Personalized printed designs has transformed the business model of e-commerce companies

The advancements in printing technology have resulted in the widespread popularity of digital printing. It has brought about a complete change in conducting retail business that can now offer more creative design options to customers by customizing the products. Today, you can choose some product from the store and print your chosen design on it. For example, you can have some clothing like a t-shirt, tank top, hoodies or coffee mug, or baseball cap printed with some images or designs customized only for you.   The business model thrives on the collaboration between the store and some printing company that is ready to print any design on any product to fulfill the customer’s requirement.

To meet the growing demand for personalized products designed for specific customers, online businesses that sell gift items, promotional items, and other printable items are giving more options to customers to choose their designs to print on the products that look unique. For example, after a customer chooses a bare product and selects a design from the catalog for printing on the product, the company arranges to get the design printed by a third party and then deliver it to the customer. This is known as the POD or print on demand business model adapted by e-commerce companies.

More emphasis on creativity

Suppose you are a creative person, a designer, or an artist who wants to monetize your creative skills. In that case, you can tie up with some online store or e-commerce platform that sells various customized designs printed exclusively for specific customers. Sell your designs to the online stores that sell assorted printable clothing like T-shirts, jackets, tank tops, caps, etc., stationery items like diaries, books, and backpacks, and mementos like coffee mugs and photo frames duly printed with personalized designs. Since personalized designs are in high demand, online stores are now selling white label products, which serve as a canvas for printing any design chosen by customers.

Change in the e-commerce business model

As the trend of personalized design gains traction, there is a visible change in the way of conducting e-commerce business.  Before the advent of POD, e-commerce platforms used to sell readymade products with pre-printed designs, and the choice of customers was limited in terms of design.  Only a few design types were on display beyond which the store could not offer anything special that customers might be looking for.

All this changed significantly due to the growing demand for personalization as E-commerce companies prepared to cater to the customized demands by offering numerous design options. As a result, the business model had a distinct change as the companies moved away from providing pre-printed designs on their products. Instead, they started selling white label products on which they create the design chosen by customers. Thus, the product merely serves as a canvas to demonstrate designers’ creativity that sometimes bears the personal marks of customers.

Collaboration between e-commerce companies, designers, and printers

To meet the design expectations of customers and create more personalized designs, the e-commerce platforms started collaborating with graphic designers and artists who could help recreate the design ideas of customers into printable versions.  In addition, they maintained a steady flow of unique designs as part of their portfolio.

Customers first choose the style of the product followed by the specific design and order with the understanding that the company will deliver it after printing the desired design on the product. This compelled the e-commerce companies to collaborate with some printers who can effectively print the design on the product and even arrange to deliver it to customers. It means that the printing company takes the responsibility of fulfilling the order on behalf of the e-commerce company.

The new workflow

The personalization effect on e-commerce businesses has resulted in a new workflow that includes more stakeholders than just sellers and buyers.

  • The e-commerce company sells custom-designed products but at the store display only white label products on which they print the design chosen by customers. All the displayed items are listed with a printing company that can print the selected design on the item.
  • Soon upon customers choosing some product listed with the printing company, the system alerts the printing company by sending a notification about the order.
  • The printing company then arranges to print the design on the product within 1-2 days.
  • On completion of printing, the company arranges to ship the product to customers. But, again, there is no mention of the involvement of the printing company.

In the end, customers feel like receiving the ordered items from the e-commerce Company or brand.

No worries about holding inventory

The new e-commerce business model reduces the chances of locking up money in inventory because the stores no longer need to stockpile pre-printed items of various designs. Instead, they maintain a catalog of designs from which customers can choose a design or even share some of their personal designs for printing on the selected product. Since the e-commerce company collaborates with designers and artists, they can customize any design that customers want, which might be beyond the designs available in the catalog. The business model reduces the risks of carrying high inventory and increases profitability while selling customized products.

The dropshipping model

Like the traditional e-commerce business model that involves a third party to handle the order fulfillment activities, the same thing happens with the new model but in a different way. The printing company that partners with the e-commerce company take responsibility for order fulfillment. The printing company assumes an expanded role by doing much more than just printing the products but arranging to ship them to customers to mark the completion of the order.  Thus the printing company acts as the third-party responsible for order fulfillment.  The modified model of business assumes a new name of Dropshipping.

The POD business model gives vast opportunities to create a unique brand that stands out from the crowd. You can use your creativity to position the brand in the way you want to become easily recognizable with some of the identifiable traits that are very much your own.