The Ultimate Guideline to Start a Print on Demand Jewelry Business on Shopify

In Part 1 of the Print-on-demand Jewelry series, we’ve discussed basic knowledge and some challenges when starting and running a print-on-demand jewelry business. As many readers feel interested in print on demand jewelry, this ultimate guideline is created to guide you step by step to start a print-on-demand jewelry business on Shopify.     

To start a print-on-demand Shopify store to sell jewelry, you will go through a long and complex process, which includes 4 steps below.

Create and design products

The first thing you need when starting a print-on-demand jewelry business is products. When selecting products for your print-on-demand jewelry store, it's essential to consider market demand, trends, and target audience preferences. 

You should conduct market research to identify some current trending products on the market that meet your brand preferences. Although trending products don't mean success, they can open more chances to success for your store. If you haven’t found anything to sell, refer to this guide to find trending products for your store.

Once you have decided what to sell in your store, as a print-on-demand business, you can’t neglect to create designs for your jewelry products! To have stunning and unique print-on-demand jewelry products, you have two options: designing them yourself, or outsourcing the design work.

If you have a knack for creativity and 3D design, as well as expertise in jewelry design, you can create your own designs using specialized jewelry design software like RhinoGold, 3Design or JewelCAD. To explore and find the most suitable software for your creation work, you can refer to this review. Let your imagination run wild and create unique and eye-catching designs that resonate with your target audience.

If you don't have the design skills or prefer to focus on other aspects of your business, outsourcing is a great option. However, jewelry design requires specialized design skills so it’s more difficult to find a truly high-qualified jewelry designer than normal ones. Thus, you should choose reputable freelancer service marketplaces like Upwork, or Fiverr to hire freelance designers who can bring your ideas to life.

When finding freelancers, remember to provide them with a clear brief, including your brand's style guidelines and design requirements, to ensure they deliver designs that align with your vision.

Choose print-on-demand jewelry suppliers

What to do next after choosing products and creating designs? You should select the right print-on-demand jewelry suppliers who turn your design into stunning and high-quality finished products.

This step is crucial for the success of your business, as print-on-demand jewelry suppliers will take charge of two most important tasks of your business: production and delivery. 

To choose the right suppliers, you should consider the following factors:

• Pricing: You should compare the base costs and printing fees to determine the profitability of your products. Ensure that the supplier's pricing allows you to maintain competitive pricing while generating a suitable profit margin.
• Quantity: As a starter, quantity may not be a concern, but when your business grows, the demand also increases. Thus, you should determine whether the supplier can handle your order volume efficiently, especially as your business grows in the future.
• Quality: Look for suppliers that offer high-quality print-on-demand jewelry products and print workmanship. You can look at the reviews of their customers to see the quality of this supplier. However, as mentioned in the first part, to have the truest evaluation, you should experience their service yourself by placing a sample order. 
• Speed: Evaluate the provider's production and turnaround times. Quick order processing and fulfillment are crucial for meeting customer expectations and minimizing shipping delays. Look for providers that can offer efficient production times without compromising quality.   
• Type of Jewelry: Although almost all print-on-demand jewelry suppliers have vast categories of products, they often have some staples. Make sure that your supplier’s strength is your business niche. 
• Customer Service: Prompt and responsive customer support can address any issues or concerns that may arise during the production and fulfillment process. Look for providers with accessible customer support channels such as email, phone, or live chat, and a reputation for excellent customer service.

When considering a supplier, remember Youtube, Google, and other review sites are great assistants. You also can ask for the experience of other store owners in communities on social media.

As a print-on-demand jewelry Shopify store, you can easily find reliable suppliers on Shopify app stores. Combining reviews on Shopify app stores and reviews on some sites around the Internet, we come up with a list of trustworthy print-on-demand companies for your store: 

1. ShineOn

When mentioning print-on-demand, you may think about Printify or Printiful. These print-on-demand companies feature top-notch quality; however, they only have a few print-on-demand jewelry products in their catalog (1 oval necklace only in Printify and no jewelry product in Printful). 

So in the case of print-on-demand jewelry, we will list ShineOn with plenty of collections for jewelry products at the top of the list. 

With an overall rating of 4.9 stars and 521 good reviews on Shopify app store, ShineOn can be a reliable supplier for print-on-demand jewelry. And as it has a Shopify app, you can directly import products to your print-on-demand Shopify store. 

The main products of ShineOn are engraved necklaces and bracelets and images printed pendants. All their jewelry pieces are made with premium materials, while the personalized engravings and printings are meticulously done, resulting in durable and beautiful print-on-demand jewelry items for your customers. 

In addition to the jewelry items, ShineOn also offers you to sell customizable cards and boxes for jewelry which enhances customer experience and customer loyalty.  

2. Beeoux:

This is also a prominent print-on-demand company focusing on jewelry. Using advanced laser technology, Beeoux can not only engrave anything on the pendant but also form the pendant in any shape you want. 

With advanced technology and high-quality materials (mainly silver and stainless steel), Beeoux jewelry products are beautifully engraved and long-lasting.

Moreover, you can also choose to upload your artwork or design from Beeoux catalog which is beneficial for both merchants with professional designers and  merchants with no design skills. 

3. Shop3D

The name of this manufacturer speaks for itself! This manufacturer uses 3D print technique to produce print-on-demand jewelry, differentiating it from many suppliers in this market. If you’re looking for a supplier to help you stand out from the crowd with unique products, it’s hard to go wrong with Shop3D. 

By uploading your CAD files to Shop3D’s website, you can produce many types of jewelry as you want, including tie clips, necklaces, earrings, hairpins, bracelets, rings, and cufflinks. After production, your 3D print-on-demand jewelry will also be polished as requested. 

The only cons of Shop3D is the base cost. Because they use premium materials like gold, silver, bronze & brass, and advanced 3D printing techniques, the cost to produce a print-on-demand product can be higher than other suppliers.

Set up your Shopify store

Now that you have your products and suppliers sorted, it's time to set up your Shopify store and start selling your print-on-demand jewelry!

If you don’t know how to design a Shopify store, this guide will help you start. 🛠️

Here are some noteworthy elements you should include when setting up a print-on-demand jewelry store.

Blocks to showcase product images

High-quality product images are crucial for a print-on-demand jewelry business, so your store must be designed with photography blocks to maximize the power of your product photos. 

Which block can you use to showcase your products? First, you need a large banner or slideshow for the whole collection or featured products, which should stay on the top of the homepage.

Another recommended block for the homepage is a shoppable lookbook, which not only displays the products on model images but also encourages your customers to purchase. 

Variant images and variant image swatches

As you’re selling print-on-demand products, you may have many different designs for a product. If that’s the case, you should add adequate variant images for all designs so your customers can imagine what the expected products look like. 

Besides, you should also use variant images as swatches so your buyers can preview the design and choose their favorite variant easier.

Custom fields on product page

Print-on-demand jewelry products are mainly customized and personalized products, so it’s important that there are custom fields for customers to fill in their information and requirements to customize your products. 

There are many ways to create custom fields for your customers to fill in like using Shopify app or editing theme code. To learn how to add this section to your product page, you can refer to this post. 

Typically, if you have a premium Shopify theme like Zest, you can create and set up all these elements effortlessly without using any apps as they are pre-designed blocks and features of themes.

Start selling and marketing your products

Now that your store is up and running, it's time to start selling and marketing your print-on-demand jewelry brand!

There are multiple marketing tactics that a print-on-demand jewelry Shopify store can do, but the two necessary above are:

• SEO: This is the most cost-effective way to increase brand awareness and generate leads for your business. By optimizing your site content and product descriptions with relevant keywords, your website can appear in Google search results and earn more traffic to your store. Shopify already has detailed guidelines on how to optimize SEO for your website, so you can go ahead and apply them to your store. 
• Social Media Marketing: As a print-on-demand jewelry Shopify store that needs to focus on visuals, the suitable social platforms for your store are Instagram, Pinterest, Tiktok, and Facebook. Here is the instruction for you on how to build a social marketing plan suitable for the target audience and platform.

Whatever you want to plan with your social marketing plan, one of the most important parts of a jewelry brand is always influencer marketing. It not only boosts brand awareness but also improves trust and credibility for your store, thereby converting new customers into buyers and creating repeated purchases. 

Influencer marketing can be difficult and expensive, but its return is worth your investment - if you play your cards right. To start with influencer marketing and run your plan cost-effective, these tips will help you out.

In conclusion

To start a print-on-demand business to sell jewelry on Shopify, you must go through 4 important steps: create and design products, choose suppliers, set up the store, and market your products. 

It looks like a simple process, but it is full of challenges. This article not only provides you with basic knowledge about print-on-demand jewelry but also gives you some useful strategies and tips to overcome basic challenges when starting and running a print-on-demand business yourself. 

To streamline the process of designing your store and marketing your products, we recommend you have a helpful assistant like Zest theme. This flexible and easy-to-use theme can assist you design stunning websites with necessary sales-boosting features and mobile optimization in the shortest period. 

Give Zest a try and make your store go live now!