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How to Sell Better School Merch

It’s spiritwear season again! Your designs have been finalized and your merch is ready, but are you really selling at your fullest capacity?

 

Some schools simply print their apparel, sit back, and wait for the sales to come pouring in. But there are a few things you need to remember to make sure your products look stunning and professional, you get the most out of your sales, and that your students love what they buy.

 

Here are a few tips to help you during your next spiritwear sale!

 

How to Order Sizes

We don’t recommend ordering equal numbers of each size. You’ll end up with extra inventory and run out of sizes for your students!

 

Firstly, consider what country you live in. The average shirt sizes for people in the U.S. and Canada are Large, while the next most common are Medium and XL. For schools in these countries, a good rule of thumb is to follow a bell curve: order the most apparel for Large, order a lesser quantity for Medium and XL, then order even less for XS and XXL.

 

If you have no access to specific shirt sizing statistics or any past experience selling spiritwear, you may have to experiment. Remember to record your data for next year’s orders!

 

 

Should There Be a Standard and Premium Line?

Most schools would like to keep their orders simple and standardize all their products. But sometimes, they may offer a more expensive version of a product, made with a better fit and more expensive fabric. Consider your student body’s demographics. Having premium products might be lucrative if a large portion of your student body come from affluent families. Think about school spirit. Are your students eager enough to support your school and willing to spend more on higher-quality apparel?

 

Having both standard and premium versions of your products may prove profitable, but that also means having to decide on more order quantities. Whatever your decision, at the very least, always make sure that you never skip out on the quality of your school’s merchandise.

 

 

Offer to Print Their Names

Instead of making students order custom spiritwear with their names on it, why not do it on the spot instead? Ask your custom printer if they do on-site printing. Some printing methods, like vinyl printing or embroidery, finish the job quickly and use portable machines. If possible, you can also offer more customization options: names, titles, or club names.

 

 

How to Create Order Forms

Sometimes having a physical store may not be the most convenient option. Some schools opt to sell their inventory via online orders instead.

 

There are tons of ways you could do this. The simplest way would be to ask people to email you their orders or through your social media channels, but it isn’t necessarily the most convenient.

 

Spend a little time online looking for websites that can make you order forms for free. Sites like Wufoo, JotForm, and 123formbuilder are some examples. Your orders will be more organized and you’ll have an easier time keeping track of them.

 

Turn Your Store into a Charity Effort

How about considering donating a portion of your earnings to a charity of your choice or that your school has partnered with? Turning your school merch into a year-round fundraiser will give students another reason to buy your products, and will make them feel good about it too! You could even consider proposing that a portion of your earnings go to your school’s scholars.

 

A great way of doing this is putting up occasional sales that are focused mainly on your charity of choice. T-shirts that are created for a good cause are saleable and wearable - a great merchandise choice for cause marketing.

 

When it comes to business, opportunities are rare. Getting passive and complacent about your marketing efforts can easily lead to potential sales disappearing into thin air. Find the right opportunities and strategize, and reeling in sales will become a piece of cake.


Giving your school spiritwear a makeover? R5 Designs is a Toronto-based custom printer that uses the industry’s best equipment to create laser-accurate, vibrant, long-lasting prints. We print on anything that can be printed on. Send us a message for inquiries and orders! Our customer service will guide you every step of the way until your order arrives.

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