This Is How You Sell T-Shirts Online

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Matt Cohen figured that the millions of people who love T-shirts might love them even more if they sported personalized designs. His company, Pennsauken (N.J.)-based ChoiceShirts, makes custom shirts using a fully automated process that keeps costs low and volume high.

Cohen was no stranger to the T-shirt business when he started his company with about $500,000 in personal savings in 2001. His family had been in the business for about 30 years, selling everything from T-shirt designs to heat presses. Cohen had learned about selling online during a previous job at an e-commerce company. He sold stock designs at first, but quickly realized that offering custom designs could set him apart.

Cohen upgraded the software on his Web site, working closely with an online development company in which he has an ownership stake. The process took about four months and cost several hundred thousand dollars, most of which went to developing interfaces that connect to back-end administrative and production systems. In 2002, he launched Mother's and Father's Day shirts that customers could personalize with their own or their parents' names.

Today, customers can download any photo and place it in one of 600 templates. About 65% of ChoiceShirts' $3 million in revenues in 2005 came from the custom shirts. More recently, he has launched a system to allow customers to create designs from scratch. He says an added benefit is that offering personalized products breeds loyal customers. "There's a greater impact on the customers, and they are more likely to come back again," he says. About 20% to 30% of ChoiceShirts' business comes from repeat customers.

[Via - BusinessWeek]

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