Venturing into the world of e-commerce can be thrilling and lucrative, especially when you consider the convenience of print-on-demand businesses that eliminate the hassle of inventory management and shipping costs. However, even with the ease of these business models, beginners can still fall into common mistakes and pitfalls if they’re not careful. In this article, we’ll explore the top 10 mistakes that beginners make with print-on-demand and how to avoid them.
- You have unrealistic expectations
While print on demand does have great revenue potential, we see many new business owners coming on board with the expectation that sales will skyrocket from day one. Setting realistic business goals and starting with more than just a good idea is key to success in the online sales industry. This led us to make mistakes.
- Design without considering the target audience
You have great ideas, skills, and tools to bring your design to life. What else do you need to create a successful product? Target audience – also known as a niche market in e-commerce. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to design a best-selling product if you don’t know who you’re designing for. Each audience has its own interests, passions, product preferences, shopping habits, and pain points that you can address in your product design. If you can’t do that, you’ll come up with a product that you personally might like but no one really needs. If you’ve ever made a product that wasn’t aimed at any niche audience, you’re not alone. In fact, 27 percent of respondents rated the error as having a high to very high negative impact on their business.
- Do not study your competitors’ designs
A common beginner’s mistake is to assume what the audience wants instead of researching what they really need. No need to guess when you can evaluate the available market offers and reach solid conclusions about what works best.Studying a competitor’s design before creating yours will help you understand:
- What types of colors, fonts, and design styles are popular in niche markets
- What types of products are offered and what is missing
- How are similar designs priced and marketed
For example, if you want to sell gifts customized for teachers, start with a Google search for “gifts customized for teachers.” Check out what’s available on marketplaces like Etsy, Amazon, or Redbubble. Make a list of the products that appear first and evaluate what makes them stand out. More importantly, consider how you can make your design better than what you already have.
- Do not ask for feedback
What is the biggest product design mistake according to the customer? Don’t ask for feedback. Seventy-one percent of respondents felt this oversight had a negative impact on their business.There are many reasons why beginners avoid asking for feedback on their designs. Getting customer reviews can be difficult at first, but can be the key to long-term success. Many customers read reviews and look for ratings before buying from a previously unknown e-commerce business. Some don’t know who to ask, some are too embarrassed to share their business ideas, and still others may even be afraid of their designs being misused. Designs are rarely perfect on the first try, so asking for advice on how to improve it is crucial.
- Not preparing for the holidays
Failing to prepare for a major holiday can do significant damage to the fledgling print-on-demand business. Many new sellers don’t plan well enough ahead of time and are late to participate in marketing campaigns or holiday-related projects. Your holiday activities usually need to be prepared two months in advance of the big day. This gives customers ample time to order, ship and receive their products before the target holiday.
- The product is underpriced or overpriced
You’ve created a great product. You add modest marks to keep your product reasonably priced. You forget taxes, transaction fees, e-commerce platform fees, and advertising fees. You end up spending more than you earn. Sound familiar? Poor pricing is a more common problem than you might think. Forty-three percent of survey respondents believe that pricing their products too low or too high would have a big negative impact on their business.
- You only sell T-shirts
Print on Demand is no longer a business that caters primarily to clothing and, more specifically, T-shirts. Many sellers are too one-dimensional to think outside the box, leaving plenty of room for sellers who offer more products. Using a platform like GearLaunch, you can sell your design products on many different types of platforms and reach a much larger audience than ever before. Return to your research and find out if your audience is also interested in buying bedroom decor or other home decor. Or they might be interested in wine or jewelry. Test different product categories until you find the one that best fits your demographic.
- Poor customer service
Not taking the customer experience seriously or not having the time to provide a quick response can do serious damage to your brand in the long run. Customers like to rave about their favorite new brand or product. However, if they are unhappy, they are more likely to complain loudly on social media. Poor customer support — such as slow or unhelpful responses, a lack of empathy or a rude attitude — is a sure-fire way to lose customers. Shoppers must always be served. Make yourself available via chat, email, or social media comments to address issues that may arise at any time during the sales process. Printdoors always adheres to the principle of customer first and strives to bring the best purchasing experience to our customers.
- Not communicating your brand story and values
Big or small, every brand has a story. There’s always a reason to start an online business, whether it’s a passion for design, a social cause, extra cash or something else. Not telling your brand story is another missed opportunity. To come up with a compelling brand story, be honest and transparent about how and why you created your brand. Introduce the philosophy behind the brand and describe its vision and values. Each Printdoors brand has a unique design philosophy, each concept is to convey a good value to the customer.
- It hasn’t started yet
What could be worse than making the on-demand printing mistakes we discussed above? Do nothing because you’re too afraid to start and fail.
Not starting is the most common mistake beginners make. You can spend countless hours hypothesizing about which strategies work best or fantasizing about immediate success. But it’s only by trying, failing, and trying again that you can develop design and marketing strategies that resonate with your audience and drive sales.
Print on Demand is experimentation, and not all of them will be successful. To be successful, begin your e-business journey immediately, learn from the mistakes we described above, and be prepared to go all the way.
Conclusion
Starting a print-on-demand business was not easy. E-commerce is becoming increasingly competitive, and finding your own unique voice among the thousands of e-commerce giants can be a serious challenge. printdoors‘ list of 10 Print-on-demand mistakes beginners make will hopefully help you in your future print-on-demand business.
