Why POD Activewear is the Next Big Thing

The Future of POD Activewear in the Ecommerce Industry

With a rapidly growing demand, there may be no better time to break into the activewear market, but only if you know how to stand out from the competition & offer something truly unique. Research shows that the activewear market is expected to soar to $547 billion by 2024. The potential seems unlimited; however, there are currently some downsides to creating & selling activewear in your ecommerce store. If you’ve ever tried to print multiple colors with direct-to-garment (DTG) technology, especially quick-wick fabric, you already know the challenge of creating stunning, colorful products. Customers want their shirts, pants, jackets, & more to look incredible & well-executed from start to finish. 

Why Activewear Hasn’t Been a Viable POD Product Category Before

Ecommerce sellers have been restricted to decorating athleisure items with embroidery which requires designers to limit their design colors & complexity. Moisture-wicking fabrics are simply not compatible with traditional DTG print methods. Screen printing isn’t a suitable decoration method for print-on-demand sellers because it was designed for bulk orders & not the individual, customized orders that customers want. 

Traditional DTG technology leaves a lot to be desired when printing on moisture-wicking activewear garments & requires time-intensive adjustments to the process that most POD partners are not willing to perform — at least not without adding a significant cost. Without these adjustments, DTG printing on any fabric other than cotton leaves you with sticky prints, muddy colors, & unhappy customers.

What Is DIGISOFT®?

DIGISOFT® is the newest solution for creating next-generation custom prints that pop.  

DIGISOFT® helps create stunning, colorful designs that apply directly on quick wik fabric & other activewear materials. Now ecommerce sellers have total design freedom with full-color options, no matter the fabric they’re using. It’s fully evolved digital print perfection that’s incredibly reliable & consistent. 

Types of Products Ecommerce Sellers Can Use with DIGISOFT®

The DIGISOFT® technology is highly versatile & can be used on a wide range of products. Tanks, tees, jackets, quarter-zips, leggings, shorts, & similar products can all be customized & designed with DIGISOFT® technology. Best of all, DIGISOFT® can even be used with moisture-wicking fabrics that activewear often uses to keep its users dry & comfortable.

DIGISOFT® Helps Ecommerce Sellers Stand-Out in the Activewear Industry

The superior quality of DIGISOFT® makes it a win-win for online store owners & customers. For starters, you’re selling products that look & perform better than the competition. Customers are also more likely to come back, less likely to return items, & the high-quality activewear makes it easy to prompt high ratings & reviews.

If you’re wondering how DIGISOFT® helps you compete in a saturated marketplace, think about hoodies. The POD market is largely unable to print on hoodies & activewear at the high quality online merchants & customers expect. DIGISOFT® is allowing us to produce stunning prints like we never could before at a rate that our competition cannot. The difference between a basic hoodie & a DIGISOFT® hoodie is that you can print whatever you want onto it & it will look exactly how you want.

DIGISOFT® Lowers Returns

DIGISOFT® offers incredible detail clarity that’s unmatched or other technologies. Think of it as comparing traditional TV to HD or 4K–there isn’t even a debate on which is higher quality. DIGISOFT® has also made DTG nearly obsolete. DIGISOFT® is flawless, highly evolved, & visually stunning no matter what fabric you’re using. Currently, we’re applying it to tanks, tees, jackets, quarter zips, leggings, shorts, & more.

Here’s the issue with POD returns: the majority of its sellers don’t offer returns because of the custom creation process. However, sellers will replace items due to poor print quality & production mistakes. Currently, the ecommerce return rate for apparel is around 12%. 

Sizing is a major factor in high return rates, but consumers also state “not as described,” “style,” or “defective” as reasons for returning products. Nailing down your product descriptions & offering a detailed sizing chart & recommendation whether to size up or down can help. However, making sure the print quality is top-notch, reliable, & consistent to your product images can dramatically reduce your return rate. 

DIGISOFT® Helps Customize & Personalize Activewear Businesses

Personalizing the customer journey is a rising trend across all industries but is especially relevant to ecommerce. Studies show that 80% of US online shoppers are more likely to purchase if retailers offer personalization. However, consumers also want personalized garments & a variety of customized choices while online shopping. Allowing customers to personalize their own activewear, & getting high-quality results, can boost sales & improve the customer journey. 

DIGISOFT® & Custom Cat Helps Customize Activewear Without the Overhead

Personalization & customization are easier said than done when it comes to building an ecommerce business. The time, money, & resources involved are significant investments that smaller online stores can’t always manage. However, there are ways to give customers what you want, exceed their expectations, & stand out from the competition. Partner with CustomCat to offer high-quality, DIGISOFT printed athleisure & activewear products to thrill your customers. There are no minimum orders required.

You can learn more about CustomCat’s services here:

Print-On-Demand Promo Products

How to Get Started Selling Online with CustomCat

The best part about print-on-demand is you can upload your own designs, apply them to the products you want, & you make money when they sell. You don’t need to dig into your savings to load up on inventory or worry about rising overhead. Instead, you can focus on creating the best products possible to keep customer satisfaction & profits high.