The power of merchandise in building brand loyalty

Back in 2017, I reached out to Zapier to tell them about how happy I was with their product and service, as it really was changing the way I ran my business. Not only did they get back to me to thank me for my feedback—they also sent me a link to get a free branded T-shirt. 

Since then, I’ve been a huge advocate for the brand. And as for the T-shirt? I’m still wearing it—and writing about it—to this day. (I promise it’s been washed a few times between then and now.)

As the founder of A.M. Custom Clothing, I’ve spent the last 12 years providing sustainable, custom-branded clothing to some of the world’s largest businesses and brands. I’ve seen firsthand the powerful impact merchandise can have, strengthening brand loyalty and encouraging brand advocacy—and Zapier’s execution remains an example I often provide to others. 

Table of contents:

Why does merchandise build brand loyalty?

When our team goes out for food, we almost always head to a chain of restaurants in the UK called Nando’s. No matter where we are in the country, it’s our go-to choice. Sure, there may be better, cheaper, or closer options, but we choose Nando’s every time because we trust the brand—and love laughing at colleagues who think they can cope with the extra hot spice when their faces say otherwise. 

That’s brand loyalty in action, and it’s exactly how you want your customers to feel about you.

Brand loyalty is often born in community. Everybody wants to feel a part of something—a place or group of people where they belong. Building an emotional connection with your customers helps them feel a part of your community, and, inherently, your brand. 

Merchandise—and clothing specifically—does this in a very physical way: you’re literally allowing people to wear their inclusion in your community. 

Think about these examples:

• Sports jerseys. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a football, soccer, or baseball fan that doesn’t have a team shirt—or even the full kit. They’re part of the fan base and can almost feel like they’re part of the team.

• Music T-shirts. Years ago, I received a Black Keys T-shirt from a record label, and like my Zapier shirt, I still wear it today. It’s a way to express my interests to the world and often sparks conversations with fellow fans, making me feel part of a broader community.

• Fashion and athleisure brands. Gymshark is a prime example: their products often feature nothing more than a logo, but their community wears it proudly as a badge of honor.

Branded merchandise for your company can create this same sense of belonging for customers, staff, and fans. When that merchandise is exclusive, it fosters appreciation and strengthens brand loyalty through a shared sense of community.

At A.M. Custom Clothing, we’ve seen this in every capacity, from using merchandise to help remote staff feel connected to gifting merchandise to customers to help them feel appreciated. There are even some companies with dedicated, almost cult-like audiences willing to purchase branded merchandise, a highly impressive feat, especially in a B2B context.

Zapier’s swag store—a case study in branding

Zapier is a fantastic case study for branded merchandise, as it’s woven into the business at multiple levels.

We already talked about the branded gifts—this is an amazing way to surprise and delight customers. In Zapier’s case, it was a surprise gift off the back of giving them feedback. These kinds of actions helped Zapier cultivate a loyal fan base, with some customers even going so far as to create their own merchandise, like stickers, when official items weren’t available for purchase.

Off the back of the demand for Zapier merchandise from their customer base, Zapier eventually launched a merchandise store, allowing loyal customers to become fully-fledged brand advocates. They can literally wear their love of Zapier on their sleeve. 

These products have a unique appeal, instantly recognizable to insiders who are deeply immersed in the world of automation. This naturally fosters a sense of exclusivity and builds a community of like-minded individuals. Personally, I’m eager to get my hands on one of the corduroy automation caps—though, unfortunately, it was out of stock at the time of writing.

Even better: these products are a fantastic conversation starter for folks not aware of the brand. I’d take great pleasure in explaining exactly why on earth I have a hat with the word automation emblazoned on it. 

Aligning your merchandise choices with your brand values

Your knee-jerk reaction might be to go out and get the cheapest T-shirt you can lay your hands on and slap your logo on it. But when it comes to growing loyalty through merchandise, it’s about understanding your customers. If you can show your customers and fans you get what they’re about, you’re going to build a far deeper connection with them, compared to if you just throw some thoughtless freebies their way. 

I always recommend opting for merchandise that helps reinforce your brand identity, communicating what the brand and your customer base stand for. It might be that different segments within your audience have different preferences. If that’s the case, you can segment your merchandise accordingly. For example, if you’re gifting customers merchandise, consider offering higher-value items to your top-spending superfans, while providing smaller tokens of appreciation for lower spenders.

Here are some examples of how clients we’ve worked with have aligned their swag with their values:

• A luxury jewelry brand we work with provides organic cotton tote bags to customers with in-store purchases. These premium, eco-friendly totes not only reflect the brand’s commitment to sustainability but also enhance the customer experience by adding a practical and thoughtful touch to each purchase.

• Another client, a bespoke luxury vehicle modification company, has a popular YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers. To engage fans who can’t necessarily afford their services or cars, they launched a merchandise line, allowing these enthusiasts to feel part of the brand’s exclusive club, without the supercar price tag. 

• One of the UK’s largest challenger banks provided custom embroidered hoodies and backpacks for their team. These high-quality items, perfect for travel and remote work, were a huge hit with staff and reflected the brand’s high standards.

The takeaway? Don’t waste money on poorly chosen merchandise. Focus on what truly resonates with your team and customers and what reflects your brand values—this approach goes much further in building loyalty.

The ROI of branded merchandise

Understanding the ROI of branded merchandise in relation to customer loyalty can be tricky. It’s a bit like TV or billboard advertising: great for brand value, not so easy to track.

If you’re selling the merchandise like Zapier does, that ROI is immediately clear since each sale shows direct financial gain. It also helps you identify and engage with your most loyal supporters, building deeper connections and strengthening that brand loyalty.

If you’re gifting customers with merchandise, you could segment customers to assess whether retention, NPS score, or engagement is greater in those who’ve been sent some swag. It’s not an exact science, but it’ll likely give you valuable insights into whether the merchandise strategy is effective.

And, of course, there are the less tangible brand awareness benefits. Merchandise essentially serves as a walking billboard for your brand, reaching potential customers who notice friends using items with your logo or design. This visibility brings added credibility and trust—like word-of-mouth marketing. Not to mention the brand loyalty and advocacy you’re getting from the person wearing it.

How to get started with branded merchandise

Company merchandise often ends up as a short straw task—rarely is there someone dedicated solely to managing it (although I’d argue it would be a pretty fun role). If you’ve drawn the short straw—or if suggesting company swag led to you being handed the job—here’s a breakdown of how to get started.

1. Identify a product. Pick a product that will resonate with your customers, reflect your brand values, and be used frequently to maximize brand exposure. Maybe it’s clothing, maybe it’s water bottles, maybe it’s a corduroy hat.

2. Determine your budget. Work out the budget you have—and be realistic about it. While you might have dreams of custom puffer coats, if your budget only covers T-shirts, you’ll need to adjust accordingly. Keep in mind that for smaller quantities, custom items can be as expensive as, or even more than, standard retail products.

3. Think about how you want to place orders. Do you want to order your merchandise on demand? Or would you rather benefit from economies of scale and order in bulk? Do you need a fulfillment partner to store and distribute your merchandise? (Some printers like us offer everything, including storage and fulfillment.) Knowing this is helpful when trying to establish the right supplier for your needs. 

4. Decide on and create your design work. The price of merchandise often varies depending on the design, so it’s critical to get at least an idea of your design work together before reaching out to vendors for pricing. If you’re unsure if your desired design is even possible, it might be worth checking out vendors a bit earlier to find out.

5. Find your vendor. Custom merchandise is widely available—you don’t need any special connections. A quick Google search along the lines of “custom branded [insert desired product]” will usually bring up plenty of options to get exactly what you’re looking for.

6. Sample the product. I’d recommend getting the all-in price for the full order first, just so you know you have the budget for it before spending any of your hard-earned cash on samples. But once you know the final price, it’s worth getting a sample to ensure everything is going to come out as you need it.

7. Finalize your order. Once you’re happy with the sample, it’s go time! You can approve the pricing for the bulk order and tell the print company to get cracking.

Automate your merchandise strategy

In my experience, merchandise often gets passed around the office like a hot potato—no one wants to be the next to handle it, usually because it’s an added responsibility on top of their regular tasks. If you’re going down the rabbit hole of merchandise, you can make your life (and the life of the next person to catch the potato) easier with automation. Here are some examples:

• Customer milestones: Set up a workflow that sends a branded item to customers celebrating a loyalty milestone, triggered through your CRM platform.

• Feedback rewards: Automate merchandise gifting as a thank-you for submitted feedback, using forms to trigger the gift.

• Post-purchase surprises: Automate gifts for customers after a set number of purchases on your eCommerce platform.

• New team member swag: Set up workflows to automatically send branded merchandise to remote team members during onboarding or key milestones, strengthening team cohesion and loyalty.

These are the kinds of automations powering my business—and I proudly wear my Zapier T-shirt while they do the hard work for me.

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