Factors to consider for the perfect assortment

The ideal size of your assortment will vary depending on numerous factors. The perfect assortment for one shop owner may not be the perform assortment for you. Take into consideration these factors when building your assortment:

Diversity: A good assortment needs sufficient variety to meet the diverse needs of your audience. This can mean in terms of having different product types in your assortment, as well as a variety of different colours and sizes for the products.

Relevance: Related to the previous point, it is important that the products that you do include in your assortment are relevant to your target audience. Having a huge variety of products will not be effective unless they are products your customers genuinely want to buy. Think about relevant trends, styles, and colours.

Seasonality: Depending on your type of business and target audience, it may be useful to consider seasonal variations in your assortment to make the most of the change in weather and special occasions, as demand for different products change across the seasons.

Understanding your audience

Make sure you really understand who exactly you want to target with your business. Identify your niche and ensure that your assortment is fulfilling the demand of that niche.  You can explore potential opportunities, do research on competitors, and even discover a gap in the market. Also be sure to communicate with your audience to figure out their needs. What do they want? What are they missing? Asking them directly shows them that you care about their opinion and gives you the clarity and knowledge to optimise your assortment.

Specialised assortment approaches

There are many different ways you can choose to curate your ultimate assortment. As we mentioned before, it will all depend on what your goal is and who your target audience is. But if you’re looking for some inspiration to jump-start your process, here are a few approaches you can take with accompanying product examples:

1) Make it sustainable

Draw attention to your shop through its sustainability and environmentally friendly nature. Emphasize the fact that these products are all sustainably made to target environmentally conscious consumers.

• Stanley/Stella Unisex Organic Hoodie 
• Stanley/Stella RADDER Unisex Oversize Organic Sweatshirt 
• Stanley/Stella SHIFTS DRY Unisex Organic Longsleeve Shirt
• Stanley/Stella PREPSTER Organic Unisex Polo Shirt
• Stanley/Stella BLASTER Unisex Oversize Organic T-Shirt 

• Stanley/Stella recycled Hip Bag
• Stanley/Stella Bucket Hat
• Earthpositive Tote Bag

2) Keeping it budget-friendly

Provide a lower budget alternative for consumers. Your shop will become a place for them to come to when they want to get themselves or someone else a special gift but know they don’t have to break the bank to do so.

• Unisex Hooded Jacket
• Unisex Hoodie
• Unisex Sweatshirt
• Men’s T-Shirt
• Women’s T-Shirt
• Men’s Premium Tank Top
• Women’s Premium Tank Top

• Tote Bag
• Bucket Hat
• Organic Baseball Cap

3) Spotlight on Gen-Z

Now with Gen-Z becoming a consumer group of its own, they are also providing a market which specifically targets them. Provide them with an assortment that suits their tastes and become a Gen-Z must-know shop.

Athleisure:

• Men’s Polo Breathable
• Stanley/Stella Prepster Organic Unisex Longsleeved Polo Shirt
• Stanley/Stella DANCER Women’s Cropped Organic Tank Top

Colourful and bold products:

• Stanley/Stella PREPSTER Organic Unisex Polo Shirt
• Stanley/Stella Women’s Organic Polo Shirt ELLISER
• Men’s T-Shirt

Unisex looks:

• Men’s Cardigan with Zip
• Unisex Polycotton T-Shirt
• Stanley/Stella BLASTER Unisex Oversize Organic T-Shirt
• Stanley/Stella Unisex Organic Hoodie

4) For the little ones

The little ones need shops too! Provide everything for kids and babies with a child-friendly assortment.

• Kids Organic T-Shirt
• Girls T-Shirt with Ruffles
• Stanley/Stella Kids Organic Polo Shirt SPRINTER
• Kids Hoodie

• Organic Longsleeve Baby Bodysuit
• Stanley/Stella Organic Sweatshirt Baby CHANGER
• Organic Baby T-Shirt
• Organic Baby Cap

5) The great outdoors

For those active outdoor lovers who practically live in active wear and athleisure. New active wear is always the best motivation.

• Men’s Breathable Tank Top
• Women’s Breathable Tank Top
• Cropped T-Shirt
• Men’s Functional T-Shirt
• Women’s Functional T-Shirt

• Unisex Softshell Jacket
• Baseball Cap
• Women’s Jersey Leggings
• Unisex Joggers

Conclusion

The optimal assortment for you will depend on your shop goals and your target audience. Be sure to include a good range of products that have been carefully selected based on your audience’s needs, as well as profitability for your business. Every shop’s ideal assortment will look a little different and it is important to consistently update your assortment based on market trends and customer feedback. It’s all about what works for you and your goals.

Want to view all of our products? Find our full assortment here.

The post A guide to curating your ultimate EU assortment appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and for shop owners looking to capitalize on the season of love, crafting a curated selection of Valentine’s Day merch is essential. In this blog, we’ll guide you through the best products to feature, design tips for creating eye-catching items, and tell you how to boost your sales this Valentine’s Day.

Best Products for Valentine’s Day:

1. Customized Apparel:
   • Offer personalized T-shirts, hoodies, and sweaters with romantic quotes or customizable names for a heartfelt touch.
   • Experiment with trendy and subtle color schemes like soft pinks, reds, and pastels to appeal to a broad audience.
2. Heartwarming Home Decor:
   • Design festive throw pillows, blankets, and wall art featuring heart motifs, love quotes, or cute illustrations.
   • Opt for versatile designs that can be displayed not only on Valentine’s Day but throughout the year.

Design Tips for Valentine’s Day Merch:

1. Incorporate Playful Typography:
   • Utilize fun and romantic fonts to convey your messages effectively.
   • Experiment with lettering styles like calligraphy or handwritten fonts for a personalized feel.
2. Mix and Match Patterns:
   • Combine different patterns, such as hearts, stripes, and polka dots, to create visually interesting designs.
   • Keep the color palette cohesive to maintain a harmonious overall look.
3. Embrace Minimalism:
   • Sometimes, less is more. Embrace minimalist designs with subtle, elegant elements for a timeless appeal.
   • Focus on clean lines, simple shapes, and a limited color scheme to create a sophisticated product.
4. Tell a Story Through Illustrations:
   • Develop narratives through charming illustrations that capture the essence of love and romance.
   • Consider creating characters or scenes that resonate with your target audience.

Money-Saving Promos for Increased Sales:

1. Bundle Deals:
   • Create attractive bundle offers, pairing complementary items at a discounted price.
   • Encourage customers to buy more by showcasing the added value of certain products.
2. Flash Sales and Limited Editions:
   • Generate excitement with limited-time promotions or exclusive Valentine’s Day editions.
   • Create a sense of urgency to drive impulse purchases.
3. Loyalty Programs and Discounts:
   • Implement loyalty programs or offer discounts for repeat customers to build customer loyalty.
   • Provide exclusive discounts for newsletter subscribers to encourage sign-ups.
4. Social Media Contests:
   • Engage your audience with Valentine’s-themed contests on social media platforms.
   • Encourage user-generated content by asking customers to share photos of their purchases for a chance to win prizes.

By combining the right products, thoughtful design tips, and strategic promotional efforts, your store can make the most of Valentine’s Day 2024. Capture the hearts of your customers with appealing merch, creative designs, and irresistible promotions, ensuring a memorable and successful holiday season for your business.

Make your own Valentine’s Day merch today!

The post Valentine’s Day Merch: Best Products, Design Tips, Money-Saving Promos appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Recent years have seen shoppers spend big on these red letter days. The good news for you: a whole lot of sales on these discount days are made online.

We’ll show you how to grab your own little piece of the (pumpkin) pie on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. After all, with a little effort, you can use these highlights of the retail calendar to get the festive shopping season off to a flying start. It’s the busiest time of the year for sales – so what are you waiting for?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday: what’s it all about?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have American roots and are closely linked to Thanksgiving celebrations. As the holiday always falls on the fourth Thursday in November, many people in the US take the day off work on the Friday after, too.

That means a lot of people have a lot of time on their hands. However, Black Friday isn’t an official holiday. There’s another little piece of history associated with the day: since the early 1950s, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been considered the start of Christmas shopping season in the US.

That means Americans have begun buying their Christmas gifts on Black Friday for decades now. But the day after Thanksgiving has only been known by this name since the early 1980s. It likely owes the moniker to one simple fact: with the profits they make on this special day, any shop owner is sure to end up in the black.

Cyber Monday has been around since 2005. It was deliberately invented by retail to boost online shopping. This year, Black Friday falls on 24 November, while 27 November marks Cyber Monday.

Get your Spreadshop store ready

You’ve still got time to get your Spreadshop looking ship-shape for the run-up to Christmas. Take another, closer look at your homepage and product pages, for instance.

How about a special teaser image for Black Friday and Cyber Monday – or a discount banner for your homepage? This is a great way to share special deals with your fans and whip up a little bit of that retail fever.

If your homepage could do with a little more structure, you can arrange your designs by theme. You might even have themes that are especially well suited for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the countdown to Christmas. You proactively place these in prime position and deactivate themes less suited to these huge shopping events.

Your product pages are places where you can go into a bit more detail. Here, for instance, you can decide whether to showcase your designs by themselves or on specific products. You can also choose whether users see recommendations for other designs and products or reviews from other users on your Shop.

If you’d like to know more, our YouTube tutorial has the lowdown on how everything works.

You can also organise the products in your shop by category. That way, your fans find the perfect gifts for their loved ones right away – from custom mugs for Gran’s favourite cuppa to bibs for beloved nieces and nephews.

If you’d like to sweeten up your product pages with a little more information, you can find all the details you need on our website. In this overview of our Christmas bestsellers you can check whether you’ve got enough of our top products available in your Shop.

Plan an advertising campaign

Sales success starts with getting your prices right. These tips will help you get the best out of November’s big shopping events:

Do a competitor analysis.What are other users charging for designs like yours? How do they scale their pricing for simple and more complex designs?

Raise your prices for your top-selling products before Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive. That way, you can earn more on these big shopping days – while our Spreadshop promos help your customers pay less.

Use our promo codes.You’ll find them in our Partner Area:

• 15 to 19 November 2023: 20% Early Bird
• 24 November 2023: 30% Black Friday
• 27 November to 3 December 2023: 15% and free shipping for Cyber Week

With Spreadshop, the fun doesn’t stop on Cyber Monday – we celebrate a whole Cyber Week.

You can use our free promo templates for marketing on social media. This saves time so you can focus fully on your Spreadshop and the products you sell.

Choose marketing channels and a content strategy

A campaign calendar is a great way to make sure you post all your social media promo content on schedule. You can use it to record all your key dates and big events in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That way, you’ve got a plan in front of you, you won’t forget anything, and you can work through it all step by step.

Make sure your marketing activities cater to the different target groups within your customer base, too. Who likes what, and why? Who prefers which formats, and when are different groups online in the first place? If you’ve got specific preferences and user behaviour in your sights, it’s easier to hit your targets for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Data analysis

You can use the analytics tools available on social networks, too. It’s the perfect way to prepare for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and look back on how they went.

The key parameters include:

• Likes
• Comments
• Shares
• Reach

As a rule of thumb: everything you’ve ever done before that generated a lot of reactions and achieved a high reach has already worked for you. So do more of it! You can also calculate the engagement rate for specific engagement campaigns. The formula:

engagements ÷ reach x 100

What makes a good engagement rate also depends on the channel. If you’re averaging 1%, you’re doing well and you can be happy with that. If your stats are lower than that, go back to your fans and encourage them to get involved, comment, like and share.

In addition to data analysis on social media, you can also take a closer look at your sales in the Spreadshop Partner Area. This gives you the lowdown on the biggest-selling products and designs and the slow movers in your Shop.

This will help you select the right products and designs for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday social media campaigns.

So don’t miss out on this opportunity to get stuck into the festive retail rush. We hope our Black Friday and Cyber Monday tips will help you rack up the sales of a lifetime.

The post The Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing guide for your Spreadshop appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

In a world driven by political affiliation and interest, there’s a unique opportunity to combine your passion for a cause or candidate with entrepreneurial spirit. Whether you’re a seasoned political activist or newly invested, creating and selling political merch can be a powerful way to support your chosen candidate all while turning a profit.

In this blog, we’ll guide you through the exciting journey of making and selling political political merch that not only makes a statement but also makes a difference!

1. Find Your Inspiration

The first step in this journey is finding a cause or candidate you’re truly passionate about. This could be a local politician, a national figure, or a particular issue that resonates with you. But passion always has to be the underlying factor.

We’ve seen all kinds of people open merch shops, and without passion and drive, they fail to succeed. This ambition will make it all the more easier when it comes to making merch designs and promoting your political merch.

Your enthusiasm will be the driving force behind your political merch, so choose wisely.

2. Design Matters

Once you’ve found your inspiration, it’s time to get creative. Designing compelling and eye-catching political merch is essential; you need to stand out from the crowd. Make original and creative sayings and visuals that reflect your candidate’s message and resonate with potential supporters. Think about what sets your candidate apart and how you can encapsulate their essence in your designs.

Design DO’s:

1. DO use familiar imagery and icons, like flags, ballots, etc.
2. DO ask for feedback from your family, friends and followers.
3. DO use design tools like Canva to help you get started.

Design DON’TS:

1. DON’T use trademarked graphics or logos
2. DON’T follow the crowd; make original designs.
3. DON’T think you need to do it all on your own. Use tools like Fiverr.

4. Know the Legalities

Selling political merchandise comes with certain legal responsibilities. Familiarize yourself with the regulations in your area, including campaign finance laws, copyright, and trademark issues. Ensure that you comply with all legal requirements to avoid potential legal challenges.

And people will respond to original, creative designs rather than the same design over and over. Your political merch needs to stand out and resonate with fellow supporters if you want to make an impact.

5. Tell Your Story

Connect with your customers on a personal level. Share your motivation and your candidate’s journey. Create a compelling narrative around your merchandise, making it more than just a product but a symbol of support for a cause you believe in.

6. Get the Word Out

Marketing is crucial. Use social media, email marketing, and even local advertising to spread the word about your political merch. Engage with potential customers, respond to inquiries, and keep your message aligned with your candidate’s campaign.

Don’t just post to post, though; make posts that matter. Create a compelling narrative around your merch with professional-looking photoshoots and tell the stories behind your designs.

7. Give Back

Part of the appeal of political merchandise is its potential to make a positive impact. Consider donating a portion of your profits to your candidate’s campaign or a related cause. This not only aligns with your political mission but also encourages more people to support your efforts.

8. Stay Informed

Politics can be dynamic, so stay informed about your candidate’s progress and any shifts in campaign messaging. Being adaptable and responsive will help you keep your merchandise relevant and engaging.

9. Passion Fuels Success

Above all, remember that your passion for your cause and candidate will drive your success. People are drawn to genuine enthusiasm, and when you combine it with a well-thought-out merchandise strategy, you can turn your passion into profit.

Embrace the power of political merchandise to support your candidate while fostering your entrepreneurial spirit. Together, we can turn ideas into impactful movements and make a difference in the political landscape.

Ready to get started? Let’s dive into the exciting world of political merch and create a wave of support for your candidate!

The post Political Merchandise: Turning Passion into Profit for Your Candidate | A How-to Guide appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.

Make the most of your Spreadshop with a product range designed to showcase your designs in the finest festive light. From year-round faves to holiday hits, we’ve got the lowdown on our top 5 Christmas bestsellers and the best way to showcase them to full effect in your shop.

Our top 5 bestselling products for the festive season

Looking for great products for your Shop this Christmas? Look no further than this video for an inside look at our Christmas bestsellers courtesy of Spreadshop team member Marie.

Our Mens Premium T-Shirt (EU) or Mens Premium T-Shirt (NA) is a Christmas classic, and for good reason. Our all-time number-one bestseller is incredibly versatile. Available in 17 colours and 8 sizes, with three different print types to choose from, this comfy cotton tee is the perfect backdrop for any personalised design.

The Womens Premium T-Shirt (EU) or the  Womens Premium T-Shirt (NA) is also available if you’re looking for the perfect fit for your ‘fit.

Meanwhile, European customers looking for something a little cosier this Christmas will fall hard for our Stanley/Stella Unisex Organic Hoodie. Made from 100% organic cotton, this super-soft slim-fit basic is the ultimate in casual comfort. Available in 4 beautiful colours, it’s a great showcase for your prints.

For customers from North America, the Unisex Organic Hoodie offers maximum comfort in frosty weather. It comes in 4 trendy colours and is made from 55% organic cotton and 45% recycled polyester.

Christmas shoppers can stay cosy from head to toe and look cute to boot with our Winter Hat (EU) or the Knit Cap with Cuff Print (NA). Customers love this one-size-fits-all design available in six fun colours – the ultimate gift for snow days and cold nights.

Finally, how about a bag for all that festive swag? Beautiful and basic, this Tote (EU) or Tote (NA) is our best-selling bag design. Available in 10 colours, it makes for a cute and versatile canvas in 100% cotton to showcase your Christmas vision.

Spotlight your merch in festive style

This winter, put your merch in the spotlight and inspire your customers with your creativity. Enlist family and friends to help you make compelling photo and video content for your social media channels.

Remember, authenticity is a gift: if people can picture how your products look in real life on real bodies, they’re more likely to pick them up. Here are a few tips on styling your products.

First of all, set the scene. Pose with presents and decorations to create that all-important festive feel. Don’t be afraid to use your imagination – but make sure to keep it simple.

After, all, it’s important that your products are the star of the show. If you’re rocking accessories like our cute Tote in your photos, keep your outfit simple to showcase the product and your print design. Pair our statement Premium T-Shirt with a classic pair of jeans so customers can focus on the quality and fit.

Finally, make sure there’s a reason for the seasonal. Team our Premium T-Shirt with simple scarves and coats so customers know how to layer it up all year round. By contrast, style the beanie-inspired Winter Hat with a lighter look to show great style is not just for Christmas.

Discover our Christmas bestsellers

Still deciding which products will make the list? We get it: it’s a big design for an all-important time of year. Take time to discover our product range and all our Christmas bestsellers.

Explore the products

What’s at the top of your list? Let us know your Christmas wishes!

The post Make your Spreadshop sparkle with Christmas bestsellers appeared first on The Spreadshop Blog.