4 Strategies to Diversify Your Print on Demand Products

4 Strategies to Diversify Your Print on Demand Products

There was a time when people just bought whatever the stores and bazaars sold, and they didn’t ask for anything more than what they saw on the shelves. They never thought they could say or demand what should be printed on the things they bought. And then someone came up with the idea of printing on-demand. Merchandise selling has never been the same since.

There are various kinds of print-on-demand services being offered. You can find out more by clicking here. In recent years, though, more and more people have put up their own print-on-demand businesses because of the relative ease and low barriers for entry. It doesn’t require a lot of money to start one. But this has also led to intense competition among print-on-demand businesses. Many are now thinking of ways to diversify their products. Here are a few ways to do it:

1. Negotiate With Your Dropshipper:

If you’re sourcing or getting your print-on-demand products mainly from a dropshipping partner, the first strategy that you can adopt to diversify your print-on-demand business is to negotiate with your dropshipper. They might be open to the idea of widening the range of products that they offer. You’ll never know until you ask.

It’s indeed advantageous to do your print-on-demand business through a dropshipping arrangement. This is one of the most cost-effective business models. You don’t have to invest a single cent in production space, printing equipment, and inventory of base materials. You don’t even have to spend on workers’ wages and other overhead costs. But the downside is you don’t have a say on quality control over the final product.

There are those who put up their print-on-demand business just by setting up a website, putting up a few social media pages, and taking orders online. The design, production, packaging, and shipment are all done by their suppliers.

However, one of the main disadvantages of a dropshipping arrangement is that you’re limited by the range of base materials and printing capabilities of your dropshipping supplier or partner. If a customer asks for an item, materials, or color that your dropshipping partner doesn’t offer, then you’ll have to decline the customer.  That would be an unrealized sale or lost revenue. If a lot of this is happening, then it might be time to talk to your dropshipper and renegotiate.

2. Get More Dropshipping Partners:

If your existing dropshipper either refuses your proposal or simply doesn’t see the light, you don’t have to ditch them to expand the diversity of your print-on-demand products. You can keep them for the existing range of products that they design, produce, and ship for you and that’s fine.

The solution would be to get more dropshipping partners. This would just need a bit of research and negotiation on your part. Most dropshipping suppliers welcome additional partners and this shouldn’t pose much of a concern. There are a lot of manufacturers and dropshipping suppliers who are looking for additional channels through which they can move and sell their products. You just have to choose those ones which you can market and promote.

Another way to get additional dropshipping partners that can help you expand your business is by signing up those which is nearest to your largest sources of market demand. This would mean you’ll have to sign up a dropshipping partner which is nearest to every major city that your print-on-demand business serves. This would be advantageous in bringing down your shipping costs factored into the dropshipping arrangement; thus, increasing your savings and revenues.

3. Print Anything On-Demand:

Another way of diversifying your print-on-demand business is by offering to print anything on-demand. Yes, tell them you can print anything so they won’t have to go elsewhere. Have you ever thought if it were possible to print on houseware, kitchenware, accessories, custom toys and gifts, and just about anything on-demand? What if you could?

Print-on-demand customers come to your shop with their specific requirements for creative work and output. In short, they come to you because they want something which they can’t find anywhere else. But some of them are turned away because they’re asking for something that’s not included among the listed product lines or services of on-demand shops. Imagine the additional market share that your business can serve if you didn’t restrict your business to a few or several products or items.

If you’re willing to do a little bit of research for base materials and products, you can significantly diversify the range of products that you offer. But you’ll have to look for good finds and trending items that can be given a little twist or splash of custom through print-on-demand.

5. Add A Third Dimension:

Another exciting way for you to diversify your print-on-demand business is by adding another dimension to your products – a third dimension. Yes, that’s right. Why don’t you offer three-dimensional (3D) printing on-demand? 3D printing has become more and more popular among consumers, though at first, it has to hurdle the skepticism of unbelievers. A lot of people didn’t believe in 3D printing in its early years. But now it’s disrupting and shaping the future of industries.

In the past, printing in 3D became a very popular, in-demand, and trendy service among customers. People would ask for all sorts of creative work to be done on their mugs, tumblers, bags, sweaters, etc. It was like they found a way to express their ideas on these objects. Something which wasn’t thought of as possible during the purely flat surface and plain fabric print-on-demand era.

With the advent of 3D printing, the logical next step or evolution for the print-on-demand business is to take it to the next level – 3D printing on-demand. Instead of being restricted by the base materials of products that you have on your chosen platform, you can print the 3D base object itself. You can opt to print the design with the object or put it later. There’s one criterion though – your base object should be something that can be churned out by 3D printers.

6. Print What They Demand:

In this era when more and more consumers want and demand custom products that express their individuality and identity, print-on-demand businesses can cash in on the ever-increasing demand for products that ‘belong to their owner’. You can make the most of this opportunity by adopting the strategies mentioned here. Get more dropshipping partners nearer to your customers, get your own base materials, and go for 3D print-on-demand.