If you’re interested in creating better branded merch, personalized retail finishing such as custom apparel boxes, tags, and bags are must-have additions to your brand’s merch line. The way your products are presented is almost as important as the quality of the merch itself. By skipping out on this extra step, you’re missing out on an opportunity to curate your entire retail experience. In this guide, we’ll go over all of the various ways you can stand out in a sea of brown boxes with iconic branded finishing.
Tag Up with Custom Apparel Tags
Screen Printed Tags
As we all know, most blank shirts come with a scratchy tag from the manufacturer. While some brands may just leave the manufacturer tag on their merch, we see a few less than stellar flaws with this. By keeping the manufacturer tag, you’re causing dissonance between your own brand and the manufacturers. The main goal of any custom merch line is to elevate your own brand with high quality branded products, but rather than having your own branding on the tag, it’s advertising the shirt manufacturer. The other main issue comes with the reflection of quality. Anyone can buy blank shirts and screen print their own designs on them, but when you walk into a high-end streetwear store, you’ll notice custom tags all throughout their apparel.
The solution we have for this is a custom screen printed label on the inside of the garment. This is not only a cost effective way to add extra branding to your apparel line, but it also demonstrates your brand is serious in delivering unique custom products. With a wide variety of sizing and design options, we highly encourage utilizing this form of customization as a bare minimum in your merch line.
Sewn Tags
To take your custom apparel to the next level, we at Mello also offer sewn-on tags as an option. These tags are great for adding a piece of signature iconography at the base of your garment or adding a branded tag on custom hats. While not for every brand, sewn tags are an excellent way to add an extra bit of visible brand cohesiveness to your merch. When making custom apparel, some brands will also opt to use sewn in labels on the inside of their garments rather than using a screen printed label.
Hang Tags
Another popular custom tag option is going for personalized hang tags. These are the tags usually affixed to the underarm or inside label of a garment. Most commonly used in boutiques or brick and mortar apparel shops, hang tags offer another opportunity for your branded merchandise to stand out. Completely customizable in terms of shape, size, and material, there are countless ways for you to get creative when creating custom hang tags. Some brands even attach small packs of brand/product info along with a sticker to their hang tags, creating a special moment of attention for anyone receiving their branded merch. While we always highly recommend opting for screen printed tags, any combination of the previous three tag variants will be sure to add iconography to a brand’s custom apparel line.
Stand out with Custom Apparel Boxes and Packaging
Shipping Boxes & Gift Boxes
Custom apparel boxes really take a brand’s merchandise to a next level. Several famous brands such as Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Apple bring in an instantly recognizable product by utilizing iconic custom boxes. Impressing an eager customer awaiting their recent online store with a well-made custom merchandise box adds value to the overall purchase experience. While a bit more similar to standard brown boxes, even Amazon has created a sense of brand identity with the simplistic smile design used in their logo.
The customization doesn’t just stop at shipping boxes. Gift boxes are also another way to add a special touch to your brand’s finished retail experience. Including artistic printed designs or simply a signature color and finishing akin to Tiffany’s blue box with a white ribbon are great examples when adding custom gift boxes to your brand’s merch line. Brands like Urban Outfitters will also release limited edition gift box designs varying by season or occasion, adding another opportunity to get creative with your brand’s merch line.
Custom Bags and Mailers
Personalized bags take retail finishing to an even greater height. If your branded merch is smaller and not typically sent out in a box, designing custom mailers is a great option for delivering the same value as custom boxes. If your brand has a brick and mortar retail store, you can also take advantage of custom retail bags. Customized paper bags with your logo or creative designs are a great cost-effective option for stores that sell smaller products or have a large volume of transactions. In addition to paper bags, poly bags are another choice that is perfect for brands with a high-end luxury image. Poly bags can be used in both a retail setting and in online purchases to invoke a sense of unique identity for your brand’s customers. As a full-stack merch company, Mello offers all of these custom box options in addition to our top notch screen printed and embroidered goods.
The Most Universal Brand Enhancer: Custom Stickers
By far one of the best low-cost, multi-purpose tools for building your brand are custom stickers. Depending on your brand’s core aesthetic, stickers can be used in a variety of ways for your custom merch line. Brands focused on more artistic designs and merch can utilize them as actual products in their store in the form of sticker packs or as freebies with every purchase. Some companies will use them in swag bags for trade shows and other networking events.
Stickers can even be incorporated into a product’s packaging as well. Brands with bottled products or blank containers such as candles can use printed stickers as their actual product label, making customization a breeze. If custom boxes or packaging is out of reach for your brand’s current budget or needs, utilizing stickers or even custom tape can also help you add a personalized touch to your shipping process. No matter the need, the opportunities are endless with custom stickers, so we highly encourage them for any merch line.
With all of this being said, we hope you feel inspired to bring your branded merch into a new horizon. Creating a full line of custom apparel and branded goods is a lot of work, but the Mello team is always here to help. Incorporating custom apparel boxes, tags, and other forms of retail finishing into your merch line is important when striving for a non-generic, elevated aesthetic. No idea is too out of reach, and we’ll always try to make those dreams become a reality with your promotional products. Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. To get more priceless info and stay up to date with our community, subscribe to our newsletter!
If you’re ready to start your next project and build better branded merch, fill out our quote form. Our team will reach out to you shortly, and ensure we create something great.
Until next time, keep it Mello!