What the Sellers Look for in Print on Demand Providers

Mary Fedkovich, Client Manager in Multi-Programming Solutions  •  7 min read

With the growth of the POD industry, standing out from competitors is becoming a crucial issue for entrepreneurs. Their characteristics, service level, and possibilities should be more advanced, allowing them not to be limited by one seller to work with. The more partners want to collaborate with a print on demand suppliers to dropship their stuff, the higher chances of choosing a suitable option for increasing sales and revenue.

Below, you’ll learn how to become an attractive online printing service in the market and where to examine accessible merchants. 

Table of Contents

Seller ratings, or how to make a reliable partnership

Become an indispensable printing supplier for your partner

How to eliminate the seller's pain points

Conclusion

Seller ratings, or how to make a reliable partnership

One of the most common and valuable ways to recognize a trustworthy partner for your business is to check their reviews and analyze other customers' experiences (CX). With entrepreneurs' access to the Internet, finding the necessary reports has become easier and more accessible.

And here we mean not clients’ comments on the company's sites, which may be fake or written on demand. Instead, we discuss the actual marketer rating on e-commerce platforms and marketplaces. Thus, you may look at them if you think of selling print on demand on Amazon and searching for reliable business assistants. They give an overall understanding of merchants' performance: their responsibility, accuracy, level of customer support, and product quality. 

Companies' rating is valuable for print on demand service providers and vendors. Entrepreneurs can determine whether merchants have a large and loyal customer base, make enough marketing efforts, and ensure a good CX in their online shops. With top-positioned businesses, POD organizations will definitely get more orders and could be able to scale faster and earn more margin.

On the other hand, sellers can find social proof in print on demand partners for Etsy or Shopify storefronts and become confident in their cooperation. Printers with the highest client points create high-quality goods and obtain fast and cost-saving shipping.

Suppose you decide not to cooperate with marketplace sellers and will accept orders on your own. Then you should know that the average income from selling print on demand clothing online may significantly reduce. This is because you’ll have to handle tasks such as attracting customers, communicating, implementing multiple sale channels, and advertising, in addition to manufacturing issues. Therefore, it will negatively influence the effectiveness and decrease your income. However, you can get more productivity out of business, so let’s figure out the details.

Become an indispensable printing supplier for your partner

There are thousands of companies that provide POD services and create quality products. So it’s crucial to define how you can become the best print on demand site to keep high competitiveness and suit current and future sellers' needs. Keep an eye on these traits, which will help you stand out from the crowd in the saturated market.

Be affordable

Most vendors are looking for print companies with low prices. Not surprisingly, the less they will pay for your job, the more profitable sale will be. Find out how to cut secondary costs and become more energy-efficient and productive. You can refuse some expensive promotional campaigns, provide automated processes and streamline operational activity. These efforts will save you a lot of money and resources, and you’ll fulfill orders at an average price.

Expand the list of services

How to be a print on demand supplier with a growing income? First, think of all the activities you can obtain to satisfy more customers' needs. For example, if you make stuff for wholesale purchases, think of fulfilling single personalized queries in addition. Thus, you’ll widen your possibilities and provide a dropshipping business model, increasing the clients’ flow and making a higher margin.

Merchants may be interested whether you have warehouses to keep inventory for them or provide mailing, do you offer screen or DTG custom print service, or consider free shipping.

Go green

Many sellers and their clients appreciate sustainability. Following an eco-friendly manufacturing path will help you contribute to the global efforts in planet-saving and reducing the environmental pollution. It will also give you a handicap among the rival digital print on demand suppliers.

Here are some tips on what a good POD company can consider decreasing harmful production and fulfillment lines:

• use recyclable materials and water-based inks;
• reduce the consumption of resources during the manufacturing process;
• avoid overproduction inherent to screen printing suppliers;
• apply eco-friendly packages;
• replace diesel forklifts with electric ones at their warehouses.

Top 5 Ways to Choose the Best Partner for Your Printing Business

Invest in the latest tech

A POD supplier that constantly innovates is the criteria to look for in a commercial printing company. If the seller is interested in a long-term partnership, you should ensure your brand is open to new approaches and allocate enough time and money for new technology implementation.

Vendors may ask whether a print on demand provider has the appropriate software to streamline day-to-day operations like order, inventory, and shipping management. With an automated tool, suppliers and merchants will become more accurate and productive, serving a greater number of customers at a high-quality level.

Ensure that your workers constantly upgrade their skills by providing an e-learning system. Corporate training is a perfect way to educate new staff and raise the qualification level of permanent employees. In addition, with a widely used LMS digital print on demand supplier, you will receive more flexibility and adapt to any market change faster than competitors.

Interact, consult, improve

Stay in touch with your partners and make regular improvements to your work to benefit both sides. Don’t be silent if you see some shortcomings in the sellers’ suggestions. For example, they may not have a complete picture of all the production and fulfillment details, so make adjustments if you have a better idea for working tasks.

Showcasing practices of your company partnership will be an excellent way to prove that you are the best print on demand provider to your sellers. Gather some reviews from other individuals or B2B organizations you've made orders to and add them to the website description. Download examples of your special orders to highlight your professionalism and capabilities to fulfill any requirements.

Sellers will greatly appreciate it if you send free product samples. This will guarantee your willingness for durable cooperation and transparent work.

How to eliminate the seller's pain points

Ultimately, your main clients are vendors with online stores on different marketplaces. Thanks to their efforts in marketing, providing multichannel sales or brand mobile applications, your print on demand company receives orders. It may be challenging to do all the tasks independently, including production, client searching, and shipping. That’s why you should try to figure out the merchants’ paint points and release them.

If sellers ensure they are heard and respected, it will boost their significant motivation in searching for clients and keeping loyalty, while you’ll focus on the fulfillment and its quality. So let’s find out how a reliable printing company can address sellers’ problems.

Prove your POD company’s value

You should ensure partners that your service can bring their business to the next level. Explain your strong sides, flexible approach, and ability to compromise. Merchants should understand that collaboration with a retail or a wholesale digital print on demand supplier will open new audiences, earlier unavailable to them. List all the benefits of your brand, like sustainability, high quality, fast delivery, and process automation which will help sellers to grow revenue from their online stores.

Stay restrained

Don't go too far to describe the advantages of choosing you as a trustworthy printing company. Promise tasks you can obtain, respect a partner, and recognize that you may not know everything. Sellers should feel you will also be grateful for sharing their experience and knowledge.

Ensure longevity

Online vendors will be more likely to collaborate with you if they scale from small businesses to middle ones and use your printing powers even further. Highlight your readiness to satisfy growing partner needs and improve skills according to technological progress. Doing so, you will probably get the merchants’ favor. They’ll not risk losing relevance by utilizing your service and will feel confident about productive relationships with such print on demand providers.

Stimulate

Intrigue your partners with tempting offers for regular clients. Thus, you can provide special loyalty programs, allowing them to buy goods in bulk at a lower price. Make an exclusive product line only for regular sellers. Some t-shirt printing suppliers, for example, suggest free shipping for their assistants’ clients. 

Such support promos will help to strengthen your relationships and continue the cooperative business for several years. Merchants most likely will not consider looking for another printing company because they will lose the privileges offered by your service.

Provide simplicity

Sellers should not feel complicated or overloaded cooperating with your POD company. For example, ensure an excellent CX while working with your automated software or establishing communication. Try to be constantly in touch with your partners and solve issues at their inception. The best print on demand providers on Shopify allows allocating a management app to every merchant they work with, significantly contributing to their partnership.

How To Turn Your Small Printing Business Into An International Network

Conclusion

Being a reliable print on demand supplier for Etsy, Shopify, or Amazon sellers is as simple as being a good human by yourself. Treating your partner as you want to be treated is the key to solid long-term relationships. All you need is transparency, respect, and a little compromise.

While developing a POD business, you should understand that with merchants’ help, both can benefit more, sharing their responsibilities and contributing to the common cause. While vendors will focus on customer engagement, generating leads, and popularizing the brand, print on demand providers will obtain green products, widen an assortment, and automate management for better outcomes.