It’s safe to say that if you haven’t looked at doing an online store for your band. Now is the best time to start doing your research and starting to know the in’s and out’s of the digital realm. We wrote this blog to steer your band in the right direction. Keep in mind, these principles that are listed here apply to any general online store.
It feels like just the other day where I wrote how bands can go about setting up a good merch stall at shows and man, how things have changed. A few months back you could’ve generated a healthy income without going the digital route, given your band played a few shows a month at least. No one of us is sure when things will go back to normal and until then you’re going to have to try and stay ahead of the curve!
A fairly simple and easy way of doing this is by setting up a merch store for your band/brand and generate some sales to keep the cash flow going. There are plenty of options out there to take a look at, to name a few; you can check out Bandcamp, Shopify, Bandzoogle, etc. In this blog, we’ll be taking a look at a few key points you need to keep in mind when you’re going for setting up your store.
Always keep it clean, organized, and clutter-free.
First and foremost, your online store needs to be organized. Keep the pages user friendly and easy to navigate. If things tend to be too cluttered or complicated, your store visitors will potentially just close the browser without thinking twice. If you have lots of different products on offer, create separate pages for each type of merch, and link each of them from the main store page.
Products to be featured.
Here are just a few to bear in mind. It’s definitely not necessary to start off with all these listed here. Keep them in mind as the store grows and if you want to add more potential revenue streams, this is the way to go.
Physicals
Albums/Vinyl/Cassette
Wearables
Stickers
Accessories
Digital
Digital album downloads
Sheet music
Guitar tabs
Lyric books
Lessons (Pre-recorded or Skype)
High-quality imagery is king.
Each item in your store should an image. The awesome thing about being in the music scene is that we all tend to know at least one good local photographer that you would see at shows. Consider hiring them and get them to do some cool shots of your catalogue. The great thing about using the same photographer for all your products is that it’ll create consistency in your store aesthetic and we all know consistency is key!
An alternative option might be mockups! If you know a good designer, hit them up and have them design some banging mockups for your store.
If you’re doing certain products in different colour variants, keep this in mind and showcase this! People want to see what they want to buy, and having beautiful imagery to showcase your merch is beneficial.
Have proper descriptions of your items.
You should also add context for each merch item in your store. Always include the garment specifications and size charts will also save you loads of time. Another few things to keep in mind; what’s the story behind the item? Who is the designer? You can even include the print shop you used to manufacture the product.
Have a clear call-to-action so that potential buyers can get in touch effortlessly.
Probably one of the most important aspects of your store, but this tends to be overlooked quite often sometimes. When people are shopping online, they want to know that they can easily contact the band if they might have any inquiries. On your home page, you can include a contact form that redirects to your email. You could also consider linking up other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to have fans get in touch even easier.
Now go spread the word and sell some merchandise.
Preparing and planning everything for your store is definitely going to take some time, but it’s well worth the investment. Remember to go check out other stores for some inspiration and ideas to get the ball rolling. Once you’ve made the leap and your store is set up and online, you’re going to have to focus on marketing and getting it in front of the right people. Check out our blog that covered the marketing side of things here. Use these guidelines to set up your store and all should be A-okay!