Three years ago we introduced online stores to our customers as a new way to raise funds and raise spirits at school through spirit wear. Each online store is completely customized to the school and is guaranteed seamless setup, with a spirit wear consultant designing, building, and managing your store at no cost. With an online storefront and easy online payment options, the worries of bulk orders, leftover inventory, and payment collection are a thing of the past–making your store (and life) easier than ever.

Don't just take it from us! Listen to Emily's story from State Bridge Elementary:

To help make your next online store a success, we have looked back at our most successful stores. So, without further ado, here are the 3 common trends we have seen consistently gain the highest adoption and raise the most funds:

1. Limit Your Product Mix

The options for your store are endless- short sleeve t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, hoodies, polos, crewnecks, water bottles, tote bags, and more! However, sometimes less is more. For each store, focus on a few key items and do them really well. Remember, there is no limit to the amount of online stores you can put up in a year! Put one up each season that features the best products for the weather.

The most tried and true products tend to be the basics. Some of our favorites for this year are:

• Bella+Canvas Ringspun Cotton T-Shirt

• Face Covers (learn more about this offering here!)

• Crewneck Sweatshirt

• Performance Shirt

• Baseball Cap

2. DEcIDE ON THE RIGHT Design

Before you go send in your same school logo again, think about ways to get creative and make a design people haven’t seen before! Does your school have a saying like #BearcatPride or “Long Live the Lions”? Pair that with your logo and bam! something new and exciting has just hit the online store shelves for your school. If you are looking to get even more creative (and trust us, we’ve seen it all) think of fun ways to incorporate your mascot.

Whatever it is, decide upfront what your goal is: something timeless for it to last through the years, trendy to remember the year it came from, or minimalistic to attract everyone! 

3. Advertise Your Store Before Launch

Each online store has an average run-time of two weeks. However, that does not mean you should keep it a secret until then. The most successful online stores do one thing really well: anticipation. Start talking about your store at least one week before actual launch. Put a note in folders, send an email, talk about it on your social channels, whatever you can do to get the word out!

Have questions? Learn more here!

don't forget to check out our product catalog!