What should I look at in a print-on-demand store’s product catalogue sprawl?

Start with a simple ranking. Export every product with its orders, revenue and returns, and sort from best to worst. Usually a small group does the work and a long tail does almost nothing. Ask the seller whether the tail was a deliberate test strategy or just what piled up.

Next, read some of the tail. Look for near duplicates, outdated themes, poor mockups, wrong sizes and designs that borrow from well-known characters or phrases. Any design that may copy someone else’s work is a risk that comes with the store, so ask how designs were created and checked. Your lawyer can say what to do about those you find.

Consider the upkeep. Each listing needs correct images, descriptions and links to the supplier’s product. When the supplier changes a blank or discontinues it, the listing breaks. Ask how often that is checked. A tidy store may convert better and be simpler to run, but cutting listings can also remove traffic. Test one section at a time rather than deleting everything. Plan this for after closing. Write down which sections you would trim first and why, and keep that list as a reference for your first month.

Key takeaways

• Rank every product by orders and revenue to find the working core.
• Read the tail for duplicates, broken mockups and borrowed designs.
• Ask who checks listings when supplier products change.