Print On Demand Dropshipping in South America

Kateryna Tytarenko, SEO Specialist in Multi-Programming Solutions  •  9 min read

Selling stuff online without holding any equipment or stock remains the simplest way to join the e-Сommerce and make passive money for entrepreneurs with no experience. This business model allows you to source goods from third-party manufacturers, create preferable designs, and vend worldwide. When the trusted partner takes care of the production and logistics, you can focus on reaching new clients and generating more income.

While the USA currently dominates in the POD sphere with 40% of the print market revenues, South America provides brilliant opportunities to build a prosperous company within the least competitive environment.

This article will teach you how to dropship on Shopify without inventory and which print on demand software in South America can automate your online sales.

Table of Contents

How to start a POD dropshipping business in South America?

No inventory or upfront costs - is it possible?

Selling premium custom products in South America

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

How to start a POD dropshipping business in South America?

First and foremost, you should decide on the product assortment. It’s always easier to start with one or two items, pick up a catching design and find a partner to produce your stuff and send it to the final destination (your buyer). Surf through the Internet and decide what goods will be preferable for inhabitants in the target location. For example, you can develop t-shirt dropshipping in Brazil or sell personalized baseball caps in Uruguay. Regardless of your choice, you should be passionate about the work. That’s how you can better translate a brand's vision to the target audience and grow sales faster.

Let’s define what steps can help you launch a business with minimal challenges and increase brand popularity worldwide.

Create an online store 

Building a thriving dropshipping business in South America, try to start by developing a solid online presence. And the first thing to consider following the strategy is a digital shop. It is an e-Commerce site where you can showcase POD products to the target audience and run the financial transactions to process the purchase. Here are several steps to take before start selling via the Internet:

• Choose a suitable content management system (CMS) to create a vendor account. Shopify, WordPress, eBay, Etsy, and Amazon are among the leading platforms for vendors worldwide. They differ by business model and can offer POD or dropshipping services as well as warehouse and fulfillment centers.
• Pay for a domain. If you register a profile on Shopify, you receive a free URL by default (myshopify.com). But if you want to change it to your brand name, it will cost you additional money.
• Be ready for annual payments for web hosting with unlimited space and SSL encryption if you build a store on WooCommerce.
• Provide connections with the best printing companies in South America which will source your product range.
• Set up a payment option. E-commerce platforms allow you to choose a provider for financial transactions, so you don’t have to think about how to make this kind of integration yourself.

What you should focus on while customizing an online store is a necessity to make an eye-catching page interface and translate brand identity in every tiny detail: the website theme, menu, font, and logo. You may find valuable insights for your case by getting familiar with other dropshipping stores on Shopify.

Add products designs

Although you won’t create things yourself, dozens of local POD suppliers will do it for you with pleasure. While your online shop will be responsible for generating more traffic and orders, the printing service will transfer branded designs to the garment and deliver parcels to consumers’ destinations. 

So that’s how things may work. You create a unique design using dedicated software like Freepik or hire a professional to do it instead of you. Then you choose a product, personalize it with your pictures and add an example to online store listings. 

Try to experiment with the color palette and its compliance with a garment. You may sell stuff with simple phrases on it or realistic images, depending on the printing method the chosen supplier uses. For example, a heat vinyl machine can create glittering, glossy, or metal effects with an impressive view, while screen printing allows you to get a more straightforward, plain logo. 

Use print on demand software

When someone attracted by your mockups orders an item, you should redirect it for fulfillment to the printing center. Doing it automatically with minimal human error is possible with special print on demand software that streamlines daily operations and saves costs on running a business. 

With app integrations like PodZa, you’ll learn how to dropship custom t-shirts in South America faster and more efficiently. Just pick up the right supplier who will customize stuff for you and install the printer’s software from the Shopify store. From now you’ll import the providers’ products to your listings and add a personalized design for customers. You also will be able to edit colors, sizes, descriptions, prices, and shipping information.

Orders from the online store will be instantly sent to the supplier, who will create items according to the approved template and deliver them to customers. You will monitor payment reports and tracking information (if the provider will add a third-party integration with a Shipstation). In this partnership, printers are responsible for fulfillment and shipping, while an online store focuses on marketing and generating sales volume.

Start selling!

Now that you know what to sell, where, and who will source you, it’s time to attract more leads to the online shop and ensure constantly growing revenue. Advertise your print on demand company in South America via social media, and you’ll get more space to interact with customers and involve them in the selling process.

Make short promotional videos with your customized products and share your personal experience from using printed items in real life. Thus, you will build trust and loyal relationships with clients. Allow users to leave reviews and use them to improve the quality of your goods and service.

Apply creative methods to encourage customers to make a purchase. You can offer discounts, limited propositions, provide holiday sales or run challenges with attractive prizes. Such an approach will help every brand to become recognizable and join the range of the best dropshipping companies in South America.

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Start Selling on Amazon with Print on Demand

No inventory or upfront costs - is it possible?

Many entrepreneurs still need to be convinced they can develop a POD business and succeed without any spending on equipment, manufacturing, and warehousing. Yet, it’s not a myth. POD custom manufacturing can be a perfect startup for small companies at the beginning of their e-commerce journey. Here are the main advantages of this business model:

• Vendors don’t have to make upfront inventory investments or build a logistic chain. These tasks are delegated to printing suppliers, while dropshippers can start vending even without having to produce or stock their stuff.
• This selling scheme is low risk because items aren’t printed ahead. Merchants can add as many listings to their stores as they wish without worrying about production costs. The manufacturing process begins only after the client makes a purchase on the site.
• There is no need to rent a warehouse. Sellers are fully flexible in their work, can accept orders from any location (manage print on demand dropshipping in Chile, Argentina, or Venezuela), and even choose a provider which is geographically closer to the final destination.
• You can easily change the business profile. There is no inventory or equipment which must pay the costs off. So merchants can easily change the niche, product line, and printing providers if the item performs poorly.

Selling premium custom products in South America

Regardless of the product type, it can become a premium-class item if your dropshipping Shopify store in Brazil can offer something one-of-a-kind to your buyers. Here are some tips on how you can provide a topnotch service and grow your sales in South America:

• Create a unique selling proposition (USP) by differentiating the products and the brand from rivals.
• Add extra value to online store items with little to no additional costs for buyers. 
• Follow the latest market trends and offer up-to-date stuff.
• Analyze customers’ behavior through real reviews and predict their expectations.
• Use gaps in competitors’ services to solve users’ pain points and represent an improved product.

The range of POD goods popular among online South American users is vast enough. So you will definitely choose a suitable one to impress the target audience. T-shirts and lingerie, hoodies and sweaters, patches, mugs, swimwear and beach towels, leggings, and water bottles, you name it! Just find a dropshipping supplier in South America who will share same high-quality standards and client-oriented approaches.

Frequently asked questions

What is print on demand, and how does it work?

Suppose you want to provide t-shirt printing in South America. You search for a local POD supplier, choose an available product from the listed assortment, customize it with a personal design, and upload mockups to the online store. First, a client purchases a t-shirt from the website. Second, a provider puts the image on the cloth, packs and sends it to the client’s place. As a middleman in this selling chain, you pay only for the item sold without pre-orders and receive your income from the price difference.

How profitable is dropshipping in 2023 in South America?

Building a print on demand business in Brazil or Argentina opens a large market with excellent untapped potential for entrepreneurs. Statistics say dropshippers can earn 50% more profit than those sellers who keep an inventory. South America provides a lot of opportunities for exploring and expanding POD merch.

How fast will customers get the product in South America?

It depends on the order volume and the customers’ location. Usually, POD suppliers produce an item within 2-5 business days. Then it takes around 3-7 days for local couriers to deliver the parcel. The shorter the distance between fulfillment centers and clients, the faster packages will be transported. If you operate an international POD business, then shipping may take a little longer, 10-25 days, depending on the location. And of course, holiday eves always has a higher demand for dropshipping print supplies. So buyers should plan their purchases ahead, while providers must be ready for a growing number of orders.

Why expand to new markets?

If you want to scale your business, reach new customers, and develop a worldwide recognizable brand, then exploring new markets is obvious for your dropshipping company. Finding suppliers and potential buyers in other countries will guarantee traffic growth and new levels of revenue. Here are also some useful articles on how to launch business expansion: 1) Create a print on demand marketplace. 2) Develop a localization strategy. 3) Launch an affiliate program.

Conclusion

The reason why a lot of new entrepreneurs choose a dropshipping business model for their e-Commerce startup lies in its simplicity and minimal investments. A high level of customer engagement and an opportunity to develop a memorizable brand is the primary motivation for sellers who decide to merchandize print on demand stuff.

Dropshippers don’t have to spend money on printing equipment dealers or create a stock of products to start gaining profit online. Just a minimal investment in building an online store, a few creative design ideas, and social marketing - and here you go! Your brand can become recognizable not only within the local market but internationally.

Selling POD stuff in South America doesn’t critically differ from the same activity in other countries. Here entrepreneurs also require wise promotion, data analysis, and a reliable partnership to succeed.