ImagesMagUK_November_2020

A general purpose online store This type of store features a large and varied catalogue of garments meant to suit the breadth of your clientele and offers some method by which to inform them about the potential decoration options, and how to ask for a quote, upload artwork, engage in online design, or all of the above. General purpose stores replicate the process of working with a client to select a garment and decoration style for custom orders. General purpose stores are attractive, as they provide a universal solution for all customers and need only be created and customised once; however, they suffer from a lack of specificity, a need to expose a larger and thus more confusing collection of products, the need to allow either online decoration or art handling, and the fact that some processes in the fact-finding stage of most custom orders are best served through direct contact with a salesperson for most customers. Customer specific stores This type of store, on the other hand, includes company stores, merch stores, team sports stores and school stores. They benefit from a focus on the needs of the individual customer, including a curated selection of products, individual branding and information, and limited pre-set decorations. They can, however, be more time-consuming to create and maintain, and are limited in their usefulness to the customer for which they are created. Customer specific stores offer a tailored experience, which can make for higher potential margins and increased customer trust. They do, however, require a great deal more labour and input, even if they are built from a templated or modular solution. A combination of these two styles is frequently the best answer for most decorators, who will generally combine an informational or general purpose, custom decorating site branded with their own company name and assets, with individual, purpose-built stores for those clients for whom a single- customer specific store is seen as the best choice. Presenting your product There are four image types that every product can greatly benefit from and will create an experience similar to what retail brands offer online. Although manufacturers have lately offered better options for blank product images and mock-up tools, crafting these for yourself or at least adding specific decoration images can make your listings more interesting and easier for your customer to trust. 1. The action shot Show the garment in action, potentially in an attractive context, on a person the customer wants to be like or be around. 2. The garment shot Show the garment on its own, whether on a model or flat, and allow customers to see critical features and design placement. This will likely include some tightly focused images of structural garment details. Although current technologies will easily allow you to use online design tools for creating your own pre- decorated products, not every customer will be adept enough to want to design their own gear or add images. Particularly for embroidery, it may make more sense to either set up stock design selections or to simply collect information for quotes The garment level image should generally show all or most of the garment and may potentially have attached images for specific garment details. In the case of this standard T-shirt, the most critical information this can show is design placement and relative design size www.images-magazine.com NOVEMBER 2020 images 31 KB TIPS & TECHNIQUES Ecommerce sites can often provide specific benefits that can’t be had in almost any other form. Live- updated previews of embroidered text are certainly a value-added benefit