Successful Print on Demand (POD) Business Acquaintance

The last decade was a switch point in the awareness of the principles of consumption and production. Environmental problems such as pollution of the atmosphere and the world’s oceans, the extinction of some species of animals and plants, and a decrease in the supply of natural resources have led people on both sides of the economy to the radical change of their strategies.

For example, the implementation of a new model of the fashion industry – sustainable fashion, recycling of paper and other materials, development of eco-substitutes for products produced by  using plants and animals (leather, wood, cellulose, etc.), print-on-demand and etc.

At first glance, it may seem like this approach pursues one only goal – the protection of nature, but there are another ideas as well. This concept focuses on workers’ rights and workplace conditions, as well as following industry’s impact on the environment.

What is print-on-demand approach?

Print on Demand (POD) is an e-commerce business model where you team up with a vendor to sell customized items like shirts, dresses, cups, calendars, etc. The print on demand sector is not what is worth to neglect, especially when you consider the growth caused by the pandemic. It is also one of the few environmentally friendly garments. And this is not only because it doesn’t imply replication or uses analogs of digital images.

Advantages of POD approach

The most important advantages lie primarily in materials: non-toxic toners, plants-derived inks, fabrics, glass and even plastics. There is:

• no need for depot or/and warehouses;
• no/minimum of expired goods;
• routine processes’ automatization with PodZa;
• time and energy saving for a particular employee and brands at whole;
• some kind of value provided by an individual approach (just imagine that the T-shirt you just purchased will be made especially for you!).

Handicaps of POD approach

• Loss of time. Order delivery takes much time when compared with other business models where product pieces are ready to shipping at any time, and it’s clear why.
• Lack of the control over product quality. It’s impossible to predict the quality of the products provided by suppliers, especially at the first time. Often, brands don’t have a luxury to take a risk of bad customer experience or similar.
• Communication and interaction, responsibility with customers. Often suppliers are not responsible for the consequences of unsuccessful or very successful orders, such as improving product quality after receiving negative feedback or increasing the pipeline for its production in the case of a growth in demand, respectively.
• Complexity (more often inaccessibility) of the product exchange process. Even if suppliers take responsibility for the exchange of products, it will also take a lot of time, because a new order is printed on-demand as well.

Eco-friendly POD concept

Ardent environmentalists went further with ideas about eco-friendly print on demand approach.  They decided to provide products based on 100 % natural or eco-friendly synthetic materials. This provides greater value for eco-brands, because bamboo or squirrel wool is not always on hand, and even more, it’s impossible to process them immediately. So, it can be compared with very careful handmade works.

Ingredients and materials used in eco-friendly POD fabrics are items with zero or minimal damage risk for soil, water, atmosphere, people’s and animals’ health.

Which factors help to run a successful POD business?

Here are some basic (general and special) tips to launch and run a profitable print-on-demand business:

• Choose a right niche – don’t start to sell if you’re not sure about what you are wanting to sell.
• Define products you can provide for selling – search for the TOP-products in all categories you can provide and choose the most relevant.
• Invest money and efforts into your website design – design and creativity are highly important factors for POD business because customers make a decision based on the pictures they see on your website and how they provide a data about quality of products you’re offering.
• Deal with comprehensive suppliers – as mentioned above, success of your POD business depends on ability to take responsibility for all partners in the order chain.
• Develop an effective marketing strategy for your e-shop – as in every type of business, you should know how and when to sell a particular product.

Conclusion

If you decide to create your print-on-demand business-plan don’t forget that this area is gaining momentum and can be profitable if all processes are configured correctly. What is needed here more than in other types of business is that it requires much more patience, efficiency, creativity, readiness to listen and hear your customers.

Value – that’s what leads to success.