By Ikenna Pius
Printful is doing good business in South Africa where the business of print on demand fashion is particularly good. The company is not restricted to T Shirts; it also prints other fashion items like hoodies, trousers, skirts, jackets and bags.
Fashion and clothing are not the only areas of its business; it also does wallpapers, mugs, phone cases, and so many other items.
Already a big name in the print on demand business; Printful has secured patronage from many successful sellers across the world. But what about South Africa?
Does Printful Work In South Africa?
Printful already has more than 148 sellers in South Africa – some of them being big e-commerce stores with quite a lot of customers both within the country and internationally. Of course, most buyers will never be aware that they are buying from a third party seller; this is especially true when the seller’s website is convincing and engaging.
Nevertheless, the company’ market share is growing in South Africa; as shown by the internet searches for this name. The internet searches are because the company is growing in popularity as more sellers are seeing that the company is a trustworthy business partner.
Printful works with South African sellers; giving them access to the international market. The next thing to note is how to work with this company so as to get the best results.
How To Sell With Printful South Africa
In order to get the best results when working with this company, the following rules have to be followed.
Create Amazing Designs
The very first thing that stands a seller out from the crowd is the kind of designs they produce. In fact, small sellers have a greater chance at success if they are first designers before businesspeople. Established companies know the importance of having original designs; which is why they have big offices dedicated to creating designs.
After creating the designs, it is also good to have other people look it through. This can help improve on what you have, and avoid a kind of monolithic voice. Sometimes messages can sell just as much as designs. Positive messages, words of encouragement, advocacy for the greater good.
It is also important to remember that your designs should not be similar to the products made by big brands. If your customers wanted to buy those designs, they would have gone straight to the big brand websites.
Create Your E Store
The E store is the online space where you showcase your products and designs. It should have a catchy name, and a simple website interface. The website should be easy to navigate, and should show your designs in a manner that customers will be able to identify the items they want.
Your e store should be well packaged. By packaging it means the website itself, and the items displayed on it should all be appealing to the potential buyers.
Items displayed on the e store should be finished products unless otherwise impossible. Clothes should be worn by real persons or mannequins; which is how customers will see how well the clothes fit, and how well the designs look.
The pictures of the items on display must be professionally taken. They must be bright, colorful, and free of shadows. The pictures should also be taken in a good environment, with good backgrounds.
It is also important that the pictures look good when reduced to thumbnails, which is how most pictures appear when displayed in numbers.
Link Your E- Store To Printful
When you link your e store with Printful, a click from a buyer on an item will take them to the Printful page where they will make the order. After making the payment, the item will then be shipped to the buyer. Rinse and repeat as many times as possible.
To do this, just go to the Printful website (printful.com) and then look at the top left hand side, to a button that says “Sell Online.” You may also click on the button at the top right that says “Sign Up.”
The website gives the easy options to sign up by clicking on the Facebook, Apple, or Google. Clicking on any of those icons will enable Printful to get the basic user information from those websites. One can also fill the sign up form in the traditional way.
After that, an account will be created for you, and you will have access to Printify as a seller. In your account; you will put your e store details which, and you will link every product to your Printful account so that when the customers click the buy button on your e store, the order is automatically created on Printful.
This will automate the printing and selling process, so that you can concentrate on creating designs and marketing.
Marketing Your Designs
This is an essential part of the business; it is how people will see the designs you have created. Social media is the regular medium of choice; it allows one to sell directly to the teeming numbers of potential buyers on social media.
However, just because it is social media doesn’t mean it is free. To get the best out of social media marketing one has to spend some money. It is a good idea to create a monthly budget, so that one can set aside a fixed amount of money on marketing.
The money may be spent on influencers who millions of followers trust to tell them what is good in fashion. These days there are even micro influencers who have thousands of followers, and who engage more efficiently with their followers. They are often less expensive to work with.
The social media platforms themselves often have advertising services with which they spread the word about products and services to thousands or millions of users – depending on your budget. The best part about this type of marketing is that you can select your audience. For example; if you think a particular design will do well in the South African market, then you can choose to promote it to the local audience. You can also promote your designs globally.
Further Reading:
- Print On Demand In South Africa
- Can You Sell On Etsy From South Africa
- Printify Vs. Printful – The Winner Is You
Printful is a popular name in South Africa; it is the company that designers turn to when they want to bring their creations to life. The company delivers to the local market as well as internationally. It is part of the print on demand revolution we are witnessing today.
Have you used this company to sell your designs? Please give your Printful South Africa reviews in the comments section.
