If you are currently in the “digital T-shirt print-on-demand" business, you are probably beginning to feel the effects of price pressure from big online producers like Amazon, Custom Ink and others. Because they produce a product based on cost, the competition will be tough in the traditional “message T” market. However, one market based on fashion and relationships is wide open.
The fastest growing portion of the apparel market is the $44 billion athleisure clothing segment. Athleisure is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “casual clothing meant to be worn both for exercising and for general use.” Because profit based digital demand printers are local and can respond with replenishment orders directly from a designers digital Virtual Inventory catalog of art, they are uniquely positioned for the athleisure market.
An integrated Virtual Inventory allows frustrated young designers to enter the market without the risk of large costly stocking orders, which limit customer choice. Facilitating this opportunity in turn can create a profit windfall for the designer and a local printer that can offer services that integrate Virtual Inventory, production and fulfillment.