| The resurgence of graphic tees is the big fashion | | | | designed to provide some background "noise" by |
| story of the last ten years. Years ago, t-shirts with | | | | distracting the customers a little, but the end goal is |
| graphics on them were relegated to the status of | | | | to keep them focused on making a purchase. |
| tacky party favors and walking billboards ("Oh, would | | | | Online stores offering graphic tees face a different |
| you like to buy the world a Coke?"). But now, graphic | | | | challenge. They can't provide music (visitors don't like |
| tees are an increasingly popular part of the | | | | it -- and usually have their own) or much in the way |
| fashion-aware wardrobe. They're an effective way | | | | of displays (visitors often tune out background |
| to express a whole range of ideas, from support for | | | | images). So to sell their shirts, they have to drive the |
| a home team or home town to good taste to | | | | right kind of traffic to their sites, and then present |
| general weirdness. | | | | their graphic tees in a compelling way. Fortunately, |
| Most graphic tees embody a lot of what makes | | | | online stores have some hidden advantages: although |
| certain kinds of design uniquely American: they're | | | | they can't overwhelm visitors with graphics, they can |
| cheap and easy to mass-produce, but it's also trivial | | | | vary their graphics much more frequently. This is not |
| to make them radically different from one another. | | | | just a quantitative difference: it creates a qualitative |
| This means that they will be ubiquitous, on average, | | | | difference in sales technique. |
| but still be stratified internally: even though everyone | | | | When selling graphic tees online, it's possible to grab |
| is wearing graphic tees, the shirts Ivy League | | | | your viewers' attention and maintain it for a long |
| students wear will be different from the shirts that | | | | period of time by experimenting with different |
| blue collar workers wear. This sets up an interesting | | | | displays and layouts. You can even afford to go for |
| dichotomy: they're very popular in total, but that | | | | edgy, controversial new looks -- at worst, you have |
| doesn't mean that any given t-shirt will be popular | | | | to revert to your previous layout; at best, you get |
| with any given prospective customer. | | | | lots of free publicity and traffic. |
| The companies that sell graphic tees have learned to | | | | Pursuing controversy isn't the only way to sell online, |
| navigate this tricky market quite skillfully. They | | | | whether you're selling graphic tees or other clothes, |
| carefully consider their target market, and try to | | | | or even something completely unrelated. In fact, |
| design the entire shopping experience around getting | | | | many online retailers thrive with good web-compatible |
| the right person to view the right clothes (in the right | | | | design but a more brick-and-mortar 'vibe'. This middle |
| mood, too). Most retail stores accomplish this through | | | | ground is one of the most effective ways to sell |
| a variety of tricks: they use store displays and music | | | | graphic tees, since it combines the flexibility of online |
| to set the mood, hire engaging sales people to make | | | | stores with the atmosphere of an established retail |
| their customers feel properly upbeat, and present | | | | location. |
| graphic t-shirts in a visually appealing manner. All this is | | | | |