1.3.4 - Exploring Hybrid Models on Shopify (Difficulty: Advanced | Path: Scale)

Combining POD with Your Own Stocked Products

What is it?

Why is it effective? It gives you the best of both worlds. You get the profitability and control of a private label model on your proven winners, and the flexibility and zero-risk experimentation of POD to expand your catalog and test new ideas.

How to Implement a Hybrid POD Strategy:

1. Identify Your 'Core' Products: Look at your sales data. Identify the 1-3 designs or products that are your consistent best-sellers. These are your candidates for buying in bulk.
2. Private Label Your Core Products: Work with a manufacturer to produce your best-sellers in bulk. This will increase your profit margin on every sale of these items and allow you to offer fast, reliable shipping.
3. Use POD for Everything Else: Continue using POD for:
   • New Design Testing: Launch new creative ideas via POD. If a design becomes a huge hit, you can then move it into your 'core' stocked inventory.
   • Product Line Extensions: Want to offer your designs on hats, phone cases, or mugs without risk? Use POD.
   • More Color/Size Options: Offer your core designs in a vast range of colors or sizes via POD that would be too costly to stock.

Real-Life Example

A successful artist's t-shirt brand stocks its top 3 all-time best-selling shirt designs in-house for fast shipping. For their 50+ other designs, and for all hoodies and tote bags, they use POD. This maximizes profit on their most popular items while allowing them to offer a huge, risk-free catalog to their fans.