Garment Printing
With companies diversifying more than ever to cater to
their customers’ needs, David Osgar asks: “How much can
garment printing open the door to new opportunities?”
Shining a spotlight on the industry
Monday, 08 Nov 2021 20:41 GMT
Phil McMullin, Head of sales for Commercial & Industrial Printing, Epson UK
A logical extension
Digital technology has long been blurring the lines between traditional sign-making, graphic displays, and interior decor such as wallpaper. In most cases the job of a sign or display is to advertise and promote a business or the products and services the company supplies.
Modern sign-makers are already availing themselves of the technology to digitally print signs and graphics and as such are experts in design, colour management, and handling large images. Taking those images and then printing them directly to a garment should therefore be a logical extension of the service already offered to key customers.
It’s well known that winning more business from existing customers is many times easier and cheaper than generating new business from scratch.
It’s well known that winning more business from existing customers is many times easier and cheaper than generating new business from scratch ”
Many of your existing customers will be looking to ‘brand’ their staff so the first action is to ask the question – do you have a requirement for branded workwear? It’s likely that another supplier is already providing this service and the risk is they start spreading their net to include all the sign and display work too.
By extending your offering to include garment printing you can potentially ring-fence your customers from the competition and generate a new profitable part to your business.
The beauty, particularly of Epson garment printing technology, is you can offer creative and eye-catching prints as well as the standard corporate logo offering. This helps differentiate you from other suppliers who might just be offering a standard product.
Diversifying your solutions
Martin Southworth, Reseller account manager, Hybrid Services
We frequently discuss the need to focus on retaining customers within the loyalty loop, so being able to offer new products not only stops them looking elsewhere but also helps form a great customer and supplier relationship. New opportunities, such as offering printed garments is an excellent way to start conversations and answers a need in order to retain business.
As most sign-makers will have some form of solvent printer and cutting plotter, it makes for a natural expansion to invest in garment printing. There are many existing skills shared in both the design and production aspects. By simply adding a heat press, the opportunity to provide branded hi-vis workwear, promotional T-shirts, and corporate attire is instantly opened.
Where customers are already buying a suite of products from a supplier, there’s no huge leap of faith in offering them complementary options and being able to use existing equipment makes it all the more valuable.
As most sign-makers will have some form of solvent printer and cutting plotter, it makes for a natural expansion to invest in garment printing”
A Mimaki integrated printer and cutter such as the CJV150 Series will produce a vibrant, long-lasting, washfast print onto garment marking film, before accurately cutting it out. Applying it onto a variety of garments using a heat press will quickly deliver a professional product range, adding a new revenue stream to a business.
Being able to utilise existing equipment also allows companies to reduce their risk by trialling new product lines without significant capital expenditure. However, such is the opportunity that garment printing offers, it’s highly likely print providers will embrace it and prosper, whilst forging strong relationships with their customers as they in turn benefit from being able to source a broader product range from their preferred supplier.
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