From specialty celebrations to everyday wear, there are a number of applications to find your place in the heat-printed children’s wear market. Here are four lucrative occasions to think about exploring.
Birthdays
A child’s life is marked with milestones from birth to graduation and lots of sales opportunities in between. One common commemorative item for birthday parties is a shirt donning the age of the child. Adding some interesting elements or a party theme to the garment will help it stand out. It’s not unusual to see a little girl’s birthday outfit paired with a tutu and a boy’s paired with a cape.
Holidays
Holidays are also a selling occasion for most decorators, but pre-planning is key. Make a calendar highlighting the holidays that you will focus on and begin displaying items well in advance. Key holidays for sales opportunities are Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, the 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah.
While any day is a good day for a parent/child combo shirt, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stand out as specific opportunities for double the sales. By merchandising packages like this for a couple of members of the family, or the entire family, you can increase the average value of each sale.
Rally days
Game days and school spirit days are great occasions. Local elementary schools often have a themed day where kids are encouraged to dress up in support of the school or the local professional team. Be sure to incorporate popular team colors and a clever saying to make your items stand out. For a group sales opportunity, consider approaching the school and putting together a package for all students where a percentage of profits go to a cause of the school’s choice.
Every day
Perhaps the largest opportunity in children’s apparel is personalization. Whether that’s a one of a kind shirt or a monogram, personalized items are unique to the wearer and a great sales opportunity that keeps buyers coming back for more. By combining personalized elements with clipart, an integrated design that expresses the interest and the namesake of the wearer is possible. Many children’s apparel printers have complete online stores with a style element that attracts repeated purchases. Just be sure to consider what your niche will be.
