As an association professional, you have to wear many hats. One of those hats might be around selling branded apparel to your members. It’s a great non-dues revenue source that also helps instill loyalty, provides brand recognition and can promote member recruitment and retention. There are several ways you can manage this process depending on your association.
Traditional Method
This is where you go and buy a bunch of shirts in a variety of sizes in order to maximize quantity discounts. This ensures you get the cheapest price per shirt. You put them in your webstore or have them at your conferences. Members buy them. You package and ship.
Pros:
- Cheapest price per shirt because you bought a bunch at once, meaning solid non-dues revenue
Cons:
- You had to lay out a bunch of money up front
- Very staff labor intensive to manage inventory, package, ship, etc.
- You get stuck in the end with a bunch of sizes/colors that you can’t sell, or shirts with specific year/event on it that isn’t relevant anymore
- You have boxes of stuff sitting in your office/closet taking up space
- You’re truly guessing about demand and customer preferences
New No-Inventory Method
There is still a place for the traditional method, don’t get me wrong. If you have the money to buy a bunch up front, know you are going to sell large quantities and you have the staff to do it, it can be fairly lucrative. It’s how you get the absolute lowest cost per item. However, most associations I know don’t have the capital to buy a bunch up front, don’t know how many they will really sell and don’t have the man hours to manage it.
A good branded apparel partner should work with you to create an online store where the options you are selling take advantage of decoration techniques that allow for true, on-demand production. This way, you aren’t out ANY money upfront, you aren’t sitting on inventory you can’t sell, and you don’t have boxes piled up in the corner of your office.
Pros:
- No up-front costs of buying a ton of inventory
- Ability to totally outsource management of inventory, packaging, shipping, etc.
- No leftover, unsold merchandise
- No inventory taking up space
- Ability to quickly test new products/designs without upfront costs
- Can be a source of non-dues revenue
Cons:
- Not the cheapest price on a per shirt basis since you don’t have economies of scale
- Might not be able to get the exact color/design/item combinations you initially have in mind
So, how can we truly do on-demand production? Screen printing is really the main decorating technique that requires certain quantities in order for pricing to make sense. It is by far the least expensive way to decorate when dealing in large quantities. Most screen printers tend to view it as the hammer, with every order being a nail. However, there are oftentimes many situations where screen printing is not the best option. On-demand printing is by far the #1 situation where screen printing doesn’t even come into play. Embroidery, DTG, DTG-W, dye sublimation and vinyl are all decoration techniques that are perfect for no minimum, on-demand production scenarios.
When looking to move to a no inventory model, you have to be cognizant of the items and designs you offer. Large, multi-color designs on dark garments may only be able to be done on-demand using DTG-W. That is a process that is more expensive because of the ink, pretreat and labor. Therefore, making 1 shirt may put you at a price point you aren’t comfortable with. However, simply shifting to a light colored garment means you can do regular DTG, which will lower your costs. Don’t be afraid to ask your partner for suggestions on what designs, color options or garment options would work best for your particular needs. A little flexibility on your end can make a huge difference in what you can offer and the price point at which you can sell it.
When choosing between the traditional model and the no inventory model, be sure you look at the whole picture. You might be able to save a few dollars per shirt by buying in bulk, but you might easily save more than those few dollars by not having to commit staff time, figure out storage space and be stuck with unsold merchandise. Each model has its place and best scenarios for optimum outcomes.