Unlike traditional retailers, who are currently cutting inventory due to the current financial crisis, online apparel companies, such as SBEMedia.com, are increasing production. “In my opinion, custom printed apparel, or Print-On-Demand (POD) apparel, will become, in the coming years, an industry which will see continued growth as traditional retailers continue to decrease their inventories and discontinue product lines,” states Doug Walter, Production Manager for SBE. “The net result will be more stagnant apparel lines which will force consumers to look elsewhere for their clothing needs.”
SBE Media, unlike other POD companies, focuses solely on apparel, such as t-shirts, hats, totes, underwear, hoodies, etc., rather than on other textile products. By focusing on apparel, and constantly working with their vendors, SBE has been able to reduce overall production costs in half while maintaining high quality standards. By maintaining affordable wholesale and fulfillment production prices for its affiliate store owners, allows their affiliate owners maximum price flexibility in a fiercely competitive market. In addition to decreased product costs, affiliate store owners enjoy the following free services:
(1) e-Commerce/website hosting
(2) Custom website development capabilities, such as custom HTML/CSS coding features
(3) Unlimited product uploads and settings from store opening
(4) Advanced online apparel designer, which includes thousands of custom/semi-
(5) Website analytics and traffic management systems
(6) Drop shipment services via affiliate company name
Lastly, on January 15, 2009, SBE announced its ‘Affiliate of the Year 2008’ Award which went to I Pimp Shirts: www.ipimpshirts.com.
