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2005-08-08 - Greensburg, PA, USA: European custom online apparel vendor Spreadshirt has established itself in the United States market. The Company has also announced the recent appointment of Mark Seremet, former president and COO of Take Two Interactive Software, as Chief Executive Officer of Spreadshirt Inc., in the U.S.
Spreadshirt was founded in 2002 in Leipzig Germany. It
is a privately held company with offices in the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The company provides businesses, non-profit organizations, artists and web site owners of any size with an advantageous new way of generating online sales, This sector of the online market is called micro-manufacturing. Spreadshirt Inc. is targeting market share currently held by CafePress.com, the most well-known existing micro-manufacturer in the U.S.
An online marketing specialist, Spreadshirt has more than 60,000 online shop partners throughout Europe. The Company received the Futuresax 2002 Award, as well as the Hewlett Packard Business Innovation Award 2004. It offers two types of design solutions:
- Spreadshop, which is a suite of free online tools that allows site owners to easily open an online store with unlimited commissions;
- Spreadshirt Designer for consumers who want to create their own merchandise, regardless of the size of the order.
"Spreadshirt simply offers a superior product than its competitors," says Mark Seremet, Chief Executive Officer of Spreadshirt. "With higher quality printing, global reach and easy-to-use online design tools, its no surprise that companies and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Texas Instruments and The One organization, whose recent Live 8 concert series has dramatically raised awareness for AIDS and extreme poverty, are all using Spreadshirt."
Spreadshirt claims to have several advantages over its competitors. The company says that it uses a fade-resistant, flexible process that enables users to print on any color item. Spreadshirt also allows for printing on the front and the back of items. It also claims a shipping Aavantage, with a guarantee of shipping within 48 hours. Due to its international locations, it can save its customers money on overseas items.
Using a drag-and-drop technique, the Spreadshirt Designer enables anyone to easily create a design or slogan right on the site and then see how it will look on the item they have selected. Most other competitors require the design to be completed in another program and then uploaded. Text too can be added by selecting fonts and colors, and simply typing them out on the product. The final image instantly appears on-screen.
Using Spreadshop software, web site owners of all kinds - from businesses to rock bands - can quickly set up their own branded online store for free. Spreadshirt takes care of all technological management as well as all aspects of merchandising from production to shipping and payments. There are no contractual agreements, inventory worries or prepayment issues.
It is likely that the level of success to be achieved by Spreadshirt in the U.S. will depend mostly on its ability to win users for the Spreadshop software. If they can build their reputation in this sector, Spreadshirt may well provide stiff competition for the existing players in the U.S. micro-manufacturing sector.
