How to Start a Custom Pillow Printing Business

Summary

A few years back, digital technology wasn’t advanced and easily, nor was it accessible. As it evolved with path-breaking innovations, a plethora of trends saw the daylight.

One such sector that witnessed a flood of advancements was eCommerce. One of the trends that became the talk of the town was product personalization.

Unlike the early days when only a few big businesses were aware of product personalization, it has become “inevitably” popular today.

Rising to the occasion, a number of online businesses started offering customization of products.

If you have a knack for creativity, a pillow cover business can be a good choice for you. In fact, the global pillow market is likely to grow at a CAGR of CAGR of 7.23% by 2032.

To stand out among competitors, you can also include making customizable pillows as a part of your pillow cover business plan.

Custom pillows won’t only add an edge to your business but also make you stand out. However, selling customization requires creativity and technology both.

So, let’s walk you through the guide to kickstart your custom pillow cover business and soar to heights of success.

Create a Business Plan

A robust and well-thought business plan is a must for success. Therefore, before you venture into the pillow cover business, you should consider a few points.

To start with, decide whether you want this pillow cover business to be full-fledged, part-time, or just as a hobby. You may also need to think how much you can invest to start your pillow cover business and afford losses (if any).

Also consider designs, sizes, and price ranges that you would offer as your business expands. Alternatively, you can go for only a fixed design or two but make yourself the “masters” of those designs.

Also speculate about the possibilities in the future. For instance, if you succeed in maintaining good ROI over a few years, what would you do? Would you still sell only custom pillows or expand your pillow cover business to include other items like blankets, mats, etc.?

All these considerations together will help you have a success-driven business plan.

Understand the Market

When out in a battle, you must be watchful of your competition!

Though metaphorically, this statement applies in any business – the pillow business too! There may be several competitors out there selling handmade or readymade decorative pillows.

Hence, observing them and checking out their offerings, designs, prices, and marketing strategies is of utmost importance. Only when you have a full idea of what your competitors have to offer and how they cater to customers’ current demands and expectations can you get the hang of the market trends.

Want to take care of customers’ demands individually and deliver personalized offerings?

Pillow Market Key Trends

1. Rise in demand for smart pillows

There is an increase in demand for smart pillows owing to rising sleeping disorders. The global smart pillow market size is expected to reach USD 5.8 Billion by 2033

These pillows help improve the quality of sleep by eliminating snoring and also personalizing sleep playlists. Like smartwatches, a smart pillow can track, record, and rate your sleep quality.

(Source: Tesla Smart Pillow)

2. Ergonomic pillow designs

There is a rising demand for seat cushions and neck pillows that help when sitting for long hours at a work desk. Ergonomic seat cushion designs offer support and thus help in sitting in a better posture.

Example: This ergonomic cushion offers comfort and improves sitting posture. If you want to start a pillow business, such office seat cushions can be a great product idea.

(Source: Amazon)

3. Outdoor and Family Throw Pillows

Family throw pillows are custom pillows with family quotes, images, etc. Outdoor pillows are specifically for patio and outdoor sitting. Both these types have a growing popularity.

Both outdoor and family throw pillows have high competition. For higher profits, consider choosing a niche like pillows only for porch swings, pillows made of recycled materials, etc.

(Outdoor pillows and Custom Pillows in Trend Right Now)

4. Bohemian decorative pillows

Boho style originated some 40-50 years ago but is still predominant in today’s homes. Boho design is all about combining new and old design elements and adding loud colors. Boho decorative pillows are trending these days. Starting a business in this space is sure to get you the attention of thousands of vintage boho fans out there.

(Source: Etsy)

5. Customizable Pillows

Allowing your shoppers to add a personal touch to your products will surely make you their favorite. You can sell pillows with an added USP of product customization.

(Let Your Customers Design Their Pillows)

Calculate Estimated Budget

Money is a primary deciding factor in any business performance. Get a full picture of all the investments you would need to make in advance. It will save unprecedented issues in the future after you launch your pillow business.

For pillow printing, you need to consider a number of things to calculate the estimated costs.

1. Mode of Business

The very first factor to consider is the mode of your pillow business. Would you keep your business online, offline, or hybrid? Going for an online store first is the best way to minimize overhead costs and expand to offline mode later as per needs. Most start-ups generally follow this practice as it is cost-friendly and safer. Also, people today prefer online shopping more, thanks to the increased use of mobile phones and internet adoption.

Want to build a web-responsive e-commerce website to give your buyers a consistent ordering experience across all devices?

2. Cost of Materials, Equipment, and Supplies

Calculate the cost of raw materials you would need for manufacturing like blank pillows, printing equipment, packaging material, etc. Your printing equipment will also depend on the printing methods you will use to print on pillows.

Some printing methods like dye sublimation may need special equipment and cost more than some others. Contact your nearby wholesale suppliers who deal in these raw materials and settle for a reasonable bulk price.

If you are planning to run your business online, you can also go for the print-on-demand model. In this type of model, the manufacturing and shipping processes are handled by a third party. That means you don’t have to keep a stock of inventory and raw materials.

Thus, from printing to shipping the order, everything is taken care of by your supplier. This business model is cheaper than manufacturing the pillow on your own. However, it also involves some risk, as your business depends totally on your supplier. Thus, you must thoroughly examine your supplier and their previous work.

3. Shipment Costs

Coming to shipment of final products, choose a popular shipment partner worth relying upon to ensure streamlined deliveries. There are a few popular names like FedEx, AusPost, Royal Mail, etc. that you can consider for shipment.

You can also pick a local delivery partner in the initial phase when you don’t ship internationally. However, before you choose a shipment partner, ensure that it has a good and proven track record of its delivery services.

4. Cost of Resources and Promotion

Consider the costs of labor and resources you employ for various operations while calculating your estimated budget. Also estimate the marketing and advertising budget you would set aside for promotion of your pillow business.

Advertising and marketing budget to promote your pillow business is a must to estimate in advance as you need it on a regular basis. To start with, you can focus on organic SEM strategies, ideally.

As your traffic and sales start growing, you can expand to other capital-intensive marketing strategies. They can be paid advertising, display advertising, influencer marketing, etc.

Sum up all these costs to arrive at your total estimated start-up budget.

Decide on Places to Sell Your Products

Where to sell is a valuable consideration to make. This is because it influences other aspects like business licenses you need and products you can offer.

You have a lot of options when it comes to deciding on the places to sell. You can sell your decorative pillows and cushions directly to customers from your online store (your own print website).

There are some other ways too that you can use in addition to your website. For instance, you can also partner with local interior designers to create tailored pieces specifically for their projects.

Another option is associating with Amazon, eBay, Etsy, to sell your products on their sites and grow your pillow business.

While you can think of a place or two to sell your pillows; you can diversify your places to sell further. For instance, you can also collaborate with local boutiques, showrooms, and garment stores. There, you can display the best samples to a larger audience and get their traction.

You can also go to community events where you can rent a booth and put your samples on display. When people find them good and attractive, they can buy them from you. So, think well before you do that!

However, taking these steps can be a bit costlier. The reason is the high charges a boutique owner may ask for to allow for your product display. Similarly, you may need a good amount to rent a booth in such community events.

While building a website from scratch may be cumbersome and costly for startups, you can always go for a web-to-print storefront. A web-to-print storefront can help you launch your site at minimal costs and you can start making profits in a short span.

Partnering up with a team that has developed a SaaS-based W2P storefront solution that can help start your print business in no time. You can get all front-end, back-end, payment and security features, and domain and hosting services on top.

This is what a web-to-print storefront looks like!

Types and Designs to Sell

Deciding on the types of cushion designs plays a great role in hitting the right chord with customers. Before starting your pillow business, analyze your competitors’ types and designs. Research the in-trend pillow designs. Accordingly, you can decide what to sell. With the right cushion material with the right design, you can hit the mark easily and speedily.

If you intend to sell ready-made pillows as a base and create only decorative covers, you may face certain limitations regarding the sizes and shapes available. But it can save you time as you don’t have to sew them manually.

Instead, if you think you intend to sell hand-made pillows – you can get virtually any size and shape you want. As you only are manufacturing them! Further, you can also try out selling eco-friendly covers filled with plastic beads, bamboo, organic cotton, etc. The only thing is – you may need to spend more on manufacturing hand-made pillows.

Custom Pillows for Every Occasion

Incorporating custom pillows for different occasions can be a game-changer for your business. Here are some of the pillow business ideas where personalized pillows make the perfect gift:

1. Birthdays: Celebrate another trip around the sun with pillows showcasing the celebrant’s age, name, or a meaningful quote.
2. Anniversaries: Capture enduring love by designing pillows that display significant dates, romantic quotes, or even a couple’s photo.
3. Weddings: Offer personalized pillows as memorable keepsakes for newlyweds, featuring their names, wedding dates, or a design that complements their home.
4. Baby Showers: Delight expecting parents with pillows adorned with the baby’s name, birth stats, or cute nursery-themed designs.
5. Housewarmings: Help new homeowners settle in by gifting custom pillows that incorporate their initials, a cozy message, or designs that match their decor.
6. Friendship Appreciation: Strengthen bonds by gifting personalized pillows adorned with inside jokes, shared memories, or heartfelt messages.

By tailoring your pillow designs to these occasions, you can create a diverse and appealing product line that resonates with customers’ emotions and desires.

Why Custom Covers Are an Ideal Choice

If you can’t spend much and want to start with minimum investment, selling a factory-made pillow with custom covers can be an ideal choice. Moreover, you can take your business to the next level by giving the customers freedom to customize their pillows themselves. Surprised?

Through an online product designer tool that you can integrate with your store.

There are a number of online product design tools available today that you can choose from.

Our PrintXpand The Product Design Software or the online product design tool makes it possible for customers to put their pillow cover ideas on the canvas! Talking of text features, it offers font manager, quotes, custom text and messages. On the other hand, the image feature allows customers to apply effects, upload an image of their choice, use watermarking, and much more.

Moreover, it features a clipart manager with a free clipart library, customization options, smart search, and SVG support. It also includes object handling features such as object handlers, layer management, object grouping, and precise positioning.

That’s not all! The tool also incorporates advanced features like AI image and AI text generation. A simple prompt is enough to generate high-quality results within the tool and use that while creating a design for the pillow cover.

(Sell More Pillows With Product Customization)

Summing up, it’s got all the cutting-edge text features you seek to offer varied engaging customization options. As a business owner, you get a powerful backend where you can modify the tool’s functionalities as per your needs.

Get a personalized product design tool demo tailored for your business!

Tips to Choose Material (Fabric)

When starting a pillow business, choosing the right fabric is a must. Not all fabrics can suit pillow printing. So, the very first thing to consider is the strength of the fabric. Choose the fabric that can withstand the pressure of someone sitting on it and doesn’t tear apart.

Next comes the fade resistance. Ensure that your fabric is resistant to fading over time. Otherwise, the design on the pillow will fade over several washings and the beauty of the printed design will go away. In general, woven acrylic fabrics are more resistant to fading and have high longevity.

The third factor is water resistance or repellence. If you include selling pillows and cushions for outside purposes, use outdoor fabrics for your pillows. Outdoor fabrics come with protective coating that makes the pillow resist water, moisture, mold, and mildew.

Also, consider the cleanability code. Some fabrics come with Microban, which protects the fibers against stains and odor-causing bacteria. Choose these fabrics, especially for outdoor cushions and pillows.

Choose Printing Methods

There are several common printing methods for the custom pillow cover business. Here are a few common ones.

1. Stamp Printing

Stamp printing uses a stamp to imprint onto the pillow fabric. First, you cut the design into the stamp and dip it into the ink. Following it, you’ll need to apply even pressure to transfer your design onto the textile.

It is a traditional method that you can use for small print runs and without machines. The major drawback is that it doesn’t suit more intricate designs and the quality is inconsistent.

2. Transfer Printing

Transfer printing uses transfer paper to print a design onto it and then transfers it to the fabric using a conventional household steam iron. While this method is great for short runs and requires no special equipment, it has some downsides, too. First, you cannot get high-resolution prints with it. Second, it is more prone to cracks, peels, and fades.

Related Read: Why Digital Textile Printing + Web-to-print is Perfect for Printing Businesses

3. Screen Printing

Screen printing is a more professional printing method that uses a stencil and nylon mesh to print designs. A waterproof material blocks out the spaces to print the design on, and then you flood those blocked-out spaces with ink.

Though you can use only one color per screen, it still produces fantastic replications. Feasible only for large runs, it produces long-lasting designs.

4. Dye Sublimation

Dye Sublimation employs a thermal transfer paper you print designs. You use this paper then to transfer the design onto the fabric. Under both heat and pressure, ink changes into gas and bonds permanently with the fabric.

It helps in producing excellent replications, is eco-friendly, and is ideal for all-size print runs. The drawback is its high cost due to special equipment and sublimation dyes and non-usability on natural fabrics.

Launch Your Online Store

If you are done with all preparations, it is time to launch your online pillow business. For that, you will need to build a site where you can sell all your products. Again, there are two ways to do that.

Go for the traditional method of buying a domain, a hosting provider (or e-commerce platform), hiring a developer, and getting your site ready. This method may sound exciting but can be costly and cumbersome — especially if you have no prior experience in the online pillow business.

The other way is to launch a customizable web-to-print solutions.

If you want to know in detail how our storefront solution can help kickstart your pillow business, we’ll be pleased to guide you through.

Market Your Pillow Business Well

Once you launch your pillow business, the next important step is to market it well. You can focus on organic search engine marketing strategies, email marketing, paid marketing, display advertising, etc.

You can also sell your products outside your store on various e-commerce giants like Amazon, Etsy, eBay to make the audience notice your brand.

Instagram is a Great Platform for Pillow Business

While all social media sites are great for marketing and engagement, Instagram marketing has emerged as a viable marketing option of late.

In fact, people admit they have bought a product right after seeing it on Instagram. Especially for creative businesses like a pillow business or home decor business, Instagram can go a long way towards engaging modern-day audiences.

So, set up a business page and profile on Instagram. Note that you must have an active Facebook page prior to that. Keep posting regular updates, new launches and additions, discounts and offers, etc. on your page.

Keep a balance between promotional content and non-promotional content. Apart from sharing about your products, you can post industry-relevant content like tips for home decor, the latest trends or information, etc. For instance, CoopHomeGoods such tips and advice on their profile.

(Share Relevant Content on Instagram, and Take Advantage of #s to Reach More People)

Amidst a sea of brands marketing their products on Instagram, you would want to establish your brand as authentic and trustworthy. That’s where reviews help. Sharing customer reviews will help in building customer loyalty and increase the chances of repeat business.

(Reviews to Build Customer Loyalty)

Though stories disappear after 24 hours, you can highlight them on your profile for new visitors.

(Highlight Important Stories on Your Profile)

You can also set up your Ads Manager, choose your ad objective, target audience, ad format, and publish the ad. You can also promote your previous posts for better outreach and traffic.

You can connect with industry experts for tips on marketing a pillow cover business! They will provide insights into selecting the right promotional strategies to accelerate business growth.

Is Custom Pillow Printing Business Really Profitable?

Well, a custom pillow printing business can be profitable, with earnings depending on the materials, design options, and price.

A lot of people are looking for personalized home décor, gifts, and event supplies, making it an excellent business opportunity. Furthermore, pillow cover production costs are low, particularly with print-on-demand, so there is no need to keep a large inventory.

Additionally, if you are selling your products via social media, online stores, or using influencer marketing, you can easily reach more customers and convert them. Success is achieved by providing unique designs, high-quality prints, and strong branding. With the right plan, this business can generate consistent and growing profits.

The statistics you see online are only to support that this business would be profitable. However, what’s the ground reality? Who knows, right? Well, this fact makes it even more critical to dig deeper into finding the correct answer.

And here’s how you can find out if the custom pillow printing business is profitable yourself:

1. Check the market demand

Analyze platforms like Etsy, Amazon, and social media to see what’s popular and how many sales competitors are making. Use Google Trends to track search interest over time and determine if demand is growing or declining in the preferred region.

2. Calculate your production cost

Before pricing your products, calculate all the costs involved. Consider the materials you use, like fabric or ink. Also, all the equipment expenses are based on the printing method you use. Additionally, factor in operational costs like advertising, shipping, packaging, and more. Your profit margin can only be determined once you track these costs.

3. Check profitability

Run through the numbers that you collect using a simple formula: Profit = (Selling Price – Total Costs) x Sales Volume to check the profitability.

4. Test the market before you invest

List a few of your pillow cover designs online on platforms like Etsy or Facebook Marketplace. Additionally, you can test your ability to determine interests and profit from sales by running targeted advertisements.

Once you feel that people are loving your products and are willing to purchase them, that is when you can invest and think of scaling.

Ready to Cash In On the Creative Opportunity of Pillow Business?

To venture into the pillow cover business requires a creative mindset, the right technology, and effective marketing strategies. We have got you covered on all three fronts. Your creativity, our technology, and mutually planned marketing strategies – the trio can be a great start for you.

At PrintXpand, have got 10+ years of experience in tech integrations. In addition to that, we have been instrumental in helping small businesses launch their stores, promote them, and offer customization to their customers!

With a great track record of over 80% customers retained, you can stay assured of your success. We are there with you at the beginning and ahead when your business takes off.

Our web-to-print storefront solution can grow as you grow. It is a scalable custom-made solution you can add more advanced features to as your business expands. You can launch your site with minimum investment and enhance it as your business expands. Coming to us, we are there by your side right now and will stay with you in your journey ahead.

To know more about our ready-to-launch web-to-print storefront and integrate it, book a personalized demo with us.

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