Catalog category
Promotional apparel, and what actually decides it
Apparel is the anchor of most merch programs and the category with the most ways to get it wrong: sizes, colorways, fabric and four decoration methods that do not behave alike.
- Minimums
- Set by the supplier on each listing, enforced in the cart
- Decoration
- Whichever the listing supports: screen print, embroidery, DTF, heat transfer
- Variants
- Colorways and sizes come from the listing, not from a swatch library
Best for
When distributors reach for apparel
Apparel earns its place when the program needs visible identity rather than a handout: a team that will wear the thing, an onboarding kit that has to feel like a welcome, a collection that needs one recognisable hero item for the rest to hang off.
- Onboarding kits and internal culture programs
- Event wear where the brand has to be worn, not carried
- Multi-item collections that need one hero product
What buyers compare
Fabric, fit and how the mark will actually sit
Two garments at the same price can land very differently once the logo is on them. A fine embroidered mark on a heather fleece and the same mark screen printed on a dark polo are different products to a buyer, and the difference is easier to settle with a picture than with a paragraph.
- Decoration method changes how the mark reads on the fabric
- Colorway matters most on dark garments and on light artwork
- Perceived quality is mostly fabric weight and fit, not price
Minimums and sizes
The two places an apparel order goes wrong late
Apparel adds a size curve to every decision, and a size curve interacts with the supplier's minimum. MerchMaker takes colorways, sizes and SKUs from the listing and puts the supplier's minimum in the cart, so a quantity that will not be produced is refused before the buyer pays rather than after.
- Sizes and colorways come from the supplier listing
- The minimum is the supplier's, and the cart refuses a line under it
- The buyer sees the required quantity while they can still change it
How to present it
Show fewer garments, decorated
A long blank catalog invites comparison shopping; a short assortment with the client's mark on each piece invites a decision. Pair one hero garment with one lower-cost companion, and show both in the colorways the client would realistically choose.
- One hero garment plus one companion beats a wall of options
- Show the decorated render, in the colorway under discussion
- Put a value and a premium tier side by side if the budget is unsettled
Questions
Are there minimums on apparel?
Yes, and they are the supplier's own. Each listing carries its minimum quantity, and MerchMaker refuses a cart line below it before payment rather than raising it afterwards.
Which decoration methods are available?
Whichever the supplier's listing supports for that product. Apparel commonly allows screen print, embroidery, DTF and heat transfer, and the listing is the authority for any given item.
Will the mockup match the garment colour?
It is rendered from the supplier's photograph of that colorway, so a dark garment is judged as a dark garment. A person accepts the render before a buyer sees it.
See the logo on the product first.
MerchMaker is invitation-only while we onboard distributors one at a time. Book a demo and we will set up your catalog with you.