Over the years the use of t-shirts has rapidly increased. In 2020, the custom t-shirt printing market was at $3.64 Billion. The above stat shows the craze that people have for buying custom t-shirts. This makes the custom t-shirt printing business one of the best options.
So if you are looking to jump into this industry to make a profitable custom t-shirt printing business then we have some tips that will help you start the journey.
Market Research
If you look into the custom t-shirt business, there are many options, and people have made a business out of each option. Here are they:
- The business that does only printing
- ECommerce platforms that allow manufacturers and designers to sell their t-shirts
- Businesses that only drop ship t-shirts made by different manufacturers
- Businesses that make, print, and sell custom t-shirts
No matter what part of the process you have in-house, you will need all the players to run a business. So choose things according to your budget.
However, if you are planning to sell custom t-shirts, we suggest keeping the designing process in-house. And for printing, you can outsource it if you have reliable sources. Thus, understand the market well and find the options that fit your business plan.
Create Your USP
Once you figure out your place in the market, the next thing to do is create your business USP. The T-shirt market is huge, and so is the competition. And to survive in the market, you need to find something unique that will give you the edge over your competitors. Find something that other businesses do not have, something like unique packaging, different delivery methods, EMI payments, unique product line, etc.
And to find your USP, you will have to conduct a thorough analysis of all your competitors. Try to understand their marketing strategies, USPs, weaknesses, target audience, etc. Thus, this point will take you to unexplored areas, and that is how you will have your brand’s USP.
Find a eCommerce Platform
After you figure out the above points, it’s time to finalize the platform for your business. There are many different ecommerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and others that support custom t-shirt selling stores.
All these platforms have different costs and capabilities. While Magento costs on the higher side, Shopify is one of the most user-friendly platforms. As your customers will land on the platform first, choose the platform wisely, keeping customer expectations in mind.
Finalize Printing Method
Now, this is the most important point that can make or break your business. You need to decide which printing method you want to go forward with because this is why the customers are going to come to you. It is important to have unique designs of good quality. There are various options like flex print, digital printing, and screenprint for you to choose from. You can also consider glow-in-the-dark design, puff design, or metallic design.
You can choose whichever printing style you want, but if you wish to know our suggestion, we suggest you go with digital printing. The infrastructure for digital is a bit costlier, but on the other hand, you will have the advantage of unlimited design options to choose from and go with the print-on-demand option. Just make sure you do not restrict yourself to just one thing, as it will hinder your ability to create a flexible and scalable business in the future.
Integrate Designer Tool
If your business has limited resources, as discussed above you can keep designing in-house. For that, you can invest in Shopify product designer tools. It will eliminate the manual designing process when you allow your customers to design.
Thus, a web to print software can work as a USP of your business as you give the customers the ability to create designs of their choice. You can also invest in ERP solutions for customer, vendor, and supplier management.
Create Marketing Plan
The marketing scope is endless in this huge market. You can run email campaigns, online ads, organic marketing campaigns, etc., to market your product. A personalized user experience with Shopify product designer tools, marketing techniques like cross-selling and upselling, push notification for abandoned carts, etc., can help encourage more customers. So make sure you have a digital marketing team who helps you cover the maximum possible social media platforms in your budget.
Conclusion
While planning the strategies of your business, you can create contingency and have enough resources to fight the uncertainties of the market. The custom t-shirt market is huge and still growing. This article will help you from starting with the market research, finding the web to print software, finalizing printing methods to finally promoting the product.