Key Takeaways
- Print on demand gives distributors greater flexibility to fulfill smaller, customized orders quickly.
- Success depends on automation, reliable partners and a clear strategy for where the model adds the most value.
- Rather than replacing traditional bulk orders, print on demand expands business opportunities by reducing inventory risk and increasing product choice.
Faster, easier. That’s been the core tenet behind commerce for centuries, from the central marketplace to Main Street to the shopping mall. Now with online shopping, the average consumer is less patient and willing to compromise on what they want and how fast they want it – which is often immediately.
Historically, those expectations haven't aligned with the traditional promotional products model, which typically requires buyers to place large orders well in advance.
Print on demand (POD) is changing that equation. It enables clients to purchase as little or as much as they need, when they need it. Counselor found that over a third of distributors currently offer print on demand – a number that’s sure to grow as the technology takes off.
On Demand, In Demand
About one-third of distributors offer print on demand, though adoption increases considerably with company size. Over a quarter of smaller distributors utilize it, compared to roughly half of larger firms.
Print-on-Demand Services Offered by Distributors
POD is appealing for many of the same reasons as AI: it enables companies to work in new, more efficient ways. But just as saying “I want to use AI” doesn’t magically transform your business, so too does print on demand require an intentional approach. For distributors producing items in-house, successful POD requires decoration equipment capable of handling short-run, on-demand production, along with software that manages the process from the click of the order to delivery. For those outsourcing production, success depends on seamless integration with automated supplier and fulfillment networks.
“The economics of print on demand just don’t work if you have a whole bunch of manual touchpoints,” says Maddy Alcala, president of OrderMesh.
At OrderMesh (a part of Taylor Corporation), Alcala and her team specialize in print network software that links commerce to production, allowing distributors to manage their workflows, automate jobs and scale print-on-demand operations. In her opinion, automation of all the interactions between the order, decoration and shipping is the key to POD’s viability – especially if any part of the process is outsourced.
Alcala believes that regardless of the size of the distributor bringing POD into the business, it should start with picturing the outcome, rather than the process.
“One of the first things I say to someone trying to offer print on demand is: Work backward from the conversation you want to have with your customer,” she explains. “What value do you want to provide, and how can print on demand be a tool in your toolkit to help do that? For some businesses, print on demand is 100% of what they do. But for most businesses, it’s just one lane – part of the overall solution. They have to figure out which part of their market or operations it’s relevant for.”
Selective Services
There’s been a notable shift in the services that distributors are offering. While company stores and kitting have grown, graphic design, printing and marketing services have all declined in recent years. It signals that distributors remain discerning about which services to offer, instead of simply adding more and more. If a business can devote only so many resources beyond selling bulk promotional products, it will choose solutions that require less equipment, fewer raw materials and more long-term profitability. “Before, somebody might choose screen printing because the unit cost looked better, even if it created inventory write-downs later,” says Jaymes Clements of Monster Digital. “But if that person’s compensation wasn’t tied to profitability, they didn’t care about the 30% inventory loss. Now more leaders are saying, ‘I need to protect my cash position. I care about the bottom line.’”
Other Services Provided by Distributors
Counselor’s findings show that larger distributors are more likely to offer print on demand. But smaller distributors can certainly benefit from the technology. In fact, Dinesh Wahi, president of ShirtHub (asi/86962), a print-on-demand provider, says that the best thing a distributor can do is to begin small with the plan to grow. “Start with an assortment of products that are the heavy hitters,” he says.
Speeding Up
Though it hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic highs, orders requiring five-day turnaround increased for the third consecutive year, signaling buyers are returning to their desire for last-minute ordering that was curtailed during the supply chain crisis earlier this decade. The growing prevalence of print on demand as well as increased automation and AI integration is only further enabling that behavior. “The ability to produce or decorate products really quickly – within the same-day time period – is already there,” says Maddy Alcala of OrderMesh. “I think that opens up huge opportunity for the promo space because whether you’re a business customer or a consumer, we’re all conditioned to expect instant gratification from online ordering.”
Percentage of Orders Requiring 5-Day Turnaround
(Reported by suppliers)
Wahi advises distributors new to POD to be cautious about both their initial customers and supplier partners. In short: Don’t take unnecessary risks or commit unforced errors.
“Maybe don’t start with your largest customer,” he says. “Try it with somebody in the medium size range for you, and work with partners you trust who have been in the space a long time.”
There’s an old adage that when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. That idea translates into print on demand, where a distributor might look to use their shiny new toys for every job. Distributors should be able to recognize which jobs require POD, and which ones don’t.
Richard Nadel, president of MWW On Demand, a print-on-demand manufacturing and fulfillment company, uses an example of a small order that would be fulfilled by POD. “If you don’t have a warehouse and you only need three units, and you don’t want to manage inventory or people shipping products, print on demand is the way to go,” he says.
Jaymes Clements, president and chief commercial officer for decorator Monster Digital, says that print on demand is best suited for jobs with the potential for lots of variables – such as one design printed on T-shirts of different sizes or even different products altogether. This is especially handy when managing things like online company stores or gift fulfillment platforms that allow the end-user to choose exactly what they want.
“Print on demand lets you expand selection and give consumers choices without the risk of inventory write-downs.”Jaymes Clements, Monster Digital
“Print on demand lets you expand selection and give consumers choices without the risk of inventory write-downs,” Clements says. “If you can take one piece of art and offer it across 10,000 combinations of colors, sizes and garments, why wouldn’t you? Even if the margin percentage is lower, it’s entirely new business. It’s not cannibalizing your existing business. You’re simply empowering consumers to make more choices.”
Print on demand unlocks new capabilities for minimum order quantity, when otherwise it was simply not feasible due to cost or logistics. The ability to order a few products when they’re needed and exactly how the end-user wants them is what makes print on demand so appealing and has positioned it as the next big thing in promo. As Nadel says, print on demand has sometimes been likened to a rocket that hasn’t taken off yet. “People have known the rocket was being built, and there have already been plenty of test flights,” he says. “But this is the big rocket to Mars that everybody’s waiting for.”