Startup

The Process to Start an Online T-shirt Store

The T-shirt Store fashion industry, in particular, the garment industry worldwide is going through a major turmoil. The reasons for this are:-

1. Consumers are more fashion conscious than brand conscious now than ever before and technology is only helping this philosophy to gain firmer ground
2. Consumers spend more now with increased purchasing capabilities
3. Globalization has knocked all preset and preconceived notions of the industry with the world now becoming a global market
4. Digitization has led to consumers accessing e-commerce sites through their smartphones
5. Smaller businesses are more flexible in manufacturing styles on demand.
6. More and more consumers are insisting on ethically sourced and green materials for manufacturing products

Why an Online Store for T-shirts?

1. Friendly return and refund policies
2. Personalized services like free shipping and discounts
3. The offering of virtual styling assistants as a value-add on service helps retain customers

Selling T-shirts online is not just about selling. A virtual store has the power to create a brand by making people aware of its existences and working on creating brand recognition by using suitable methods.

What are the Steps to Create the Online Store?

1. Decide the brand name
2. Buy a website domain
3. Setting up an email id
4. Build a website and invest in digital marketing^[1]
5. Invest in a standard server or hosting service that is safe, secured as well as low startup cost as compared to going in for self-hosted e-commerce For startup companies, the hosted platform is ideal. The custom developed platform gives the flexibility of designing the store as per one’s need, make custom edits and use search engine optimization limitlessly
6. Buy an advanced product design tool initially and once the business is settled invest in a web to print software to give your customers the freedom to design their own t-shirts.
7. Lastly, it is important to select the appropriate T-shirt store printing technique. There are 4 methods of printing that are

• Screen printing that provides consistent print. This is an expensive printing process and is a time taking process when there are four or five colors or complicated design.
• Heat transfer printing involves printing designs from the computer and transferring the same onto the T-shirt using an iron.
• Direct to garment printing uses an inkjet printer capable of printing multi-colored images direct to the T-shirt.
• Embroidered printing involves sewing designs on the T-shirt store that involves special skills though many people prefer it to the other types as it looks professional and original.

To create the edge between one’s store and the completion, it is important to focus on the designing aspects, identifying a niche and quality issues like:-

1. Shrinkage
2. Loss of color after wash
3. Cracks of prints
4. Spun from the T-shirt store after multiple washes
5. Size and measurements

What Does the Market Say?

The worldwide online fashion industry is expected to close at approximately 481.2 billion dollars in 2018 and grow up to almost 712.9 billion by 2022.

The Indian fashion industry stood a USD 70 billion in 2017 with online fashion amounting to USD 4 billion. It is estimated that the online fashion market will touch at least USD 12 billion by 2020. This means positive growth is expected from this industry.

What are the Requisite Compliances & Registrations for Establishing a Profitable Business?

• First and foremost is business registration. It can be done in the form of Company Registration with ROC. It is recommended to check at the Ministry of Commerce & Industry online whether the chosen brand name has been taken by some other manufacturer or not before initiating the registration procedure.
• Selling your products through an e-commerce operator, GST Registration is mandatory. Through a simplified online process, the application can be uploaded. Subscribe to Class 2 digital signature as it is almost mandatory to have the sales tax and service tax returns and other official documents to have a digital signature. The documents required for registering for GST are:-

1. PAN card of the business
2. ID and address proof of the directors or the proprietor
3. Business registration document
4. Address proof of the business address
5. Bank account statement
6. Digital signature class 2

As per the GOI’s regulations T-shirts store sold less than Rs. 999 attracts a GST of 5% and for T-shirts sold above Rs. 1000, the tax is 12%.

• One can also go for MSME Registration as this helps in availing various government subsidies and schemes initiated for startups etc.