What products to use in my store? Part 1

As is the case in many places in the world, my local area is in quarantine due to the corona virus. Typical methods for this model of business make use of the sales model called “drop shipping”. Drop shipping is a supply chain management method in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfer’s its customer’s orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.

It was my intention when I first planned to launch my company to utilise the drop shipping business model, however the majority of products that are financially viable options for business success using this business model are supplied from china and as a consequence of the corona virus crisis are either halted or limited in delivery. This is not a good time to get into that business.

If not drop shipping, then what am I going to sell?

There is another alternative to drop shipping that utilises a similar model but does not depend on Chinese manufacturers. This alternative is called “Print on demand” or POD for short. Print on demand is a printing technology and business process in which printed documents or goods are not printed until a company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. This model has a longer history under the name “build to order” which essentially summarises the same thing with out being niche to printed goods.

Similar to drop shipping an external company manufactures the goods and handles the fulfilment process making this another form of supply chain management method. The difference between drop shipping and print on demand is the backend for the manufacturer. In drop shipping the manufacturer makes bulk goods and holds them in their warehouse. When an order is sent from my company to theirs, they will ship the good directly to the customer having made the goods already. They will make more in bulk when supplies get low. Print on demand holds the materials for the product and manufactures the goods when the order is made which is then sent out via mail order to the customer.

Print on demand companies are however limited to only creating goods that can be printed for example: Mugs, t-shirts, shower curtains, backpacks, and shoes. Drop shipping manufacturers can make anything from plushies, electronics, gadgets, and even kitchenware. Print on demand produce unique goods because I supply the design whereas drop shipping goods can be bought and sold by anyone. There are pros and cons for both.

Won’t I have the same problem with POD?

As I said before the corona virus quarantine has limited the ability for goods to be shipped in and out of the country causing drop shipping to be a poor idea for business right now. But print on demand companies are a very present in western civilization and with companies such as Printful and Printify it is an accessible and booming market opportunity that has been only lightly affected by the quarantine due to not needing to import goods. Therefore, I have decided to design illustrations relating to my chosen niche which I will print onto goods provided by print on demand company’s for product manufacture and fulfillment.

I may have stated that drop shipping is not a business venture that I believe will be fruitful in the present however, in 6 months’ time should the quarantine be lifted allowing drop shipping to be imported freely again I am keen to implement drop shipping products alongside print on demand products to create what is called a “Flex-store”. A flex-store is an eCommerce store that sells both drop shipping and print and demand products side by side. This allows for unique POD products to allure customers whilst I use Drop shipped goods as up sells to raises higher average order value.

What’s next?

In my next post I will outline my plans for what products I intend to use within my store to compile a list of designs I need for production in the following weeks.