Whether you are looking to start or grow your business, print on demand services can not only make your life easier, but it can also take product personalization to the next level. Print on demand is a convenient, cost-efficient way to get your creations out there since you do not need an entire warehouse to stock your merchandise.
What Is Print on Demand?
From t-shirts to fashion accessories to home goods, print on demand allows you to offer a wide range of colors, styles, and designs without worrying about excess inventory that will not get sold. Nothing gets printed until a customer places an order, reducing your losses and storage woes.
A type of dropshipping, print on demand allows you to engage with a third-party seller who customizes a blank item from their inventory of options with your design or personalization. Your customers can place their order through that seller, or you can purchase your products in smaller quantities.
When it comes to the type of merchandise, here are some of the different items you can personalize:
Apparel:
Probably one of the most personalized categories, apparel is great to print on demand since they can be used as a gift, to celebrate special occasions, and so much more.
Fashion Accessories:
This can include hats, scarves, socks, and even certain cloth bags that can be easily printed on.
Books:
Workbooks, notebooks, and journals can also be personalized to get teachers and students ready for back-to-school season, or even just with some cute and funny sayings.
Household Items:
Towels, cushion covers, pet products, and mugs are just some of the household items that can be personalized.
Office Supplies:
Along with books, pens and pencils and other office products can also be printed on demand with personalized touches.
9 Ways Print on Demand Can Help Grow Your Business
Now that you know there are a wide variety of product choices that you can personalize with print on demand, it is important to understand the different ways that this service can expand your brand:
1. Deliver Exceptional Experiences
By utilizing print on demand services, Jolie Noire, an online retail storefront, utilizes print on demand to create unique and representative designs that can meet their customers’ size needs. With the help of another company personalizing their products, they have more time to dedicate to making their customers happy and keeping communications open.
2. The Ability to Take More Orders
Now that you are utilizing another service to take care of your orders, this allows you to cater to more customers. Depending on the company, they can also ship the merchandise directly to the consumer, allowing you to spend more time marketing your brand and increasing your customer base.
3. Test a New Business Idea
Print on demand services allow you to test a new idea or product line without the risks that come with buying inventory and needing a place to store it. This also makes for a great side hustle if you want it to be a part-time job.
4. Monetize an Audience You Have Built
Print on demand is a great option if you are an artist who wants to spend your time creating instead of fulfilling orders. Leave all the nitty gritty work to the printing company, and you can do what you love best.
5. Create Original Products
With the ability to print on merchandise only when shoppers place an order, this allows you to cater to a niche of customers. For example, you can create t-shirts for consumers who are super passionate about long distance running, or maybe for new moms and grandparents.
6. Print One-Off or Small Batches
No need to buy in bulk and store in a stuffy warehouse — with print on demand, you can create one-of-a-kind prints for t-shirts, books, shoes, bags, wall art, phone cases, clocks, laptop skins, mugs, and other merchandise. If nobody ends up buying it, you lose out on just one product instead of a whole shelf full.
7. Create New Items Quickly
Once you have the design, you can create the product and put it up for sale in minutes. On the other hand, the item can be shipped to a customer within days after making the purchase.
8. No Need to Ship Orders
Shipping and fulfillment can be out of your hands and into your supplier’s, depending on the company. After the sale, you are just responsible for the customer service.
9. Low Investment & Low Risk
Since you are not physically holding any inventory, it is easier to add or remove products, test ideas, or pivot your approach. If an idea does not work, you can easily move onto the next with little to no worries.
Print on Demand Options for Businesses
If you are excited about getting started with print on demand services, then we are here to help aid in your search. In no particular order, and certainly not all of the companies, here is a list of just some businesses that can help you with your printing needs:
Zazzle:
One of the early players in this space, Zazzle has been around for a long time and has built a solid reputation. When you create on Zazzle, you can leverage their expansive marketplace and potentially build your audience there. This is what it can do for your business:
- Monetize your creativity, designs, and art.
- Grow your audience and brand with Zazzle’s existing customers.
- They advertise for you both onsite and offsite.
- Set your own royalty (up to 20%) for every product you sell.
- Publish your design on hundreds of unique, customizable products.
- Zazzle does 100% of the fulfillment and customer service for you (no inventory required).
- Get paid through PayPal or Check.
- No monthly or transactional fees.
Printful:
Since 2016, Printful has been printing and shipping high quality merchandise. Many businesses end up selling Printful products on Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and others. They can customize products in just about every category. Here is how it works:
- Printful takes care of fulfillment, packing, and shipping directly to your customers.
- They have a free Design Maker so you can easily create graphics to be added to your merchandise.
- No order minimums.
- Smooth automation.
- If you offer handcrafted or outsourced items on your store, send them to Printful and they will store and fulfill them for you.
Printify:
In addition to hundreds of product options, Printify provides state of the art features to make creating and selling more straightforward. Their Mockup Generator lets you “see” your design on a product before you order a sample. They also have a wide range of integrations with ecommerce platforms. Here is what you can get:
- They have a catalog with over 500 products that you can customize.
- Order samples from your chosen print providers to make sure the end products look and feel exactly as you imagined.
- Once you are happy with the end result, you can publish it to your online store automatically.
- Printify is integrated with leading ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, Etsy, Wix, and more.
- They ship the product directly to your customers.
Society6:
Catering to artists and designers, Society6 boasts a range of products from apparel to home decor. They focus on prints and canvases, making it appealing to artists who want to sell reproductions of their work. Additionally, Society6 actively promotes its artists, highlighting top sellers with a strong aesthetic style. Here is what Society6 can do for you:
- Society6 offers the opportunity to exercise yourself creatively and showcase your work on an ever-expanding range of products.
- They offer a best-in-class array of wall art, home decor, furniture, apparel, and lifestyle products.
- They will fulfill, print, ship, market, and handle customer service.
- Society6 attracts millions of customers from around the world.