I write a lot about ecommerce and, indeed, working on ecommerce sites is the bulk of my business.
[caption id="attachment_2282" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Select STORE from the top menu to begin.[/caption]
So I thought it was time to demonstrate my skills in real, live, concrete ways. I’ve decided to create the cgk.ink store as a sort of teaching tool so that you can see the mechanizations and processes behind running an effective online retail store yourself.
I plan on using this as a workshop of sorts where I put into play a lot of the things I talk about in concrete ways. This is a fully functioning ecommerce site and the products are very real — as will be the charge to your card if you decide to buy.
Wherever you see ⊕ means that there is a pop up that explains in more detail exactly what that component does, why it’s there and resources to explore.
The first installment is all about a rapidly growing type of ecommerce that is akin to drop shipping but with a twist: Direct to Garment (DTG) print fulfillment. Companies like Printify, Printful, Art in America, etc. have been around for a while. Essentially the process works like this:
- You select an image or design
- You transmit that to the selected company
- They take a blank item (T-shirt, plate, mug — the product list grows every day) and using their own machinery imprint the design on the item which someone has selected on your customer-facing web site.
- You enjoy the fact that there are no upfront costs, no inventory to keep and the printer ships and fulfills the item directly to your customer.
- You collect the profit which is your retail price – the manufacturer’s cost.