Three Ways to Increase your Merchandise Sales

There is absolutely a time and a place for a straight up logo slap on promotional merchandise. You may be starting a new company or rebranding and want that logo to be a focal point on some giveaway items to gain some brand recognition to start out. Or perhaps you want cohesive employee uniforms so that they look more professional and can be easily identifiable to clients. Although getting your company’s logo out into the world is important there are still ways to get the most bang for your buck when doing so. Here are three tips to get more people to buy and use your brand’s merchandise.

1.    Have an awesome design as your main attraction (not just a company logo)

We certainly understand the importance of brand recognition, especially when first starting out. However, we’ve noticed that having a more creative or interesting design as the focus rather than only the company logo will get more use and in turn give that item a longer lifespan. A great way to still be able to incorporate your branding is to either have your company’s name integrated into the main design or having the company logo displayed in a more subtle area, like a sleeve imprint or a back collar tag imprint.   

2.    Choose a nicer or higher quality item

I think we’ve all been guilty of having received a free water bottle or tee shirt that just doesn't feel like it's a high enough quality to use, wear, or even keep. It often ends up getting tossed in the donation pile or, worse yet, the landfill. These days, especially, it seems like people find more value in having fewer higher quality promotional items. Quality over quantity or, as we like to say here at BBP, “Want better, not more.”

3.    Offer limited edition designs or runs of an item

This is important if you are selling your custom swag in a retail setting. No one likes experiencing FOMO and when you offer a limited edition design or item you’re creating a sense of urgency to your viewer/visitors. Liquid Mechanics Brewing knows what’s up! Throughout the year they post on their Instagram about their different limited edition custom designs and items to purchase at their taproom. A favorite of their customers is the Colorado Day Drinkin’ series: custom trucker hats, beanies, tee shirts, tank tops, and hoodies. But once they are out, they are OUT. Doing these limited runs on custom apparel could even potentially get you more social media followers or email subscribers, if you’re able to create enough of a buzz. “Want to be notified about our limited edition merchandise? Follow us on social media or sign up for our newsletter.”

If you have a loyal demographic that will buy an item just because it has your branding on it then more power to you! It’s always nice to have human billboards walking around sporting your logo. But once they’ve purchased that logo tee… will they buy another logo tee or would they be more inclined to purchase several shirts with different designs in addition to the logo tee? The more custom merch you sell the more profit you make. So, if you're looking for more sales and uses of your branded merchandise it will pay off to invest a bit more upfront on strong designs, higher quality pieces, and offering a limited runs on certain designs or items.