In this blog post I’m sharing my thoughts on what to do when sales are slow in your Print on Demand stores.

In retail, whether online or brick and mortar, there are sales cycles. This means that sales slow down at certain times of the year and peak during other times, like at Christmas.

It can be frustrating and confusing to go from making several sales in a month to barely any, but that is totally normal and just the reality of retail. It does not mean you’ve failed, so don’t get down!

Think about how you personally shop. What times of the year do you spend the most money and when do you save? You will most likely find this reflected in your sales.

Here you can easily see the cycle peaks and lows during the year from my Redbubble analytics:

You can see my sales peak in November and December and drop down in the spring. Then they steadily climb back up until August when people shop for Back to School.

This sales cycle is totally normal and something you will need to get used to and prepare for, especially if your sole income is through online retail shops.

Instead of getting frustrated and throwing in the towel, there are lots of things you can do during these slow times to get your shops ready for when the sales start to rise again!

Here is a list of things you can do when sales are slow in your print on demand stores:

• Update your website or blog. Start creating one if you haven’t yet. See my post on how to start an art blog to get started.
• Create and add new designs to your shops.
• Find new ways to promote your shops. Start using Pinterest for example.
• Grow your social media followings.
• Go through your stores and update or delete under-performing designs.
• Go through your designs and update titles and keywords to be more SEO friendly.
• Enable new products you haven’t offered before.
• Do a brand overhaul: refresh your logo, banners, etc.
• Create designs for upcoming holidays or other themed days of the year.
• Promote sales going on in your shops. If your sales are slow, so are the websites you sell on and they will often have really good sales during slow times to get people to shop.
• Ask others for feedback. You could ask friends or other Print on Demand artists for feedback on your stores and/or designs.
• Network. Find and join support groups with like-minded individuals. There are lots of Print on Demand groups on Facebook.
• Learn new business and marketing strategies through YouTube, Skillshare or other sources.
• Take a break. Sometimes we need some time away to replenish our creativity.  Go on a holiday or spend time with friends and family and come back with new ideas.
• Open a new print on demand store. There are lots of print on demand sites out there, perhaps there is one more suited to your style. Here is a list of Print on Demand sites to try.
• And most importantly don’t give up!

Looking for more print on demand tips? You can find lots more tips about selling your art through Print on Demand websites in the resources section of my blog.

Happy selling!

Cheers,