Soaring from $9.8 billion to $47.1 billion, how has a niche business become a "money printer" for cross-border sellers?

The myth of "zero inventory, high profit, and low returns" has swept the cross - border e - commerce industry with the POD model.

Text by Han Xiao

Edited by He Yang

"Since the beginning of this year, the number of new sellers on our POD seller service platform, HICUSTOM, has increased by more than 100%. A seller who runs a blanket POD store on Amazon and SHEIN, without a team, can achieve an average of one or two hundred orders per day, and during the peak season, it can reach two or three thousand orders per day." Chen Liming, the partner and operation director of Fingerprint Technology, told Yibang Power.

POD stands for Print on Demand, meaning "printing on demand". In theory, everything can be POD, and all products can be customized with personalized patterns. Under this model, sellers do not need to stock up in advance. They only need to list product links, attract consumers to place orders with various unique patterns, and then have the products shipped directly by the supplier after the order is placed. Relying on the natural advantages of light assets and zero inventory, it has won the favor of small and medium - sized cross - border sellers.

In the words of a seller: "The POD model has swept the entire cross - border e - commerce industry like a storm, evolving from a niche category to a major trend."

The fire of cross - border e - commerce POD was first ignited in 2020. According to Chen Liming's recollection, the company's business growth rate suddenly exceeded 500% that year, and it had shipped more than 50 million orders globally in total. Since then, the industry has been rising steadily. In 2024, the "Four Outbound Dragons" led by Temu and SHEIN increased their efforts in recruiting and promoting POD business, which really stirred up the industry. While all platforms opened their arms to POD sellers, there were also various POD service providers in the market - from manufacturing to software, everything was available.

According to Google Trends data, compared with five years ago, consumers' interest in the POD model has increased by nearly 300%. The global POD market size reached $9.8 billion in 2024 and is expected to increase to $47.1 billion by 2031, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 25%.

Why can a seemingly niche track remain popular? What changes have taken place in it over the past five years? Is it still worth investing in next?

01 Soaring Profits! POD Business Is Like a "Mask Machine" During the Pandemic

"For some OEM factories, last year, POD was as popular as the mask machines a few years ago. Used to making a profit of $1, suddenly they made $10 (after printing patterns on products)." Liu Hong, the CEO of Global Customization Network, said. When he founded the "Global Customization Network" and entered the POD track, he valued the major trend of localizing the supply chain.

In June this year, the Global Customization Network was officially launched. Currently, it has connected dozens of customization factories around the world, including those in the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It has three major functions: an entry point for POD industry content, order operation management services, and a global POD factory alliance. Since its launch a month ago, its user number has been increasing by more than 30% every day. The number of SaaS registered users has exceeded 450, and the total number of bound stores is 2,360.

Chen Liming told Yibang Power that under the uncertainty of international trade policies this year, cross - border merchants using the stock - based model face greater operational risks, while the POD track has attracted a large number of new players with its light - asset advantage of not requiring inventory. Some domestic e - commerce POD sellers have joined the outbound business group. "For example, those who used to do business on Pinduoduo are now doing business on Temu. It's a very natural transition, after all, it's relatively easier to make money overseas."

The POD on - demand customization model can split the production process. For example, making clothes in China and printing patterns overseas can effectively reduce the impact of tariff fluctuations. Zeyuan POD Supply Chain Group is a good example. Its administrative office is in Quanzhou, Fujian, the garment factory is in Guangdong, and the POD factory is in the United States.

According to its person - in - charge, Chen Haotian, the company first transports plain blanks (sample clothes without patterns) to the US factory in batches, and then prints patterns and ships the products according to orders. The cooperating sellers can save the costs of inventory, first - leg logistics, and overseas warehousing, and the factory can also achieve quick returns for small orders and flexibly respond to changes in market demand. Currently, Zeyuan POD Supply Chain has 4 POD factories in the eastern and central United States, processing more than 50,000 orders per day and serving more than 2,000 sellers annually.

On the other hand, the POD model completes the final processing and shipping overseas, which also complies with the local fulfillment requirements under the semi - managed model. Last year, cross - border e - commerce platforms such as Temu, SHEIN, and AliExpress vigorously promoted the semi - managed model (Note: AliExpress calls it "Overseas Custody"). Sellers need to stock up in overseas warehouses and be responsible for local fulfillment overseas, which is not a low threshold for small and medium - sized sellers.

However, under the customized production model, sellers can both enjoy the traffic dividends of the semi - managed model and avoid the risk of overstocking and unsalable products. More than one industry insider told Yibang Power that although the number of POD merchants using the full - managed model is large, the growth trend of semi - managed POD merchants is more rapid, showing an "explosive trend".

In addition, cross - border e - commerce platforms also have quite friendly policies towards POD sellers. For example, AliExpress requires sellers to complete the shipment within 1 - 3 working days after the buyer pays, but for customized products, the time limit is extended to 5 - 10 working days after payment. Some Temu merchants also reported that personalized customized products are less likely to be blocked by the platform's price - checking mechanism, with higher unit prices and higher profit margins.

Moreover, due to the "customized" nature of POD products, the return rate is generally lower. "A return rate of three per thousand is considered high," Chen Liming said. "There are two POD models: one is that sellers design patterns and sell products. The products themselves are highly personalized and differentiated, and consumers will only buy them if they really like them, so there is a high probability that they will not return them. The other model is customization based on the customer's provided pattern or text. Consumers have some personalized requirements, such as customizing a name or printing a photo on a product. This kind of product is not allowed to be returned on most platforms."

Personalized and unique products are also the fundamental reason why POD is loved by consumers. "Everyone definitely doesn't want to wear the same clothes as others. This need has always existed, but it couldn't be met before. The style of clothing hasn't changed much over the years. People bought T - shirts ten years ago, and they still buy T - shirts now, but the things printed on T - shirts ten years ago are different from those now." Zhang Ping, a cross - border clothing POD seller, said. This is the reason why consumers are willing to pay.

02 Factories Set Up in the United States, POD Production Capacity Is Being "Localized"

"The foundation of the popularity of POD is the local supply chain," Liu Hong pointed out. Affected by the uncertainty of international trade policies and the semi - managed model launched by cross - border e - commerce platforms, a number of POD factories have been established overseas, and the localization of the supply chain has become a new trend in the POD industry.

"Some forward - looking domestic POD factories started to layout in the United States before this year, building local production capabilities by setting up offices, cooperating with factories, or building their own factories. After the drastic change in US tariff policies in April and May this year, another group of POD factories accelerated their pace of establishing overseas operations," Cao Longhui, the founder of the S2B2C platform "Chain Master in Charge", told Yibang Power.

Zeyuan POD Supply Chain is one of the pioneers in this wave. In 2020, it began to prepare for the US factory and finally started operating after three years. "During the pandemic, there was actually a huge incremental opportunity for foreign trade factories. The local industries in Europe and the United States were severely hit, while Chinese foreign trade factories were more resilient. We seized this opportunity to build factories overseas," Chen Haotian explained.

According to his introduction, the company set the goal of covering the whole of the United States with factories from the beginning. Instead of starting from the western United States, where there are more factory options, it "started with the most difficult task" - starting to layout in the eastern and central regions. Currently, Zeyuan POD Supply Chain has 3 factories near New York State and 1 factory in Indiana in the central United States.

"Those Chinese who went overseas around the time of the pandemic, such as the bosses from Putian, actually built factories in the western United States," Chen Haotian said. In the western United States, such as Los Angeles, transportation is more convenient and it is close to the port. "Goods can be directly transported to the factory after they are unloaded from the ship." On the other hand, it is also a place with more intense POD competition and higher rents.

It takes 11 days for Zeyuan POD Supply Chain to transport plain blanks from the western United States to the eastern United States by truck flight (a road freight transportation method). If it can achieve full - scale layout in the United States, both timeliness and cost will be greatly optimized. "After we complete the closed - loop operation in the eastern and central United States, next, we will consider building Factory No. 5, No. 6, or even more factories in the western United States to achieve full - scale coverage of the United States," Chen Haotian said.

The United States is the largest POD market, but it is not the only place affected by the wave of supply chain localization. On June 30, TikTok Shop officially opened its Japanese site, allowing both self - operated (POP) merchants and fully - managed merchants to enter. Therefore, the Japanese market has received more attention. Zeyuan POD Supply Chain also newly cooperated with a POD factory in Japan this year. At the current initial stage, the daily order volume ranges from dozens to one or two hundred orders.

With the localization of the supply chain, production and products also need to be localized. Chen Haotian told Yibang Power that the main T - shirts circulated in the Japanese market are 230g, while in the US market, they are 180g. This is due to different consumption habits. Americans regard T - shirts as disposable items. "For example, during Halloween, Christmas, parades, and elections, they will wear clothes corresponding to the event." Japanese people pay more attention to quality. "If you give them 1,000 samples, they will really check them one by one carefully," which also leads to differences in factory production.

Liu Hong pointed out that there are mainly two major regions where Chinese factories go overseas: one is the European and American markets with large consumer demand and high value, and the other is the Southeast Asian and Latin American markets with a large population, low labor costs, and higher gross margins.

As a leading enterprise in the POD industry, Fingerprint Technology has also launched a flexible supply chain SaaS platform for factories - "Hummingbird Digital Intelligence" in recent years. One of the functions of Hummingbird Digital Intelligence is to help enterprises deploy POD factories overseas. So far, it has provided services for more than 100 factories, covering countries such as China, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

"If you have resources such as people or venues locally and can integrate these resources well, and then through our system and training system, the threshold for building a factory overseas will be very low. The system will segment the production process, and for each function, you may only need to repeat one action." Chen Liming introduced. She mentioned that a novice factory worker, who had never run a POD factory before, learned from a sample factory for a period of time and then opened a clothing POD factory overseas. Now, the daily production capacity of this factory is more than 10,000 pieces.

According to Liu Hong's introduction, there are currently three types of overseas POD factories:

Firstly, sellers + POD factories. Large sellers with thousands of orders per day will consider building (or investing in) a POD factory in the United States or Southeast Asia. Different from traditional full - process production factories, POD factories generally only provide end - processing services, that is, printing patterns on plain blanks, and the overall investment is relatively small.

Secondly, overseas warehouses + POD factories. Overseas warehouses themselves provide warehousing and distribution services for cross - border sellers, and factories also need to have warehousing and distribution functions. By adding an end - processing production service to the overseas warehouse, the original venue and channels can continue to be used for package delivery.

Thirdly, industry - trade integration + POD factories. OEM/ODM factories that have been operating in the United States for many years can transform their previous wholesale business into customized production services starting from a single piece. Currently, this mainly involves the clothing category.

03 Changes Are Happening: "When the Tide Goes Out, You Can See Who's Swimming Naked"

The POD trend is on the rise, but there are also crises behind the popularity. "Now, after the POD industry has become extremely popular, it has reached a stage of bad money driving out good money and vicious competition. We have been reducing prices, and everyone's profit margins are very thin," Chen Haotian said.

From 2020 to now, the POD industry has experienced a transformation from "disorderly growth" to "fierce competition". According to Chen Haotian's introduction, at the beginning, many small factories "moved a few machines to a home warehouse and called it a US factory", but now, "small - scale workshops" can no longer meet market demand. "Everyone is aiming to build standard factories of more than 3,000 or 5,000 square meters. Only with a certain supply - chain strength can one stand out in the fierce competition," he further explained.

When competition is fierce, product differentiation and verticalization become the keys to victory. "Merchants are more picky about product selection. It's not like in the beginning when any printed product could generate orders. Now, they need to focus on vertical development," said the person - in - charge of Shenzhen Qianya International Supply Chain Technology Co., Ltd.

Qianya International Supply Chain mainly operates the My Depot US product portfolio and overseas warehouses, and has 11 overseas warehouses in the United States. In September last year, the company saw the opportunity in the POD trend, transported machines from China, and added POD customization services, covering categories such as home furnishings, towels, backpacks, and cushions. Currently, its POD production capacity has not been fully improved, but it has been experiencing a surge in orders since this year. Now, the factory has been forced to suspend accepting orders.

In addition to product differentiation, delving into niche categories is also a way. Chen Haotian explained, "For categories as competitive as T - shirts, people may put them aside first and instead seek opportunities from some niche and characteristic categories. For example, garden flags (decorative flags inserted in home gardens), banners for parades, or wooden and acrylic products all have great potential."

In Cao Longhui's view, the fierce competition of POD products is inseparable from the homogenization of overseas supply chains. "Overseas local customized supply chains generally face the dilemma of homogenization, with limited categories and single craftsmanship. Standardized customized products such as T - shirts and phone cases have fallen into a red - ocean competition," he said.

According to his introduction, the core demand of POD merchants on the Temu platform lies in listing a large number of SKUs. The products (such as phone cases, tinplate paintings, and T - shirts) have relatively simple craftsmanship requirements, and merchants can rely on overseas local supply chains to achieve local fulfillment. However, if a seller's positioning is to operate a boutique - customized independent website or open a store on the handicraft e - commerce platform Etsy, then the overseas local supply chains that can match their needs are extremely scarce.

"Taking independent - website sellers as an example, they have extremely high requirements for the depth of product personalization and craftsmanship differentiation. 'New, strange, and special craftsmanship' or 'combination of multiple crafts and multiple materials' is the core demand of such sellers. However, there are very few overseas supply chains that can support such requirements at present," Cao Longhui said.

His "Chain Master in Charge" is a POD service platform focusing on "emotional fashion consumption". The customizable categories include 3C digital products, pet supplies, household daily necessities, outdoor decorations, bags, shoes, and hats. Currently, it uses the model of direct shipping from domestic warehouses to overseas. Cao Longhui said that he actively avoids large - scale homogeneous competition from the source of product planning and builds a differentiated barrier.

Independent websites belong to the private domain, which is easy to build a brand and was also the gathering place for the earliest batch of POD sellers. In recent years, with the rise of platforms such as Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok Shop, POD sellers have gradually moved to places with lower thresholds and easier order - generation.

Different channels have different focuses and preferences for POD products. According to Cao Longhui's introduction, Etsy focuses on non - standard products such as handmade customization. 87% of its users are women aged 25 - 44. There is a strong demand for emotional products such as art illustrations and handmade souvenirs. It is the main base for independent designers. The POD products on the platform have a relatively high unit price and a shorter repurchase cycle. TikTok, as an engine for the explosion of young traffic, is suitable for launching novelty products. Sellers can often achieve a surge in orders with a single short video of "product unboxing + customization process". Independent websites are the preferred channels for POD sellers to build brands, as they can build a highly - sticky community through independent pricing power and user data accumulation.

From product differentiation, in - depth exploration of categories to hierarchical operation of channels, the battle for POD sellers to break through is also a microcosm of the industry's evolution. As Chen Haotian said: "All industries will experience the changes of 'being the only one to have when others don't - being better when others also have - shifting when others are better'. This also conforms to economic laws. From the initial market gap to the market explosion, from disorderly growth to orderly growth, it takes a process to develop stably."

"When the tide goes out, you can see who's swimming naked. Next, I think POD will undergo a major transformation." His assertion seems to be a footnote to the industry's fate. This in - depth transformation of POD is happening.

(To protect the privacy of the interviewees, Zhang Ping and Chen Haotian are pen names)

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This article is from the WeChat official account "Yibang Power". The author is Han Xiao, and it is published with authorization from Qiantang.