The Gift and the Curse of Running an Online T-Shirt Business
For decades, the prevailing staple for casual style has been the humble T-shirt. Not only does it excel in terms of functionality, but also as a source of vivid self-expression. The subsequent rise of the online-shirt selling industry fuelled by a perfect storm:
- Shoppers with a desire to express their individuality through clothing
- Entrepreneurs who saw the potential for building online brands
- Creative T-shirt designs that catered to targeted demographics
- Introduction of online t-shirt selling platforms and drop shipping services
This business model is attractive to both newcomers and business veterans, requiring little investment and but with potential for great profits.
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Instead, focus on increasing sales volume to boost your overall profit. Scaling your business and rising above the competition are the most significant factors in this industry.
Keys to Success in the T-shirt Selling Online
Building an online t-shirt empire is interesting mix of creative challenge and simple execution. We’ve identified four essential keys that will give newcomers the edge in this business.
1: Choose A Profitable Niche
Niche selection is critical to the success of your t-shirt selling business. How you decide to position yourself to potential buyers drastically affects your selling power.
For instance, "funny slogans" is a broad category that would be hard to compete in. Whereas "funny slogans for dads" is more specific. Focusing on a targeted audience will make it easier to stand out and capture their attention.
Also, when you're using paid advertisements, it’s more cost-effective to target an audience within your specific niche.
Takeaway: Minimize your competition and maximize selling potential. Conduct research, identify an audience to target and choose a niche.
2: Create Unique
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Sacrificing product quality to chase greater profits often backfires. Consider the affect poor quality t-shirts would have on your reviews and a buyer’s decisions to share or re-purchase.
The t-shirts and printing processes used will be critical to the success of your brand. Carefully access the feel of the material, how it fits and the weight. For large printed designs, you need to make sure the finish has enough staying power!
Takeaway: If your t-shirts are quick fade, crack, and shrink, your brand's reputation will soon follow! Always order samples
4: Build an Attractive Brand
Those who truly excel in the online t-shirt industry are the ones that build an attractive brand. Branding is a direct result of all previous steps, and it will influence your buyers' confidence significantly.
In these highly competitive industries, brands with strong character thrive. When it comes to t-shirt selling, branding is your secret weapon against the competition.
Takeaway: Developing an original and highly likable brand will capture and hold the attention of your target audience.
Ready to start building a successful t-shirt business? Great! Start by typing your ideas into the Niche search and home in on those profitable
While there are services similar to ours – such as try.com – when a customer shops online they are not choosing between services that allow them to try clothes on online. Our service is valued in the context of their total shopping experience, not as the end-all, or in other words the appeal of our product to them is not simply that they can try on clothes when shopping online, but that in trying on clothes when shopping online they can be more sure of as to whether or not the clothes will look or feel right, enhancing their total shopping experience. Therefore, in evaluating our impact on customers, our competitors will be viewed as other ecommerce websites (against us as the totality of TJX’s ecommerce and in particular how we enhance the value of
3. Increase sales to current customers by 5% each year by using innovative technology in order to find more efficient ways to distribute and manufacture our products leading to more competitive pricing.
Nevertheless, it must “defend” its current market share if not increase it, by maintaining premium quality and develop innovative products. The marketing mix strategies will effectively achieve targeted revenue and profitability in the near future.
Topman already has more than 309 fashion stores nationwide with another 50 stores outside the United Kingdom division. Topman boasts the worlds largest fashion store in London with over 200,000 shoppers per week, Topman gets twice deliveries per day and 7,000 looks per season. In the year 2006, Topman’s operating profit hits 110 million with its annual sales of 600 million now. It brings a strong brand image of Topman based on the successful achievement to consumer’s mindset. Strong brand image builds confidence and reliability towards Topman’s product. In a nutshell, expending Topman’s market in Vietnam has a strong potential to gain sustainable profit.
Increasing awareness of a personal and unique identity distinguishes us from the pack. A brand mantra differs from a tagline, explains Guy Kawasaki, as a mantra describes internal business, a standard for a company to abide by. A tagline is for customers and what they can expect to be delivered (Martinuzzi, 2014). John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing defines branding "the art of becoming knowable, likable and trustable” (Martinuzzi, 2014). Many specialists on the subject agree that trust building is essential in success. Being honest is one of the top five steps Forbe’s advises when it comes to brand building (Biro, 2013). Some suggestions to follow from, How to Build an Unforgettable Personal Brand (2014) include, making sure customers are provided what is promised, leading with unwavering quality and being consistent in making good on one’s word. The article also warns that the public will assign a default brand if a
Something people might frequently worry about is self-identity, and how to express who they are. When looking for an outlet to do this, the easiest way to show what kind of person someone is, clothes are usually the first choice: a black t-shirt with a cynical saying, or maybe some skinny black jeans. Whether the advertising agencies created the personalities that come with clothes or took advantage of what was already there, clothes are often sold as something more than just clothes. Companies must ask how to convince consumers to buy their product instead of the competitors’, regardless of price difference. Particularly Levi’s jeans, a 150+-year-old American business, has been trying different approaches to packaging the type of consumers that buy their jeans.
Know your market and competitors before starting your business. Effective research and strategic planning are often what separate the winners from the losers.
When a business aims to be as successful as possible in selling its products and services, it must examine in detail whether or not the products will be attractive and necessary; if the price is optimal; if the product is being distributed in the best locations; and finally, how interest and awareness can be created for the products. In order for a business to target all of these elements at the right people at the right time, it must employ the right type of marketing mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Diversify - It is important to include energizers within our network and involve the right kind of people
The business model that sets Zara apart from other clothing retailers is how rapidly the company changes stocks and releases new product lineups. The company averages 12-16 collections annually which equates to more than one lineup a month. Due to stock being limited and the rapid production Zara brings forth, their items are viewed as exclusive promoting further business. Their customers are happy knowing that their specific article of clothing is more “rare” due to only having an average of a two-week window to purchase the clothing. The company specifically targets current trends and has them in the store within 30 days. This maintains the brand’s uniqueness and relativity in fashion.
Being able to provide exactly what your customers are looking for is one of the best ways to gain and retain customers. You will also begin to see that customer satisfaction is climbing, which makes it much easier to cross-sell and up-sell and thus increase your profitability.
As a majority of T-shirts are produced from cotton materials, they have large impacts on the environment. According to National Geographic (Jan 15, 2013), cotton requires 2,700 litres of water to be grown and produced alone, before being manufactured and transported to clothing stores, and eventually in your possession. Not
Advertising and promotion will be subtly forcefull to if nothing else to get you excited and intrigued. Plant the ¡§we should check that place out¡¨ seed. We will be running an extensive and quite costly advertising and promotion strategy. Radio, some local television during the prime news hours, drop leafs in major magazines, news print, bus sides, living and entertainment media. We will also be making brochures with our product and service menu available at local venues with coinsiding business i.e. health clubs, surgical offices, & medical offices. We will also place ads on bulletin boards of local universities and apartment/condo complexes.
That can lead to the water stress and pollution. Cotton is one of the common natural fibers and it is also a thirsty crop, to produce one cotton shirt it takes 2,700 liters of water which is enough amount of water for one person to drink 2 ½ years (3p Contributor., 2015). The chemical wastages from chemical dye and bleaches that produce from the factory, and carbon footprint such as polyester production which can lead to climate change. Given that amount of water wastage, I feel that people should opt for sustainable fashion clothes. Most people may be hesitant to try something so novel, so green. Therefore, I feel the fashion house should educate the public about the many benefits of sustainable fashion
... right people by increasing the awareness about the product, its benefits and drawbacks. This is important for the success of a business.