When Tobi Lutke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify, was asked if ‘Shopify was the next Amazon’ his response was: “Amazon is trying to build an empire and Shopify is trying to arm the rebels.”
The idea for Shopify was born when Lutke was creating his own snowboard brand and was frustrated with how difficult it was to build an online store – so he decided to create his own e-commerce platform to solve this. Shopify is helping businesses in the new and fast-growing Direct to Consumer world, allowing anyone to bring their ideas to life and giving people the freedom to start their own brand.
“Building a business is one of the most pure forms of self-expression,” Lutke has said.
Especially during a pandemic with high unemployment rates, e-commerce has been a saving grace for many businesses and people looking to bring in a source of income. Low upfront costs and simple tools to build an online store makes the e-commerce world accessible to anyone with an idea and a product to sell.
Just like Shopify, we wanted to come up with a way to make selling merchandise more accessible. There can be many things that could be keeping you from selling merch; upfront costs, sourcing, dealing with shipping and packaging, the list goes on. These obstacles can make selling merch seem like a time consuming puzzle, when it doesn’t have to be. Our team brainstormed how we could make it easier for our clients to get their products out to the world, and the Timed Campaign was born.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Timed Campaigns allow music artists and brands to sell with no inventory investment. Sell your products for a short duration of time, then when the campaign has ended we produce and ship all the orders directly to your customers. This cuts out the headaches of all the in-between steps so all you have to focus on is marketing your brand and bringing in sales.
WHAT DO I NEED TO START?
An online store & a design for your merchandise.
Not sure where to begin with setting up your store? Shopify makes it easy, check out this tutorial!
A good social media following or existing fan base is always a plus, since you do need to sell a minimum of 12 units for each product you have for sale.
WHAT DOES CULTURE STUDIO PROVIDE?
Connecting to your store via API to sync orders, producing your merchandise, packaging and shipping out to every customer.
WHAT’S THE CATCH?
There is none! We do not take any cut of your profits. This is YOUR brand, we are just here to help provide you the tools to succeed.
The only thing you’ll be paying for is the merchandise itself, the shipping, and a $1.50 pick & pack charge per unit (the service cost of individually packing and sending out each garment). Selling as a Timed Campaign allows you to market your products as “limited edition” and creates a sense of urgency to drive sales. Because we only produce the amount of merch that is ordered, you’ll never lose money on unsold inventory.
Now you have no excuse to not start selling your merch. The world wants what you have to offer, you just need to get it out there!
Check out these resources below & e-mail us to get started: sales@culturestudio.net
Podcast: “Why You Should Drop Out Of School and Start a Shopify Store” with Harley Finkelstein
Shopify Blog: “How to Set Up a Shopify Store: Step-by-Step Guide”
Timed Campaigns: Information page
