6 Challenges of Selling Print on Demand Hats and How to Overcome them

Print-on-demand hats have revolutionized the retail landscape by enabling sellers to create and sell requested custom-designed hats, eliminating the need for large upfront investments in inventory. Despite the flexibility and potential profitability, success in this competitive market requires careful navigation of various obstacles that can impact sales and profitability.

Let's dive into the specific challenges faced by print-on-demand hat sellers and explore actionable strategies to overcome them.

Identifying your target audience

It’s hard to design a bestselling product if you don’t know who you’re designing for.

While this is the core of any business, a lot of print-on-demand hat merchants make this mistake: There’s no target persona of print-on-demand hat customers.

Identifying your target audience not only helps you pick the right design but also the right products and marketing channels. For instance, the preferences for trucker hats, rope hats, baseball hats, and golf hats vary significantly among different customer segments.

To overcome this, conduct market research to understand your audience's preferences. Surveys, social media analytics, and customer feedback are invaluable tools. For example, a seller targeting the outdoor adventure niche might find that trucker hats with mesh panels are more popular than solid baseball caps. This insight allows for tailored product development and marketing strategies.

Can not find the right products for your niche yet? Check out Best Print on Demand Hats and How to Make Fortune with Headwear Products.

Ensuring high-quality products and designs

Another common mistake is not researching competitors and copying others' designs. In the market of print-on-demand hats, cutting corners on design and quality can lead to significant setbacks. Without thorough market research, sellers risk creating products that fail to stand out or meet customer expectations.

Investing time in researching market trends and competitors’ designs helps sellers understand what their niche wants. Analyzing top-selling designs on platforms like Etsy can reveal popular color schemes and design elements that resonate with customers.

High-quality and unique-designed print-on-demand hats are essential. Your products should stand out in terms of both design and durability. Avoid the temptation to replicate designs, as printing someone else’s intellectual property not only risks legal consequences but also damages your brand’s originality.

Staying updated with trending hat designs in 2024, such as eco-friendly materials and minimalist designs, can give your products a competitive edge.

Finding a reliable print-on-demand hat supplier

It's crucial to choose a print-on-demand hat supplier who can deliver on two key promises: great hats and timely arrivals.

The 2023 PwC Global Consumer Insights Survey found that 73% of global consumers are willing to pay a premium for high-quality products.

Additionally, according to Shopify, there is a factor that could cause cart abandonment is the “Time delivery”. 24% of shoppers said that they would likely drop the cart if the delivery was too slow.

With these factors in mind, let's explore some of the top print-on-demand hat suppliers to consider for your dropshipping business: Printful, Printify, and CapWholesalers. Each of these suppliers offers unique advantages, such as extensive customization options or competitive pricing. These suppliers each offer unique advantages, allowing you to find the perfect fit for your needs.

Printful

This print-on-demand dropshipping platform is best suited for creators who value ease of use and a seamless workflow.

Printful is renowned for its quality and seamless integration with major eCommerce platforms like Shopify. They’ve got a 4.6-star average rating on the Shopify App Store, making it a preferred choice for many print-on-demand hats dropshipping merchants looking for reliability and ease of use.

👀 Check out Printful on Shopify here.

As one of the most popular print-on-demand hats on the Shopify app store, Printful boasts a dedicated support team with multiple contact options like live chat, email, and phone.

Their platform offers robust customization options for print-on-demand hats, including product type, material, size, and placement of your design.

Printify

Printify offers a vast network of print providers, allowing print-on-demand hats dropshipping businesses to choose based on price, location, and quality. Same as Printful, you can also look for Printify and start working on print-on-demand hats dropshipping on Shopify. Printify is quite a star for getting 4.8 stars on the Shopify App Store.

Printfy is ideal for cost-conscious creators who want control over pricing.

👀 Check out Printify on Shopify here!

What makes Printify so popular among POD designers? It’s their Advanced Customization feature which allows you to explore a wide range of hat styles, materials, and printing techniques to create unique designs.

Printify's support team offers email and live chat options. Look for reviews mentioning their effectiveness in resolving print-on-demand hat-specific issues.

CapWholesalers

CapWholesalers specializes in bulk pricing and high-volume orders, ideal for sellers looking to scale quickly with steady customer flow, as evidenced by positive reviews from high-volume dropshippers.

They are known for offering the best selection of wholesale print-on-demand hats online and fast shipping, as mentioned in customer testimonials on their website.

However, this option might not be a good fit for smaller businesses due to their focus on bulk orders.

Also, CapWholesalers primarily focuses on offering a wide variety of wholesale hats, so customization options might be more limited compared to other POD providers.

Skipping steps to archive the final products

Shortcuts make long delays. Skipping steps in the production process can lead to inferior products and dissatisfied customers.

Each year, eCommerce returns cost retailers billions of dollars and a significant portion of these returns are due to product quality issues. 44% of online shoppers returned items simply because they didn't like them, suggesting that quality expectations are rising.

POD products, with their distinctive designs, require particular attention to quality, especially in the printing process.

Not following the print/ embroidery guidelines

When it comes to product quality, it depends on the print and embroidery files that you use. Disregarding file size, resolution, colour, and transparency requirements can only lead to one thing - low quality.

So make sure to follow the print guidelines carefully.

You can read Everything You Need to Know to Prepare the Perfect Print File! This article walks you through everything you need to know about print file terminology, common mistakes, and how to fix them.

Not ordering product samples

Ordering product samples is a crucial step for any headwear brand, especially when working with a print-on-demand hat service. It allows you to evaluate the final product's quality, sizing, and design in person.

By identifying any potential quality concerns with samples, you can address them with your POD supplier and avoid a larger production run of flaws. This saves you time, and money, and prevents the frustration of customer returns.

Samples also provide valuable assets for marketing materials, allowing you to create the best print-on-demand hats. By investing in samples, you're investing in the success of your brand.

Not asking for feedback

According to Printful, 71% of respondents believe that not asking for feedback negatively affects their businesses. Encouraging customer feedback provides valuable insights for continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

So how can you get the most objective feedback?

Find places where your target customers are most active, for example, Reddit, Facebook groups, Discord channels, or Threads. Simply post your product and ask how they feel about it and voila! You have your constructive feedback for the best print-on-demand hats and it is completely free.

Establishing a professional storefront

A professional and user-friendly online store is essential for building trust and encouraging purchases. But for non-marketing merchants' stores, we can easily find mistakes that cause friction that make the storefronts look less attractive to buyers.

Ignoring SEO

45% of the customers in the Printful survey believe that not SEO-optimizing their stores had a high negative impact on their business. More than that, 14% believe that the effect was very high. If there’s one eCommerce mistake you should avoid at all costs, it’s forgetting about SEO.

Now, take out your note and learn from the expert to get the best SEO practices, and attract qualified leads to your business.

🔥 Further Reading:

• Using eCommerce SEO and PPC to Attract More Customers
• Best eCommerce SEO Audit Checklist: 12 Important Factors
• Technical SEO Tips for Shopify: Improving Site Speed and Performance

Low-quality product image

Also included in the Printful customer survey report, 70% of eCommerce sellers heavily invest in content marketing including imagery.

Source: Etsy

In Etsy’s buyer surveys, 90% of shoppers said the quality of the photos was “extremely important” or “very important” to a purchase decision.

Low-quality images can be a conversion killer. Blurry details, inaccurate colours, and unprofessional presentation leave a bad impression and send potential customers clicking away. No worry cause we’ll show you tips for perfect product pictures of Print on Demand Hats:

• Invest in Professional Photography: While professional photos are ideal, consider high-quality phone photography as a starting point. Ensure good lighting, and a clean background, and showcase your hats from multiple angles.
• Mockups: Take advantage of free online mockup generators to create realistic images of your hats on models. This allows customers to visualize how the hat will look when worn.
• Focus on Details: Use close-up shots to highlight the quality of printing, stitching, and materials. Emphasize unique design elements that make your hats stand out.

By following these tips and prioritizing professional product images, you can transform your print-on-demand hat business into a visually compelling brand that attracts customers and drives sales.

🔥 Further Reading: How to Take Great Photos of Your Products

Long checkout process

According to Shopify, there are over 70% of shoppers abandoned their carts and 18% of them said it was because the checkout process was too long.

Many businesses believe collecting an expansive amount of customer data is essential. However, signup forms with fields like name, email, phone number, birthday, and more can backfire:

• Privacy Concerns: Lengthy signup forms can raise red flags and deter potential POD retailers, especially those just starting or unfamiliar with your brand.
• Friction in the Onboarding Process: The more information you ask for, the longer and more cumbersome the signup process becomes.
• Focus on Value, not Intrusion: Retailers join POD platforms to access unique products and services. Asking for unnecessary information can create the impression that you prioritize data collection over providing value.

What can you do to understand your POD retailers without overwhelming them?

🔥 Here are 7 Tips to Optimize your Checkout Process and Reduce Cart Abandonment.

How to overcome

Choose the most suitable eCommerce platform

To build a professional storefront, especially for novices, you should choose an eCommerce platform that can connect with different solution providers to help you easily create an exclusive storefront.

Platforms like Shopify offer a robust suite of features specifically tailored for print-on-demand businesses, making them a popular choice for all-level merchants. Here's why you could easily launch your print-on-demand hat business on Shopify:

• Effortless Setup: Shopify's user-friendly interface lets you create your online store and manage your POD business intuitively, saving you valuable time and resources.
• Seamless Integration: Shopify seamlessly integrates with major print-on-demand hats dropshipping providers like Printful, Printify, and other POD applications.
• Scalability for Growth: Shopify offers various pricing plans that adapt to your growing POD business needs.

Ready to explore the possibilities with Shopify?

Best combo to build a professional storefront

Moreover, your storefront needs suitable themes and tools that best tailor brand stories and address the true messages you want to convey.

In the Shopify theme store, you can find hundreds of themes in different price ranges, used for various purposes, and match every online business you can think of. But we recommend the combo Minimog theme and Foxify app to create your professional, high-converting storefronts.

With Minimog, you can select from over 85 ready-to-use demos across a variety of industries that perfectly reflect your brand identity. No coding is required, allowing you to quickly and efficiently launch your ideal print-on-demand Shopify store.

On top of that, Minimog can help you win customers thanks to:

• 50+ customizable sections for you to build any online store
• SEO-focused designs to enhance your visibility
• A one-time payment option that's budget-friendly for beginners

💪 Begin selling your print-on-demand hats on Shopify by discovering Minimog on ThemeForest

Combining Minimog with the Foxify app provides a seamless drag-and-drop page-building experience, ensuring your Shopify print-on-demand hats store is primed for sales. Foxify's user-friendly interface simplifies the creation of landing pages, product pages, and other vital elements of a professional eCommerce site.

Effective marketing plan

Launching a thriving print-on-demand hat store requires a strategic marketing plan. Think of it as your roadmap to success, guiding you toward reaching your target audience and building a loyal customer base.

First, to build and grow your brand awareness and engage with target customers you need to be online where they are active. And that leads us to Social Marketing.

Social and Influencer marketing

Online stores with a social media presence drive 32% more revenue than those without.

Relying just on organic traffic without leveraging social media and influencer marketing can limit your reach. Choosing the right social media platforms where your customers are most active is important.

Planning on market research and asking your target audience about their favourite social media would give your social marketing activities a chance to drive traffic and attention to the brand.

So it does to influencer marketing, picking the right social influencer could boost brand awareness and improve trust and credibility.

A suitable influencer can be your brand's secret weapon. Imagine a fashion icon with a loyal following sporting your latest hat design. This social proof can skyrocket brand awareness and trust. But how can you implement a comprehensive influencer marketing strategy?

🔥 Further exploring the power of influencers in: The Power of Influencer Marketing for Small eCommerce Businesses

Upselling and cross-selling

Unlock additional revenue potential by strategically incorporating upselling and cross-selling techniques into your sales funnel. Studies by Accenture show upselling can increase revenue by up to 20% while cross-selling can lead to a 10% to 30% rise in your average order value (AOV).
Let's look at these 2 examples for a deeper understanding of upselling and cross-selling tactics:

• Upselling: Cater to customers seeking premium options by offering upgraded versions of your hats. This could involve using organic cotton for a more luxurious feel or featuring intricate embroidery for a higher price point.
• Cross-selling: Encourage customers to complete a full look or find the perfect gift by recommending complementary products that share the same design theme as the hats they're viewing. This could include beanies, tote bags, or phone cases.

Consider incorporating strategic sales tactics on your website to encourage further purchases like pop-ups, cart abandonment reminders, countdowns, and even lucky wheels to gamify the shopping experience and increase conversions.

Source: FoxKit

🔥 We suggest FoxKit - A comprehensive sales kit designed to boost shopper engagement on Shopify app store. FoxKit not only provides the best upsell and cross-sell features in use but also helps you to measure the effectiveness of upselling and cross-selling efforts and get valuable insights.

Performance tracking

Always have your performance tracked, it offers insights into your print-on-demand hats store and helps you make data-driven decisions

Source: Shopify

Analytics tools, like Google Analytics and Shopify’s built-in analytics, help you understand your customers’ behaviours. Key metrics to monitor include:

• Traffic
• Views
• Conversion rates
• Average order value (AOV)
• Cart abandonment rates

Moreover, print-on-demand hat stores can leverage analytics tools like FoxKit can be crucial in measuring customer engagements into customer behaviour through specific metrics such as:

• Impressions
• Total sales
• Total orders
• Average order value (AOV)
• Add to cart
• Reached checkout
• Impressions by device
• Impressions by country
• Top product added to cart
• Subscribers

Source: FoxEcom

By utilizing FoxKit analytics, you can gain a deeper understanding of your customer's buying habits and optimize sale strategies for maximum impact. This data-driven approach ensures you're offering the right products at the right time, ultimately leading to increased revenue and satisfied customers.

In conclusion

Navigating the challenges of selling print-on-demand hats requires strategic planning and continuous adaptation to market trends. By understanding your target audience, maintaining product quality, partnering with reliable suppliers, optimizing your online store, and implementing a high-converting marketing plan, you can overcome obstacles and achieve sustained success in the competitive world of eCommerce.

Embracing these strategies empowers print-on-demand hat sellers to navigate challenges effectively and capitalize on opportunities for growth and profitability.