Entertainment Firms Tap Amazon For T-Shirt Printing

To help move their merchandise closer to the point of supply in their worldwide supply chains, entertainment firms are increasingly tapping a T-shirt printing service from Amazon. The eCommerce retailer’s on-demand printing service, which is called Merch by Amazon, prints the apparel when an order arrives, Reuters reported.

Gaston Kroub, an intellectual property lawyer, said per the report, “You can list overnight on Amazon all the merchandise that’s for sale, and then as you book sales, you just make it and ship it. It completely cuts out that whole traditional supply chain.”

Through the service, content creators such as pay TV channels and video game makers don’t need to commit upfront to an expansive merchandise inventory. As a result, firms can offer niche options that might not justify a wide distribution.

The format is said to offer designs spanning 15 sizes and 21 colors without the need for content creators or brands to manage them. The company is reportedly interested in brands ranging from musicians to consumer products, as well as influencers on social media who have at least 100,000 followers.

The news comes after it was reported last year that Amazon was closing in on $30 billion in gross apparel and footwear sales, which could put it ahead of longtime market leader Walmart (the latest Reuters report since noted that “Amazon has overtaken Walmart Inc as the most-shopped clothing retailer in the United States”). At the time, it was reported that the online retailer had control over the eCommerce segment of the category.

Wells Fargo’s Ike Boruchow wrote in a note to clients, “Amazon dominates the online market for apparel and footwear (35 percent of share, or four times the No. 2 player), and they even have remarkably high market share in the total apparel/footwear market in the U.S.”