Top 10 Best Shopify T-shirt Store Examples For Inspiration

Categories: Shopify store Case study

Sam Thomas Updated: June 01, 2023

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The online t-shirt business is booming, and it is a great time to ride the wave since more and more people are buying online. A quick Google search will show you a bunch of inspirational real-life stories of people starting on a low budget and creating a profitable business by selling t-shirts on their Shopify stores.

According to this study, in 2020 alone, t-shirt sales in the US reached more than $514 million.

Many new players sell t-shirts out there, but that doesn’t mean the market is too saturated! People still want fun, high-quality t-shirts that allow them to express their personality and connect with like-minded people, making it a profitable market for creative entrepreneurs.

If you can make unique t-shirts with good quality - and market it well - you will be able to make money. Plus, creating a Shopify store is easier than ever; you just need less than thirty minutes to begin selling.

With that in mind, I’ve put together some of the best Shopify t-shirt stores out there so you can see real-world examples of how to do it well. Not sure where to start when you start or which competitors to watch out, this is the place for you. Read on to create your own brand of t-shirts from the inspiration you get.

Learn More: Selling T-shirts with Shopify

Why Shopify is great for t-shirt stores

If you are new to Shopify, you may wonder why it is a good platform to sell t-shirts online. Let me introduce you to the phenomenal eCommerce platform called Shopify.

If you have a good product and a sized-market for any business, your business can be profitable. Shopify is simply a tool to help you run your business and an excellent tool for that matter. Started in 2004, Shopify is a top eCommerce platform that helps users set up an online store easily. What few people know is that this giant started out as an online store that sold ski gear.

But now, it is one of the biggest companies on the stock market and serves more than 1 million businesses from 175 different countries. So far, more than 1 billion orders have been processed through Shopify, and businesses on the platform contributed $319 billion to economic activity worldwide.

All users have a 14-day free trial to test all the robust features of store design, apps, themes, payment processing, inventory management, and other aspects. After the free trial, you can pick between three pricing plans at $29, $79, or $299 per month based on different needs. There is also Shopify Lite for selling through social media and Shopify Plus for enterprise companies. Not to mention, Shopify has award-winning customer support 24/7 via email, live chat, and phone if users have any problem.

Check out Shopify’s full pricing and features here.

You can see how Shopify is great for anyone that wants to start out with eCommerce, not just for t-shirt selling. A basic Shopify plan at $29 per month is more than enough for any entrepreneur. You can scale your business with a higher plan later.

In short, Shopify has everything you want to quickly start selling t-shirts online, from store creation to business promotion.

Read more:

How to launch a Shopify t-shirt store

Now, before you see the best Shopify t-shirt store examples, I have a guide for you to launch a T-shirt store with Shopify that you can apply right after finishing reading.

Pick a niche

There are many t-shirt stores out there, so picking a niche is essential. It will be your store’s focus and help you create a brand that stands out from the crowd. To pick a niche, think of what you enjoy doing yourself. A hobby or an interest can lead you to a market among a community that lacks interesting t-shirts.

If you have a good sense of humor or can design interesting graphics, you can build your unique niche and narrow down what you want to create. Take some time to research and find inspiration on EcomHunt or SellTheTrend.

Find the quality material source and printing companies

Quality is vital to your t-shirt design and its success, so you should educate yourself about t-shirt materials and print jobs. It can be tempting to sacrifice quality for better margins, but you should think about how a customer would decide to choose and stay with your brand.

So, you should decide on your t-shirt’s quality of fit, material, sizing, weight, and softness. Once you know your criteria, you can order samples from manufacturing companies to make an informed decision. A quick note is that you can print t-shirts yourself or use a print on demand service - which print, package, and ship the items for you, much like dropshipping.

We invite you to join Shopify’s free webinar on how to quickly start a profitable print-on-demand store. You’ll learn where to find designs, how to connect with suppliers without paying for products upfront, worrying about inventory, or shipping a single package yourself.

Here’s the trailer:

Create your t-shirt designs

If you are stuck on design ideas, it is a great start to look at what else is popular and selling well. You can browse other t-shirt marketplaces for their best-sellers or most popular items. Again, it helps if you are yourself invested in the subject. What matters the most is that your designs can connect with your potential customers.

In case you are not a designer, you can hire some help from freelancing websites (Upwork, Freelancer), design communities (Dribble, Behance, Deviantart), and even purchase pre-made designs from t-shirt graphic marketplaces (Tshirt Factory, Designious, GraphicRiver).

Mock up your brand’s t-shirts

Once you’ve got your final designs, your next step will be to create mockup images so your customers can see what the final design looks like when printed on the shirt. You can either order samples and take product photography yourself, or create a digital mockup right on your computer.

There are many mockups files available online that you can edit in Adobe Photoshop. If you don’t want to use Photoshop, you can use web-based mockup tools that don’t require you to download anything. Print-on-demand services like Printful and Printify all have their mockup tools.

Validate your products

Time for a bit of quality validation. You should verify that your product is suitable for the target market’s interest. You can post your designs on social networks or a community like Reddit to gain feedback while promoting your brand. Crowdfunding sites are also a great way to test, validate, and collect funding upfront for your designs.

Also, give your shirts a wash by hand or a washing machine to see how they come out. You may also want to test different sizes of your t-shirts to see which sizes you prefer.

Set up your online store

Now, let’s head to Shopify and start building your store. The whole process to create a Shopify online store is pretty simple, and you can add a handful of t-shirt print-on-demand apps or read our article: 7 Best Print on Demand Companies to start taking orders in no time.

As well as the store’s backend, you can create a sense of brand identity in the frontend with the store design dashboard. The drag and drop system is easy to use without any coding knowledge.

Don’t forget to use social media and ads to promote your new Shopify t-shirt store. A well-curated feed on Instagram and Facebook can give a strong sense of what your business can provide.

Free Webinar: How to quickly start a profitable t-shirt store

Learn the basics of selling t-shirts online from a Shopify expert

Top best Shopify t-shirt store examples

Of course, this is what you came for, the top 10 best Shopify t-shirt store examples. See all of them for some inspiration, but don’t copy them. You have a unique brand of your own to provide one-of-a-kind t-shirts!

1. Shirtwascash.com

Starting out on Reddit in 2014, Shirtwascash believes in making people stand out with a distinct identity. They’re a quirky, out-of-the-box store with a completely different design from anything you’ve ever seen. The homepage is striking with a very strong visual identity. It is a complex design but creates a great impact.

Shirtwascash store is easy to navigate and the search bar looks great. If you are the first-time visitor to their website, you will immediately see their best products and their cause for a community of designers. By finding and focusing on a niche (bold and unique t-shirt designs), they are able to instantly express their brand identity.

Scrolling down their homepage and you will understand the brand better. There is a huge community on Discord, encouraging its customers to vote on new designs. And they don’t forget to add an opt-in for email marketing, which is great for promotion and keeping in touch with visitors.

I love Shirtwascash for the community vibe it gives - which speaks to the audience in a unique and meaningful way.

2. Factory 43

Factory 43 has a strong brand that pops up as soon as you visit their website. The website is beautifully designed, with cartoony graphics that really catch your attention. The site’s design itself (in terms of fonts, text, and logos) has been reduced in the scale - this allows the graphic to stand out more.

The product page has a simple yet effective layout with squares that allow visitors to see the design of the t-shirt clearly before choosing to click it. When scrolling down their homepage, you can see how their products look on real people in the image gallery and also view their Instagram feed.

Right below, you’ll find their brand story - it’s short and to the point, yet still gives you a bit of background on their business.

What I really like about Factory 43 is that their homepage gives you an instant sense of humor - which is later reflected in t-shirt designs and social media feeds. It is clear that they have chosen their designs carefully, which gives them a strong visual identity.

3. TextualTees

Textualtee.com specializes in designing funny T-shirts for any occasion. They say they are inspired by humor on TV, Pop, and the internet. But they’re not just a fun T-shirt business, they also have a very low price of just $10 or less. It is a great example to learn from if you want to make the price your selling point.

They advertise the word ‘cheap’ and ‘funny’ in their meta description, so customers looking for cheap t-shirts with a quirky design will be able to easily find them. Their focus on slogans and pop culture show customers the sense of brand identity, and they are also quick to catch up with the latest big trends (like they are looking forward to Halloween now)

Built by Shopify, the site is easy to navigate, and the collections will offer a wide variety of under $10 t-shirts in a variety of pop culture-related categories. Having started in 2006, TextualTees has substantially grown since then.

4. Teefury.com

TeeFury is an example unlike any other Shopify t-shirt store and is one of a kind. It was founded in 2008 by a group of artists with a passion for limited edition t-shirts. New designs are created for sale every 24 hours. If you don’t buy within 24 hours, you must then vote to put the design back on sale or it is gone. TeeFury artists get paid a commission for every design sold.

Their overall designs involve parody and pop culture. The site is definitely worth a visit to see their concept in action. Right at the top, you can see the design on many products like t-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, face masks, pin, and cup. You can see their Insta feed below and an opt-in form for email marketing.

If you plan to expand your Shopify t-shirt store with more products, this is the store to learn from.

5. Shelfies

Again, the brand identity strongly shows here through the website and product design. Shelfies Shopify store picked up a niche - the most colorful niche - and ran with it. You can’t help but laugh while looking at some of their products.

The home page is great because it immediately shows the collections at the top and customers can find a trending influence on pop culture. The website is easy to navigate and makes it easy to find something you’re interested in. For example, the trending themes while I’m visiting the site consist of ‘Dad Hats’, ‘Memes’, and ‘Pizza’.

This makes it easier for you to find something that’s right for you (or who you’re looking to buy a gift for). I have to mention that the store’s design is simple with bold black text and plenty of white space - which helps the products shine. This lets you know how quickly you can design your store with Shopify.

6. T-shirt Collection

For the nerds lurking in all of us, this is a great Shopify t-shirt store to visit. They specialize in anime-related t-shirts, Rick and Morty, and Dragon Ball. While their target market seems like a niche hard to please, they seem to be doing well from there. They also have dedicated collections for Harry Potter, Pokemon, and all the movie references you might be interested in.

The site is also easy to navigate and although there are many collections, you will find categories like ‘Ugly Sweaters’ or ‘Kid Playsuits’ for easy browsing. What I would like them to add to their product page is a better size chart, which is currently only showing in inches. Many shoppers use cm and they want to see visuals of different sizes too. Try AVADA Size Chart for such a task.

Anyway, I really like the niche this Shopify t-shirt store chose. It shows that you can make t-shirts for anyone and sell well.

7. The Organic T-Shirt

Organic T-shirts are a great example of how great photography and well-chosen words can give a strong brand presence to visitors.

Scrolling down the homepage, you will see models dressed in their clothes outdoors in a variety of settings (in a park, on a beach, etc.). The focus of their website is to be natural and relaxed.

Their products mainly consist of t-shirts and dresses with motivational slogans. The design is simple but they focus on displaying their eco-credentials. Buyers can easily see the materials used for each product. They also have a fair share of social responsibility through selling online

I love this store example because it provides a great example of how your ethically clear advertising as a business can encourage like-minded customers to shop with you.

8. Think Pup

If you are a dog lover, then Think Pup is the perfect t-shirt store for you.

The great simple name of this t-shirt store allows customers to immediately understand what the store is all about. Their t-shirts are made by dog lovers for other dog lovers, and the website really shows that.

The business owner really understands the market well. The products become quite specific for dog lovers to find what they like. The ‘Corgifornia’ t-shirts are very appealing to California corgi owners - so that’s a pretty good example of how to dig into the niche!.

The business also has a pretty cute blog that will appeal a lot to the customer base. They also have a nicely curated Instagram feed, and if customers use the #thinkpup hashtags, they can have their dogs featured on the social media account.

All in all, this Shopify t-shirt store perfectly shows how a specific niche can create a loyal customer base for your business.

9. Ape Snort

Remember that I told you need to be unique? Well, Ape Snort is a great example to learn from. Right on the homepage, you can see the brand personality with pictures of their products on..ehm.. big-headed people? Its funny design immediately makes visitors want to click more, and you have over 10 pages of product to browse.

The homepage design can’t be more simple with just a bunch of product pages and a banner for their promotion program. They don’t have an opt-in form for email or a blog, so the business must be focusing on selling only. However, I think they are missing a chance to elevate their potential with customers even more.

That said, it is a fun example to look at. Which makes you think how you can make your Shopify t-shirt store stand out from so many competitors out there. Just make something one-of-a-kind!

10. Efuktshirts

Quick warning - if you don’t like adult content, Efuktshirts is not the place to visit! The business is not afraid to show its sharp humor and this is an important part of their brand. The design of the website is very powerful in brand presence.

The logo also stands out and looks good on products. The owl that symbolizes their brand and the logo appears on many products, on their homepage, and as each page loads as well.

The site has a pretty simple design, which allows the products to speak for themselves - and they don’t give away much about their brand story. What you see is what you get and it works great just by that.

Recommended tools for Shopify t-shirt stores

Although you have enough technology available with Shopify to start selling your t-shirts, the difficult part is building a brand that stands out from the rest of the competition. This requires you to make the right decision in designing, printing, shipping, and taking care of customers.

Luckily, there is a wide variety of tools that can contribute to the success of a t-shirt business. Here are my recommendations:

Size chart tool

Your t-shirts have many sizes and a size guide on the product will definitely help customers specify their fit sizes. The buyers would then be more confident to check out. Buying online requires much consideration, and you don’t want a prospect to walk out because of uncertainty.

AVADA Size Chart helps improve your user experience by showing accurate size charts for many types of apparel. There are 11 available templates to use, and you can easily customize them to fit your brand. This will lead to more sales and avoid unexpected returns because of size issues.

Best of all, the app is free!

Customers rank brand trust very high on their buying consideration. Showing dynamic customer interactions as well as good reviews on your t-shirt store is one of the easiest ways to gain that trust. By showing real customer activities on your website with AVADA Social Proof, you can help accelerate the buying process of visitors.

There are notifications for purchases, reviews, sign up, view pages, and add-to-cart. This shows how busy your store is and motivates your visitors to buy quickly because so many are buying. You can also advance target different groups of visitors based on page, geolocation, position, and product.

The app is free to start, and the max you will pay is only $29/month.

Free shipping tool

Finally, I recommend a free shipping tool that has many great benefits to boost sales effectively. With the AVADA Free Shipping Bar app, you can have a banner on the top of your website - which tells buyers how they can get free shipping for their carts.

Many shoppers abandon carts because of unexpected shipping fees at the checkout process. A free shipping banner will avoid this risk and tell them exactly how much more they are away from achieving free shipping. You can customize the banner’s text color, font, background color, padding, and more.

Again, the app is free to use, so why not give it a try?!

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Final words

Hopefully this list of top 10 best Shopify t-shirt store examples has given you some inspiration to go on. One of the reasons why many entrepreneurs pursue t-shirts selling is the chance to be unique - so don’t be afraid to go bold while creating your brand. Take some look at the sites above and I’m sure you can come up with something incredible.

And when you are done with setting up a Shopify store, don’t forget to use the recommended tools - they will help you increase sales quickly! Thanks for reading, and leave a comment to let me know about your t-shirt ideas!

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