Custom Ink announced today that it is launching an end-to-end platform for promotional products distributors called Swag Space. Swag Space provides what Custom Ink calls “a white-label solution designed to meet the business needs of promo distributors,” including online product catalogs, order management, inventory, production, distribution, and storage.
The program is built upon the Swag.com infrastructure and technology, which Custom Ink acquired in 2021.
From what Jeremy Parker, founder of Swag Space, and co-founder and former CEO of Swag.com, says, Swag Space is meant to bridge the gap between the traditional supplier-distributor model within the promotional products industry and the direct-to-consumer platforms that have emerged within recent years.
“We’ve spent eight years and millions of dollars building the industry’s leading e-commerce platform for swag,” Parker said in a press release. “We’ve streamlined the entire buying, production, and distribution experience, and now we want to share that platform with other promo distributors, so they can use that same technology, scale, production, and distribution chain to power the success of their own businesses.”
Within the platform, distributors can upload logos and brand colors, and then set their pricing, and Swag Space will create an e-commerce site for the customers to choose their products, similarly to how Custom Ink operates for end-users looking to buy products directly.
After a design process that includes automated design or image enhancement, Swag Space handles the production; and order management via a “smart dashboard” for distributors to track orders, distribution, and active customers and leads.
One of the more interesting aspects of the whole thing is also that it’s integrated with Shopify, which has popped up as a source for multiple big-name branding endeavors, like musicians and more. Custom Ink’s statement says that distributors who use the Swag.com platform can automatically launch company stores through an integrated Shopify program.
Additionally, they can create custom boxes and kits for multiple items going to customers through an online tool, matching the demand for kitting and one-stop-shopping that has become especially popular after the pandemic.
“Swag Space is the first end-to-end platform in the custom swag industry,” Marc Katz, CEO of Custom Ink, said in the press release. “Our business was built on digital innovation, and we want to help other swag distributors benefit from our experience and leverage our infrastructure. Swag Space not only improves the buyer and distributor experience, it also eliminates the operational stress and wasted time spent on inventory snafus, supply chain glitches, and production problems. By simplifying the process and reducing costs, Swag Space offers a promo product business-in-a-box for distributors of all sizes.”
Swag Space will be at the PPAI Expo in January to perform in-person demos of the platform, as well as offering virtual demos on its website.
This is an interesting development in the promotional products industry. For a long time, those direct-to-consumer platforms like Custom Ink or Vistaprint have operated outside of the traditional supplier-distributor-buyer model. This brings those companies a little closer to the standard model, but in a way that still embraces technological innovation and a desire for convenience.
It’s clear, in conversation with Parker, that he and Custom Ink don’t see this as something that would damage the traditional distributor model. Rather, they see it as the natural progression and evolution of it into the 21st Century, where convenience and web presences are non-negotiables.
There’s also the aspect of focusing on the things that many end-users and distributors alike are looking for: one-stop shops for kitting project, simplified production and sourcing after tumultuous COVID years, and simple order tracking.
It will be interesting to see where a program like this fits in as programs like company stores, or e-commerce platforms where end-users get to select their own branded promos rather than making it a guessing game for distributors, gain steam.
