable solution within a high-demand niche.
Electronic Baby Nail Trimmer	Niche: Baby Products. Twist: A gentle, rotating file instead of sharp clippers.	Addresses a major fear for new parents: accidentally hurting their baby while cutting their nails. Safety-focused baby products are always in high demand.
Heatless Hair Curler	Niche: Beauty. Twist: A silk ribbon that curls hair overnight without damaging heat.	Taps into the massive beauty market while offering a healthier alternative to traditional styling tools. The results are easily demonstrated in before-and-after videos.
Foldable Hanging Laundry Basket	Niche: Home Goods. Twist: A space-saving design that can be collapsed and hung when not in use.	Appeals to people in small apartments or dorms. It’s a practical improvement on a common household item.

The key takeaway is that winning products are rarely about being the cheapest. They succeed by solving a problem, creating a strong emotional response, or being so unique that they generate their own buzz.

I’m glad I could help you with content for your blog! What’s next on your mind?

Let’s draft a title and introduction for the blog post.
How do dropshippers create video ads for these products?
What are the biggest risks associated with this business model?