The Future of Print-on-Demand for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

Print-on-demand (POD) went from a curious innovation in the ecommerce industry to a full-blown must-have to amplify your business. Research shows that the print-on-demand market was valued at $4.90 billion in 2021 & is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate) of 26.1% by 2030. With no signs of slowing down, here’s what’s in store for the future of POD & what it means for your business.

Voice Ecommerce Is On the Rise                           

If you’re wondering if ecommerce has already been “done” & there’s nothing new out there, think again. Voice ecommerce allows customers to make purchases with a few voice commands through a device like Amazon’s Alexa or a chatbot. As AI becomes more sophisticated, searching for & finding the products you really want will get easier. Sites will need to consider how to optimize for AI & voice to ensure consumers get the best details possible that translate on & off the page. 

POD Will Offer High-Quality Options

Ecommerce personalization is already the norm & will become mainstream across most businesses. Consumers want personalized, customized products & experiences that meet their needs. They’re also less tolerant of settling for products they don’t really want. 

POD will become the go-to for selling platforms where ecommerce entrepreneurs are rewarded for quality & design. The traditional model was pretty lackluster, with subpar colors & design work. But as more competition in the POD space crops up, it’s vital to stick with companies that provide multiple, high-quality print options. 

Performance & blended fabrics are challenging to get a high-quality look. Let’s take activewear & hoodies as an example. Most POD relies on a basic design with one or two colors on these softer fabrics. DIGISOFT® works differently. It’s engineered to deliver the highest quality design possible on even the most challenging materials, so it looks the way you intended it. 

Learn more about how CustomCat uses DIGISOFT® here.

POD Will Focus on Eco-Friendliness

The traditional POD model was all about creating products quickly & shipping them out on behalf of the person who created it. Eco-friendliness wasn’t at the forefront of most people’s minds, especially as ecommerce entrepreneurs struggled with getting the quality just right. 

Fortunately, our technology, like DIGISOFT®, is eco-friendly with water-based inks & a more efficient printing process to reduce resources & waste. We also take care to offer eco-friendly products that give you more peace of mind.

Custom Hoodies Will Rise in Popularity

Even as activewear took off as a stand-alone industry separate from athletic wear, hoodies still seemed to lag behind in the POD market. Things changed around 2020 as hoodies gained momentum & continued to rise in popularity. Research shows that the top trending POD products last year included hoodies & sportswear.

Suddenly the world wants more personalized options than ever, including hoodies that were once challenging to print on. Today’s technology makes it easier than ever to get vibrant, crisp designs that look consistent. Personalizing and customizing hoodies also makes your business more profitable. According to recent data, 81% would be willing to pay more for customized clothing.

Ecommerce Entrepreneurs Will Ditch the Traditional Inventory Model

There’s no reason to continue the battle with too much inventory & overhead when you can turn to POD instead. It’s possible to run your entire ecommerce business from your laptop while traveling the world & never worrying about fulfilling a single order. 

CustomCat supercharges your online store with easy-to-use tools & processes. Upload your original designs, apply them to the products you want, & easily integrate everything into your website or selling platform. When someone clicks & buys, we produce, fulfill, & ship out the order with a customized label on your behalf. You don’t pay a dime upfront & earn every time you make a sale. 

Learn how to get started with CustomCat here.

White-Labeling Products Will Become the Norm

There are plenty of POD companies out there, but not all of them work as a behind-the-scenes arm of your business. Instead, their own branding is on your products or shipping label. As POD soars, white-label will become the norm as people take the helm of their own online businesses. 

POD should serve as your support system, not as the superstar of your business that’s customer-facing. All of CustomCat’s products are sent out on your behalf as private, white-labeled orders. We even add your company information on the label, so customers only engage with the brand you’re working hard to build. 

AI Will Become Our Ecommerce Assistants

AI already integrates with the ecommerce industry. Just look at how Amazon shows you products you might like or magically knows what to upsell you on. But tomorrow’s trends are all about AI serving as an assistant that knows how to take over the most tedious tasks. 

From product research to email newsletter ideas, AI can already generate customized information & solutions at our fingertips. The release of ChatGPT is already optimizing the search space & turning everything you need into a chat. Whether you want insights on what designs are trending to highly rated customer service apps, AI can help you find what you need. We’ll also see AI continue to evolve & take over more tasks that keep entrepreneurs from working in their business instead of on it. 

 

What do you predict for the future of print-on-demand for all things ecommerce? Let us know by leaving a comment below!