How to select the best products for your shop?

This article will cover how to select the best product and print method for your desired designs

There are two methods a creator on the Fourthwall platform can use to get their products batched, printed and ready for sale: Print On-Demand, and Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ). Let’s take a look at what the differences are and what kinds of print methods they both use. 

Print On-Demand

On-demand items are printed only after an order has been placed by one of your supporters. These items have no minimum requirements and are strongly recommended as a good starting print method, especially for creators who are still growing an audience. 

DTG

For on-demand apparel, Fourthwall uses a process called direct-to-garment printing (DTG). As one of the newer garment printing methods, DTG has fast become one of the most reliable, quick, and flexible ways for creators to replicate a retail quality look and feel. With DTG, the print feels flush with the fabric, almost like it’s naturally embedded in the fibers.

DTG is especially useful for smaller or newer creators with less orders to fill. Since DTG is on-demand, items are made to order and there is no pressure around selling in bulk. 

Examples of on-demand items include:

Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)

On-demand items are good for smaller or less experienced creators while Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) products are often a good choice for more experienced e-commerce creators because of the greater flexibility when it comes to print methods. 

The big difference between Print-On-Demand and MOQ products is that, unlike On-Demand, products are not printed as soon as a product is ordered. With MOQ, products must reach a minimum number of orders before the item will go into production.

Fail to reach your minimums and you won’t be able to fulfill your orders, and that’s the inherent risk. But with risk comes reward, and one of the big rewards is an increased flexibility when it comes to design. For example, with MOQ, you unlock access to additional print methods. Let’s review each:

Screen Printing

For garments, the most popular MOQ print method is screen printing. This is the highest quality print for garments and is what you are used to seeing on the majority of graphic tees sold in big box retailers and department stores.

For qualified creators using MOQ the sky and your imagination are the only limits (and occasionally a backed up seaport or two).

Full-Dye Sublimation

Another popular MOQ method is the full-dye sublimation method. This is another new cutting-edge technique that allows you to print over the entirety of a shirt, hoodie, socks, yoga pants, among other product types.

Cut-And-Sew Method

A variation of full-dye sublimation is the cut-and-sew method, with a few key differences. While a traditional fully-dye sublimation process will use a whole garment from the start, the cut-and-sew method uses cut pieces (sleeves and torse areas done separately for example) that are dyed, sublimated, and then sewn back together. This is still a fairly expensive process, however!

Embroidery

Embroidery is a great method for making a more premium quality product at the expense of a little jump in price. The higher the volume of orders, however, and the lower that price will be. 

Examples of MOQ items include:

Choosing Blanks

You can choose un-designed products, i.e., “blanks,” that you want to put your designs on and sell from the Fourthwall product catalog. Just sort by color availability or base price to choose something that works for your vision.

When you’ve selected an item, you can view size range, color options, base cost range, print style and printable areas on the product. When selecting a blank, not only will style and color be considerations, but the weight of the material as well. Search the product name via Google to view detailed information about the material so you can pick the perfect blanks for your store.

Building a Collection

When deciding on what blanks to use for your items, another important consideration is what kind of collection you want to have. Here are a few tips to that end:

• How do all the items work together? For example, a store full of only hoodies and joggers in the summer might mean you’re missing out on seasonal sales. Throw in some lightweight t-shirts and shorts to round things out!
• Accessorize! Smaller inexpensive items can be a good way to round out an order. Having an embroidered hat, phone case, and mug with similar designs to your main clothing line is a great place to start. 
• Know your audience. If your audience is interested in fashion beyond the basics, throw in some fun streetwear joggers with text on the legs, crop top hoodies, even a dress!

Launch types

There are generally two kinds of stores: evergreen and drop style. Here we will explain the differences between them. For on-demand items, you will want to stick with an evergreen model which is what you will be starting at as a self-serve tier creator. However, should your shop greatly exceed sales expectations either right away or over time as your audience grows, you will be able to access more MOQ options.

Evergreen

A store that is launched with products meant to be always available and with no expiration date. Usually an Evergreen store is created using on-demand products, but sometimes it can include MOQ (minimum order quantity) items that a creator purchases up front and continuously restocks as they sell.

Drop

A drop is a release of products that are designed to only be available for a specific amount of time, or until a specific amount of inventory sells out. A drop has a specific end date and once that end date passes, products are marked as sold out and are no longer available for fans to purchase. Drops often include screen printed or other MOQ products, but can also be on demand products that a creator restricts the sale of arbitrarily to build demand and excitement.

Hybrid

When both MOQ and on-demand options are available to a creator, we encourage the adoption of a hybrid strategy and take advantage of both evergreen and drop style launches to ensure fans always have access to inventory and increase conversion.

Refresh frequency

An often asked question is “how often should I change up my merch line?” We have a few pointers in that regard:

• At least twice a year is a good starting point. If there is a demand for new items, 3-4 times a year (once every 3-4 months) is a good maximum pace. You don’t want your audience to be waiting too long for new items, but you don’t want to overwhelm them either!

• How many items are best to have? There is no set in stone rule for this, but the idiom of “less is more” certainly applies in most scenarios. Too many items can overwhelm your audience, while too few can feel frustrating (unless it is a specifically limited time/drop style item; in that case the exclusivity is a big plus). This can be another area where you should feel free to play around with and see what works for you. For example, if you have a dozen items in your shop but only about half of them see any sales, consider removing the half dozen non-sellers.

• What times are best for a refresh? Seasonal changes are always good as new weather means new chances to get a new warm hoodie for the fall or a cool bucket hat for summer pool days. The general holiday season of November and December is by far the best time to launch and sell new merchandise with all of the major holidays in that time span.