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Could print on demand for gifting give you an edge this upcoming holiday season? The on-going pandemic continues to put strain on retail as the global supply chain is still experiencing drastic delays. Offering print-on-demand opens doors to untapped customers looking for personalization and guaranteed delivery. Due to factory closures abroad and delayed cargo containers, the upcoming holiday season is uncertain for many industries. So, how can print on demand for gifting alleviate some of the unknown?
Consumers are expected to start shopping earlier than normal this holiday season, both in-store and online. Reporters are bombarding news outlets with upcoming shipping delays and supply shortages daily. Print on demand will differentiate your business from the masses. It will allow your business to keep up with current trends of personalization and get the perfect gift directly to the consumers door.
Market Watch reports that the U.S. personalized gifts market is expected to grow up 2.01 billion dollars between 2021-2025. This forecasted growth is due to an increase in gift giving in general, increase in demand of seasonal décor, as well as increase in number of personalized gift options.
E-commerce growth soared during the pandemic with projected future growth expected to grow continuously. E-commerce and print-on-demand go hand in hand. Read a recent blog post, How Print on Demand Drinkware has Changed E-Commerce to find out how it has done just that.
Consumers often turn to print-on-demand capabilities for the extra special gifts. Who really needs another wool sweater? But that mug commemorating a vacation you took with a cousin—priceless. Print-on-demand services can be used for a wide variety of products; from clothing to drinkware to stickers.
Print-on-demand is an order fulfillment process where products are printed as they come in with quantities as low as a single print. If you’re completely new to the concept, this is the ability to order a dozen mugs printed with a picture of your son’s soccer team and roster, straight to your door. Print-on-demand is often associated with Etsy and Shopify; the companies that offer personalized shirts, customizable drinkware, or handcrafted items with a personal touch.
Inkcups has created a print-on-demand drinkware solution to boost any e-commerce presence. The Helix® Digital Cylinder Printer is the ideal machine to enable your business to offer print on demand. The Helix® features an advanced workflow system which simplifies the operators’ tasks to as easy as picking the part, scanning the barcode to pull up the associated artwork, then printing the high quality, eye-catching graphics to impress even the pickiest of customers.
When demand is up, lean on the simplified process to make life easier. The Helix® is the ideal printer for all cylindrical printing needs whether it be straight-walled or tapered on materials such as stainless steel, glass, plastics, or coated metals. It can produce stunning, full-color graphics on cylindrical items at 200 parts per hour and be integrated with any order management system. The most recent upgrade to the Helix® is the addition of the Extended Range Kit which extends the diameter capabilities to 1.5” to 5”, now accommodating shot glasses and growlers! Read all about the Helix® Upgrades here.
The Helix® comes in three different varieties: the Helix®, the Double Helix®, and the Helix® Hi-Fi. As the name implies the Double Helix® offers twice the output as the Helix® as it has dual printing fixtures. The Double Helix® is an ideal cylindrical printing machine for producing medium to high production runs.
The Helix® Hi-Fi offers all the innovation as the other two, and then some. It differs from the others as it is the only photorealistic rotary printing machine available on the market. With the addition of light cyan and light magenta inks it is able to achieve high-resolution prints with accurate skin tones.
An ink, primer, and pre-treatment regime will all depend on what you’re printing on. As there is no universal ink, Inkcups offers numerous different inks and primers to guarantee optimal adhesion for a wide variety of materials. For drinkware in particular there are high expectations when it comes to adhesion to deliver long lasting results and countless runs through the dishwasher. Pre-treatments range from a wipe, to flame, to Pyrosil®, to MagiCoat®. We take the guess work out of finding the right pre-treatment for you by offering adhesion testing in-house to recommend which ink, primer, and pre-treatment is the right fit for your choice of substrate.
POD for drinkware offers endless options. Personalized drinkware is an ideal gift as it conveys thoughtfulness, creativity, and practicality. Even the trickiest person on your list this holiday would cherish a stainless steel tumbler customized just for them. The Helix® can print on a wide variety of drinkware but the following seem the most fitting for gift giving purposes:
By utilizing the Helix® for your print on demand for gifting offer your customers all of the innovation print techniques available.
There are so many different types of drinkware available these days, in a wide variety of sizes. Chances are a recipient on your list has an inclination to favor a particular type of drink. If he or she live and breath pumpkin spiced iced coffee, gift them a travel tumbler. If she spends all day thinking about un-winding with a book and glass of wine in hand, give her a stainless steel wine tumbler. If he waits all week for Sunday football games, treat him to a pint glass he’ll use for seasons to come.
With increasing awareness in the environment and people cutting back on single-use plastics left and right, there is an ever-increasing demand for reusable vessels. It is not uncommon for a household to own a small collection of miscellaneous drinkware for a wide variety of occasions. Drinkware as a gift is one item you can guarantee the recipient will put to use.
Let’s get the creative juices flowing! Here is a list of ways to personalize drinkware utilizing print on demand for gifting this holiday season:
While this blog post primarily focuses on drinkware for print-on-demand, it is not limited to cylindrical printers. Inkcups offers print-on-demand capabilities for the full line of digital printers. For instance, POD capabilities can be utilized on all of the flatbed printers; X5®, X-5T, X-JET, X-JET 800, and X-JET 800-T. The advanced workflow system is the same as the Helix® but with endless possibilities of products to print on due to the nature of flatbed printers. Read: no longer limited to straight walled or tapered cylindrical products!
UV flatbed printers differ in print area, print capacity height, and maximum output. Printers such as the X5-T can print multiple items at once, such as high-quality, full-color graphics on a tray of keychains, or a single item such as a cooler. Leverage the ease to print what you need when you need it thanks to POD.
Gifting ideas using a flatbed printer include personalized: fishing lures, power banks, drink coasters, frisbees, and whatever other flat or slightly curved item you can dream up. Check out all of the UV Flatbed printers Inkcups has to offer. On the left hand side of the screen play around with different specifications to find the best fit flatbed printer for your needs. For instance, looking to print on a cooler? Select “Over 254mm” for part height, and learn that the X5-T, X-JET 800 and X-JET 800T can accommodate items as tall as a hard plastic cooler. This interactive function is great for preliminary research when considering adding a digital printer to your business. That being said, it can’t replace the plethora of knowledge our sales representatives hold and want to share with you! Reach out to pick their brains.
This holiday season offer your customers print on demand for gifting with a little help from our cylindrical printers like the Helix® or from our flatbed printers like the X5®. We at Inkcups are positive you’ll be pleased with the results.
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