The Pre-Order System and How You Can Use It to Grow Your Printed Textile Project

A pre-order is an order placed for a product that has not yet been released/­produced. Generally, a pre-order is made well in advance, which can range from two weeks to two months, depending on the complexity of the product.

Advantages of pre-orders:

• No excess stock is produced
• You don’t risk losing money—you produce exactly what you sell
• Unlike the print on demand system, in this case, you have the opportunity to negotiate bulk production discounts
• You can have higher profit margins
• You have the opportunity to organize your own packaging and delivery since all products are shipped at the same time, minimizing logistical efforts
• The risk of returns is minimal, as the products are made to order

When you can use this type of system:

• When you are making limited editions
• When you focus both on the quality of the products and the content you print
• When you already have a well-known brand and a community that follows you
• When there are requests/­questions/­interest for products
• When you want to test a concept
• When you have a relevant online presence, a showcase website, and the ability to collect payments online

What are the disadvantages:

• There is a risk that you may not gather enough orders to negotiate an optimum cost
• It requires a greater effort of project management on your part, compared to orders made in a print on demand system
• You do not have access to customers who make spontaneous decisions—for them, it's good to have a basic collection, available permanently
• It's difficult to use basic promotion channels such as Google or social media Ads. You need a rapid propagation time and you might collect results after the order collection campaign has ended
• You need to consistently come up with something new

Stages of a pre-order printed textile project:

1. Create the beta product at Printoteca—make sure it's impeccable, use it for photos and other communication materials
2. Test the market: what are the reactions to the images of your product, do you receive delighted reactions when wearing it? Would someone want to buy it? You can even conduct a survey to figure out the number of interested people.
3. Determine the stock you plan to produce—­negotiate based on it an optimal production cost at Printoteca. There are two models of pre-order: fixed stock ("I will make 50 pieces of this product. When the 50 requests are gathered, I start production") or a deadline ("I will only produce this product once, all orders received by date x, time y"). In version 2, you have less control in negotiating the bulk discount.
4. Set up the order taking calendar and the production deadline, communicate it to the workshop
5. Collect orders
6. Start production
7. Deliver
8. Document. To scale your model, make sure to collect information at all stages and create as much buzz with your collection as possible. Ask for feedback from customers and post it on the website; a lot of trust capital is needed to develop a project with pre-orders.