On Demand Printing: Everything You Need to Know Part 2
What types of products are available in on demand printing?
On demand printing offers you a multitude of products to exploit and market, from printing photos on t-shirts to printed bags and napkins to items like flip-flops, cups, mugs…
Far from creating a product from nothing, on demand printing is rather about the ability to personalize it. Everything that lends itself to customization can therefore become a product to be marketed with a proper use of on demand printing.
To the examples mentioned above, you can add shoes, all kinds of clothes, skateboards, phone cases, posters and other types of displays, toys, pens, blankets and cushions…
In short, all types of designs are possible as long as you put on attractive visuals and protect your designs with copyright. Therefore, success in the on demand printing business is built on the uniqueness of your products. This can be achieved by not hesitating to try several variations.
When it comes to design, only a minimum of creative talent is required for you to start making your designs and visuals.
Otherwise, you can easily find software dedicated to designing models. And while most of these software solutions are paid, you can alternatively opt for open source solutions, which are also widely available.
To name a few examples, I suggest you try Photoshop of course, but also Scribus, Inkscape, InDesign, Illustrator or GIMP.
If you really don’t want to invest in design, there’s no shortage of professionals who can help you. Alternatively, you can find designs that suit your target audience and buy them at a lower cost.
It is also a great idea to set up design competitions or to solicit the talents of freelance designers.
Once your designs are uploaded to your on demand printing partner, don’t hesitate to look at product previews to make sure your customers like the designs you are offering. Otherwise, you can modify or adapt depending on the rendering. As such, preliminary models initially displayed on your online store will allow you to adjust and improve your designs, in order to attract more customers and increase your sales.
How to create an e-commerce website dedicated to on demand printing?
Logically, the first step in setting up your on demand printing business is to set up your online store, to create the platform that will serve as the basis for selling your printed products.
There are many options including Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento… This is why you will need to establish a set of criteria that will allow you to choose the platform that is the most adapted to your business goals.
You will first have to think about the monthly subscription rates offered by each of them. You will then have to analyze the features at your disposal, including the various plugins already present on your platform and which allow you to manage your sales website.
This step is all the more important since the system used by your on demand printing partner must be compatible with the features present on your online sales website.
Finally, it is very important to consider the scalability of your platform, because, without this criterion, you may have to start over at the time when you generate more traffic which would be a hard blow to all your efforts.
