Best eCommerce Platform For Print On Demand Sellers in 2024
Print on demand is growing year on year and the range of products on offer is growing.
But to sell you need to use an ecommerce platform or an online marketplace.
I’ve used many different platforms and can tell you from my experience that not all ecommerce platforms for print on demand are created equal, nor do they have the same functionality. You also need to watch out for the hidden costs.
So, let me take you through my the obvious and not-so-obvious contenders and show you who I use to this day and why.
Start your print on demand business the right way.
Best eCommerce Platforms for Print On Demand
Shopify dominates the US ecommerce market, but is it the best for print on demand?
We compare the top platforms and throw in one of our favorites (Launch Cart) for good measure.
Shopify – best overall – but expensive
Launch Cart – best for Printful and Printify sellers
Wix – best for ease of use
Shopify
Shopify is synonymous with eCommerce for many online sellers.
The market leader with ~28% of the US market,
Shopify Features
Hassle-free Setup and Seamless Operation – The platform offers a user-friendly interface that enshrines efficiency, guiding users through the setup process step by step to ensure their online store is up and running swiftly.
Exquisite Themes in the
Product Management Mastery – Merchants can effortlessly populate their store, make updates, optimize product listings, and oversee the entire product offering with minimal clicks.
Stalwart Security – Shopify’s commitment to security extends from secure payment processing to compliance with PCI standards, ensuring peace of mind for all transactions.
Lighting-Fast Performance –
Mobile Commerce Reaady – Shopify guarantees that stores are mobile-ready, catering to the vast majority of users who browse and buy on their handheld devices.
Abundance of Apps – The Shopify App Store brings endless possibilities for marketing, SEO, inventory management, customer service, and more, all designed to streamline business operations and enhance the shopping experience.
Customer Service Whenever You Need It – Should you encounter any bumps on your e-commerce journey,
Shopify Print On Demand Integrations
Shopify integrates with pretty much all POD suppliers out there. These include:
- Gelato
- Printful
- Printify
- SPOD
- Teelaunch
- CustomCat
- Fuel POD
- Subliminator
- ShineOn
- Gooten
- Inkthreadable
- & many more
Pricing
Shopify offers three price plans.
After a recent price increase,
Basic
– Monthly price: $39/month
– Credit card rates (Online): 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
– Credit card rates (In-person): 2.7% per transaction
Shopify Plan
– Monthly price: $105/month
– Credit card rates (Online): 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction
– Credit card rates (In-person): 2.5% per transaction
Advanced
– Monthly price: $399/month
– Credit card rates (Online): 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction
– Credit card rates (In-person): 2.4% per transaction
One thing to keep in mind with
For example, wheelio an email pop-up tool costs $14.99 per month on top of your
What Customers Are Saying
Shopify CJ’s Take
The powerhouse of eCommerce, but a price tag to match. You may think $39 pm isnt alot but when you then have to layer on the cost of key apps, it becomes expensive.
But, more print on demand companies integrate with
If I had a proven niche that was bringing in sales, then
Who is it for:
- People with deep pockets or an established store
- Anyone selling using a POD supplier that doesn’t integrate with other platforms.
Launch Cart
Launch Cart is a lesser known ecommerce platform, but one thats going places.
With some industry disrupting plans Launch Cart provides a great way to get your print on demand journey up and running, fast.
Check out our full Launch Cart Review
Launch Cart Features
Unlimited Products: Launch Cart offers the freedom to list and sell an unlimited number of products on your online store.
0% Platform Fee: Unlike many other eCommerce platforms, Launch Cart does not charge any platform transaction fees. on paid plans.
Customize Transactional Emails: With its powerful tools, you can personalize and customize transactional emails such as order confirmations, shipping notifications, and thank you messages.
Multi-Currency Support: You can sell in over 30 different currencies, making it convenient for international customers to purchase from your online store.
Built-in Native Apps: Launch Cart comes with a range of built-in native apps that enhance the functionality of your online store. From customer reviews and list building to upselling and live selling features, these apps make it easier for you to drive sales and engage with your customers.
Launch Cart Print On Demand Integrations
As the moment, Launch Cart only integrates with Printful and Printify.
You can manually export orders though.
I’ve spoken to Greg Writer (the CEO & Founder) about this and there are more integrations coming.
Launch Cart Pricing
Launch Cart pricing starts at $0 with a free plan that you can actually sell on. Not a fake trial.
The lift off plan at $27 per month is $12 cheaper than
What Customers Are Saying About Launch Cart
Launch Cart – CJ’s Take
Launch Cart doesnt have all the bells and whistles that
Some of the functionality built in to Launch Cart as standard costs extra on
Who is it for:
- Anyone who wants to sell with just Printful and Printify
- People who want to test out a new POD niche
- Anyone wanting to spin up a store quickly
- Me – I have multiple Launch Cart stores:
WooCommerce
WooCommerce isnt actually an ecommerce platform, its a plugin / extension for the ever popular WordPress.
By adding WooCommerce to WordPress you get a fully stacked ecommerce site perfect for print on demand.
WooCommerce Features
Sales Order Management – Comprehensive sales order system that allows you to track and manage your orders efficiently.
Product and Order Analysis – Gain valuable insights into your products and orders with WooCommerce’s analytical tools to analyze sales, traffic, and customer behavior.
Product Reviews and Comparison – Read real user reviews and compare features.
Flexible Payment Options – WooCommerce offers a range of payment options, including, bank transfers (BACS), cheques, and major credit cards.
Inventory Management – Enhance your site by managing your inventory effectively with WooCommerce.
Seamless Integration with WordPress – Built on the powerful WordPress platform, WooCommerce seamlessly integrates with your existing WordPress website.
Mobile Friendly – WooCommerce ensures a responsive and mobile-friendly design for your store, enhancing the user experience on smartphones and tablets.
WooCommerce Print On Demand Integrations
Not as many print on demand companies integrate with WooCommerce as they do with
These include:
- Gelato
- Printful
- Printify
- A few more
- Gooten
- CustomCat
- Prodigi
WooCommerce Pricing
WooCommerce Pricing is a little complicated. In theory the plugin is free, but to use it you need a WordPress site and that needs:
- Webhosting – From $2pm to as much as you want to pay
- A Theme – If you want a pretty site without the faff, a theme is require $50 per year +
- Additional Plugins to optimize your site or add functionality – these can range frrom free to hundreds of $$ a year.
What Customers Are Saying
With over 4,000 reviews and an average score of 4.7 out of 5, cusomers love WooCommerce.
WooCommerce – CJ’s Take
WooCommerce isn’t for the faint-hearted as the learning curve is steep. However, so are the rewards. With more control than any other platform, Woo has its benefits.
Who is it for:
- The technically capable
- Those who already have an established WordPress site
- Those who want full control or are selling items that are (legal) but against
Shopify policies.
WIX
Wix launched as a website builder targeting those with low technical skills who wanted a great-looking site.
Years on, they added ecommerce functionality and print on demand apps.
Wix Features
Ease of Use: Wix stands out for its user-friendly interface, enabling anyone – regardless of technical expertise – to effortlessly create their own website.
Templates Galore: Wix boasts an extensive collection of templates, allowing users to choose from a wide variety of professional designs.
Design Flexibility: Customize every aspect of your website, from fonts to color palettes, ensuring it reflects your brand or personal style.
Unified Database Management: Wix offers an all-in-one website-building experience by providing hosting, domain registration, and website management in one convenient location.
SEO and Mobile Optimization: Boost your website’s visibility and reach with Wix’s built-in SEO tools.
Channel Hopping: Sell via facebook, instagram, Amazon and many other selling channels.
Wix Answers and Logo Maker: Stay connected with your audience using Wix Answers, which allows you to address customer inquiries efficiently.
Wix Print On Demand Integrations
I was surprised to see that Wix integrates with 21 different POD companies, including:
- Gelato
- Printful
- Printify
- Shirtee
- Inkthreadable
- Prodigi
- Artsadd
- Yoycol
- Huge POD
- 215
- InterestPrint
- & many more
Wix Pricing
Wix pricing starts at $16 per month for their Light plan, but you need Core or Business in order to sell using Wix.
At $32 per month the Business plan comes in $7 per month cheaper than
What Customers are Saying about Wix
Wix CJ’s Take
Whilst many may turn their noses up at this easy-to-use website builder, I think it’s a really good option.
Who is it for:
- Non-techies that want a beautiful-looking site
- Those selling across social platforms
- Anyone selling using the China-based Artsadd, InterestPrint, and Printy6 (not many platforms integrate with these).
Squarespace
Squarespace is similar to Wix in that it is a website builder, aiming to enable those less tech-savvy to build professional-looking sites.
Squarespace Features
Sleek and Modern Designs: Squarespace offers a wide range of modern and minimalistic templates that can be easily customized to match your brand identity.
Integrated Shopping Cart: Squarespace provides an integrated shopping cart feature, allowing your customers to browse your products, add items to their cart, checkout, and make payments without ever leaving your website.
Comprehensive Feature Set: With Squarespace Commerce, you get access to a comprehensive set of features from product inventory management and order fulfillment to customer management and analytics.
Mobile-Optimized Shopping: With the increasing use of mobile devices Squarespace ensures that your online store is fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices, providing a seamless shopping experience for your customers on smartphones and tablets.
Powerful SEO Tools: Squarespace provides powerful built-in SEO tools so you can easily optimize your product descriptions, meta tags, page titles, and URLs to improve your search engine rankings and attract more potential customers.
Robust Analytics: Squarespace offers robust analytics tools to track your store’s performance, including sales, visitor demographics, conversion rates, and more.
Squarespace Print On Demand Integrations
Squarespace integrates with a few key POD suppliers which should give most sellers more than enough print on demand products for their POD store.
- Gelato
- Printful
- Printify
- Art Of Where
- Spod
- & many more
Squarespace Pricing
Squarespace offers a number of tiers for its ecommerce platform.
There is a 14 day free trial so its free to use to test out the platform.
Monthly subscription plans start at $33 for a fully functioning ecommerce business however this comes with a 3% transaction fee.
The Squarespace Commerce plan, $3 more at $36 per month, removes the transaction fees and adds conversion boosting features like:
- Display related products
- Product wait lists
- Low stock notifications to drive urgency.
At $36 pm Squarespace feels expensive given that
What Customers are saying about Squarespace
Squarespace – CJ’s Take
I wouldn’t choose Squarespace if I was to start selling with print-on-demand companies, as I feel the other options available offer better value for money and are dedicated ecommerce platforms.
Who is it for:
- Squarespace site owners looking to start selling
- Those who want a platform that is easy to use and prioritize the aesthetic of their site over cost & functionality.
Wrap Up
If you want to start a print-on-demand business then you need a stable easy-to-use ecommerce platform.
You want to choose the best print-on-demand company for your POD business and then choose your ecommerce platform, ensuring that it integrates with your chosen POD supplier/s.
Whilst many will blindly choose Shopify, Launch Cart, and Wix are solid options for both simplicity and those on a cheaper budget.
Third-party apps mean that