A Store on the web. How Merchify aims to help creators build merchandise

After a decade of making music, when Chennai-based alternative band TheF16s, decided to create merchandise for their fans, they were at a loss.

There was the issue of finding the right vendor to produce the product, figuring out investments, resolving delivery logistics and so on.

But the four member band — vocalist Josh Fernandez, guitarist Abhinav Krishnaswamy, bassist Sashank Manohar and keyboard artiste Harshan Radhakrishnan — were clear that beyond their distinctive music they also wanted to offer merchandise like T-shirts and mugs to their fans. That was when they came across Merchify.in.

TheF16s’ merch were sold and worn by fans at an event

An arm of Coveritup, which produces pop-culture mobile cases, Merchify.in is a platform that helps anyone create merchandise with zero investments.

It worked for TheF16s. As band member Sashank describes, "Merchify was extremely easy to use as it offered a design interface, took care of the logistics and it also manufactured the merch. We soon decided to create our store here."

Monetising passions

It’s not just artistes — a whole host of creators who shot to fame during the pandemic are producing merchandise. Even as Covid-19 led to job losses, the creator economy boomed as people decided to use online platforms to build a community of their own and monetise their ‘passion’.

They created content such as paywalled articles, e-books, newsletters, digital courses, podcasts, or videos, and distributed them across different channels run by tech companies.

As the thirst for digital content rose, fans then slowly started buying merchandise of their favourite creators. In India though, there has been a catch as print-on-demand suppliers have generally focused on B2B players rather than the public. And here’s where Chennai-based Merchify.in aims to tap in.

Coveritup Founder Ronak Sarda says, “It is for any individual, be it a content creator, a musician, a visual artist, a writer, or an influencer who wants to monetise their passion.”

Fans have slowly started buying physical products or merchandise of their favourite creators. Here’s a merch created on Merchify

How did the idea come up? Ronak recalls that when he was building Coveritup with a capital of just ₹21,000, “everything was a hustle because nothing came easy”. He gave his all to run his business — build a D2C platform, speak to vendors, learn to sell, and build a community.

The experience gave him the spark to offer a solution to budding entrepreneurs dreaming to start a merchandising business. Thus was born Merchify.in, where you can “start a store without any capital within 20 minutes”.

Indie musician Shantanman sold his merch made by Merchify during his tour

How does it work

Consider you are a podcaster aiming to produce your merchandise such as a T-shirt or mug. Then you can sign up at Merchify.in, “design the merch on their Canva-like tools, set up a customised online store, and go live”.

Ronak says, “We receive orders from fans, print-on-demand and ship within 72 hours and also handle customer care. Our platform will integrate the products into social media platforms where creators and followers engage.”

A one-stop solution

A unique aspect of Merchify.in is that it largely focuses on creators, although Sharan Nichani, the platform’s Project Head, insists that even larger companies or perhaps NGOs too can create their merch. Merchify’s competitors, the team feels, don’t generally offer a “one-stop solution for merch or address the internet creator market”.

Founder Ronak Sarda (L) with his Merchify team

“The print-on-demand providers focus on business needs rather than activating creator communities,” says Sharan. “Tech companies understand social commerce and internet creators, but they can’t provide print-on-demand cost-effectively.”

He ends on an optimistic note that when a creator runs his own merch, it attracts more loyal fans.

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