Custom T-shirt Printing Market - Industry Dynamics, Market Size, And Opportunity Forecast To 2030

Global custom t-shirt printing market was valued at $4,867.35 million in 2021 and is estimated to generate revenue of US$ 10,366.26 million by 2030 at a CAGR of 9.12% during the forecast period.

The popularity of custom t-shirt printing has grown exponentially in recent years. Thanks to advances in technology, it’s now possible to print high-quality designs on t-shirts using a variety of methods. This has made custom t-shirt printing more accessible and affordable than ever before. As a result, there’s been a surge in demand for custom t-shirt printing services. Businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of the ability to create their own branded t-shirts, and many individuals are using custom t-shirts as a way to express their personality and style.

There is a growing demand for custom t-shirt printing market, especially from small businesses and start-ups. This is because custom t-shirts can be used as a marketing tool to promote brands. They can also be given away as promotional items at events such as trade shows or product launches.

Another reason for the growing demand for custom t-shirt printing is that it is now easier and more affordable than ever before. With the advances in technology, businesses no longer have to pay high prices to have their own designs printed on t-shirts. There are many online companies that offer custom t-shirt printing services at very reasonable rates.

Market Dynamics 

Drivers

Rising Usage of Custom Designed T-Shirts for Branding Purpose

Businesses can increase brand awareness and attract attention by printing their logo and other brand-related information on custom T-shirts. They convey the brand message in a more relaxed and accessible way. 

Custom products are widely used by businesses around the world for various after-hours promotional activities and marketing strategies. For example, a Coca-Cola ad featured 150 of Australia's most famous names swapped for the Coca-Cola logo. The promotion took place in more than 70 countries and sold billions of registered cans. Personalization is the secret of this campaign's success. The strategies chosen by the marketing team are therefore much easier to put into practice when selling personalized T-shirts thanks to the affordability compared to other forms of advertising such as billboards and television.

With the rising growth of entertainment industry, a large customer base of movie buffs, celebrity fans, and TV series fans, willing to pay big bucks for T-shirts with their favourite quotes and slogans printed on them, has greatly contributed to the expansion of the printed T-shirt market.

TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, and Stranger Things are still on the air, but fans want to wear custom clothing like hoodies, tank tops, and T-shirts related to the shows and characters. Having a T-shirt maker tool helps consumers create the designs they want. With emerging innovations, the users will be able to preview how the design will look on the T-shirt before proceeding to print the final T-shirt.

Trends

Crypto Art and Anime Design are the Top Trending Design in Custom Printed T-shirt Market 

The only clothing that never goes out of fashion is a T-shirt. Graphic print tees, oversized tees, and bodycon tees have always been on trend and favored by people of all ages. Tailored t-shirts have been a popular concept for quite some time, but the trend is still on the rise and they are innovating to cater to customer preferences. 

Custom printed T-shirt designs are most favored by crypto art and anime character designs.

Crypto tees and Anime tees are the latest trends and the most custom printed tees on the market. Cryptocurrencies have grown exponentially in the last few years. Recently, interest in cryptocurrencies has also sparked the fashion industry. With the rise of NFT art, many people are looking for T-shirts inspired by Crypto and his NFT art in the global custom t-shirt printing market.

Also, when it comes to custom kid’s t-shirt listings, demand for anime t-shirts is still going strong. Anime T-shirts are expected to remain a strong contender on the list of print-on-demand t-shirt design trends. They've solidified themselves as a go-to style over the past year. Japanese T-shirt styles often overlap here, but unlike anime, they evoke classic Japanese woodblock print aesthetics rather than contemporary characters.

Restraints

Problem Associated with Designs and Printing 

Printed t-shirts are among the most popular and well-known by people around the world thanks to their attractiveness, affordability, and comfort, There is a growing need for digital t-shirt printing, but companies face many challenges to meet this need including design, size, quality, typography, and fonts.

Design Decisions - T-shirt design is important as it is the first thing the end user sees and is the basis for the decision. This problem commonly affects the revenue, growth, and reputation of most t-shirt companies. Choosing the right design is very important for the T-shirt industry.

Image Quality – One of the most common challenges faced by T-shirt companies is high quality custom t-shirts. The image may not have enough pixels to print a good quality photo on a t-shirt, has noticeable artifacts, or is of low resolution. 

Market Segmentation

Design Analysis

The graphic segment is expected hold the highest share of the global custom t-shirt printing market as it appeals most to the young population. Moreover, evolving designs under graphic t-shirt will continue to boost the market growth. Currently, the proliferation of pre-printed graphics under customized t-shirt designs is also witnessing high demand as they are comparatively easy and involve printing of existing design without any further modifications.

In line with this, major fashion designers & market players are pressured to bring innovation in this segment to occupy larger customer base for their product.

Printing Technique Analysis

Screen printing segment held the highest 62.4% share of the global custom t-shirt printing market in 2021 thanks to high color vibrancy and high print quality. As this makes the use of thicker ink, they are majorly preferred in cases of dark colored apparels as well.

However, the digital printing segment is expected to grow with the largest CAGR during the forecast period. This is attributed mainly to rising popularity of digital printing for customized t-shirts. This process is under high adoption by service provider as it includes computerized processing & printing of artwork on product surface directly. This printing technique is also fast & most affordable too. 

Sales Channel Analysis

Based on sales channel, the online segment dominates the global custom T-shirt printing market due to the growing number of startups and small players providing customized printing in the world. The physical stores for custom printing have recently taken the market with more numbers of retail stores coming up with each passing year across several countries in Asia Pacific and North America.

End user Analysis

For better understanding of the global custom t-shirt printing market, the end user segment is bifurcated into commercial and personal segments. The commercial segment is dominating the market due to the growing demand for corporates and event management as they place the order in bulks. Moreover, schools, universities, colleges, wildlife funds, and support groups print these t-shirts in large quantity. In short, the custom t-shirts serve as a promotional mode for corporates and many social causes. 

The commercial segment holds nearly generates around 65% revenue of the of the global custom t-shirt printing market due to the higher demand and affordability for the same.

Regional Analysis:

Asia Pacific is holding the lion’s share of the global custom t-shirt printing market due to strong presence of large customer base, rapidly increasing number of corporates events and offices, school events, and growth of per capita income and rising affordability.

The main reasons behind this high demand are:

• The large population in Asia Pacific: There are over 4.4 billion people living in this region, which is almost 60% of the world’s total population. This means that there is a large potential for manufacturers in custom t-shirt printing market to tap into.
• The growing economy in Asia Pacific: Thanks to the region’s strong economic growth especially in India, China, and Indonesia, more and more people are now able to afford custom t-shirts. In fact, between 2015 and 2021, the number of middle-class households in Asia Pacific grew by around 50%.
• The rise of e-commerce in Asia Pacific: With the increasing penetration of internet and mobile phones in the region, more people are now shopping online for their clothes. This includes custom t-shirts, which can be easily ordered and shipped to consumers in Asia Pacific.

With such a large and growing market for custom t-shirts in Asia Pacific, it is no surprise that many manufacturers are looking to set up or expand their operations in this region. 

Competitive Landscape of Global Custom T-shirt Printing Market

Carhartt, Inc., CustomInk, LLC, Printful, Inc, Redbubble & Spreadshirt Group are Some of the major players in the global custom t-shirt printing market. Wherein, top 5 players are holding 37.8% market share. 

List of Key Companies Profiled:

• CafePress, Inc.
• Carhartt, Inc.
• CustomInk, LLC
• Nike, Inc.
• Polos Inc.
• Printful, Inc.
• RushOrder Tees
• Spreadshirt Group
• UberPrints, Inc.
• Other Prominent Players

Recent Developments in Custom T-Shirt Printing Market

• In June 2022, Carhartt, Inc, a leading producer of workwear including custom T shirt designs, unveiled a trial programme to design goods depending on the work function or application of the clothing using the DXM customisation programme.
• In June 2022, Spread Group, a player engaged in print-on-demand goods for individuals and as businesses introduced a technology permitting individualization.
• In November 2021, CustomInk LLC, a pioneer under personalized apparel business, acquired Swag.com, a promotional giveaways firm.  After this acquisition, the company adopted"gifting-as-service" business model to boost the custom T shirt printing business.

Segmentation Overview

The Global Custom T-shirt Printing Market is sub-segmented into:

By Design

• Graphic Designed
• Artwork

By Printing Technique

• Screen Printing
• Digital Printing
• Plot Printing

By Sales channel

• Online
• Offline

By End User

• Commercial
• Personal

By Region segment of the Global Custom T-shirt Printing Market is sub-segmented into: 

• North America
  • The U.S.
  • Canada
  • Mexico
• Europe
  • The U.K.
  • Germany
  • France
  • Spain
  • Russia
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific 
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • Australia & New Zealand
  • South Korea
  • ASEAN
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• South America
  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Rest of Latin America
• Middle East & Africa
  • UAE
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Rest of Middle East & Africa