Threadless Case Study

One of the most well-established crowdsourcing design companies is Threadless (est. 2000), a design company that does not create designs but instead sources them from its users and sells them. It was founded in 2000 by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart. The users create designs to put on various products, vote on them and buy the winning designs. In return, Threadless creates the items that carry the designs, markets them, and sells them with a portion of the money going to the designers. This company has been around for around a decade and has expanded from just selling t-shirts to iPhone covers, wall art, and bags. 

“You are Threadless, you're why we exist”

Threadless’s core is its engagement with its users. The users are encouraged to blog about their lives (and promote the website) and create media content based on their designs.

"We love helping art unknowns become art totally-knowns. From our commission-based award system to featuring artists in interviews and tweeting their names to the world to helping them start their very own independent store with our newest endeavour, Artist Shops, we support our artist community in every way possible. Lots of our artists have even gone on to start their own companies, and that’s a huge success in our book.

What started as a t-shirt company has since expanded into a full lineup of apparel, accessories, home decor, and now footwear canvases. We seek out these canvases to give artists more ways to feature their work and for fans to choose the best art, the weird art, the geeky art, the beautiful art. Every time you buy from us, you're supporting great art and artists."

Now, we can get to some important questions to ask about this website:

1. Is threadless a success or failure?

 

>The company is a success as it has been successfully running for over the past 2 decades. It has over 2 million registered users, received over 69,211 submissions and printed designs from 289 artists. It has one of the largest designer-user communities. The company also has a very smart and efficient way of generating revenue. The designers receive 20% royalties based on net profits monthly and also gift cards which can be exchanged for cash. 

2. How does today’s digital world impact (both positively and negatively) Threadless’ co-creation strategy?

 

> -Positive

1. With the world moving towards a more digital and technology-based system of functioning, a lot of free tools are easily available on the internet for innovation, and hence people without technological know-how can easily access this site. 

2. As social media has become so popular among all, sharing one’s work has become easier and simpler. Hence, more people begin to share their work which helps companies like Threadless.  

-Negative

1. Many copy-cat websites have emerged, which can steal users and reduce opportunities for Threadless. 

2. As more and more people begin accessing the internet and its readily available information, the business model of Threadless can be easily replicable, and with this competition can increase. 

3. Bigger and more successful companies like Amazon, have entered this arena and users tend to shift to this more familiar and bigger platform for better reach. 

3. How could Threadless improve its co-creation strategy? What tactics or tools could they use to enhance their success?

 

>The tactics and tools by Threadless which can be used are:

1. Threadless is a clothing company, and hence improving the quality of ita products can benefit itself by satisfying its customer base.

2. Since social media plays a major role, personalized designs can be made and targetted to a certain number of people. Hence, taking feedback and suggestions from customer and users can be beneficial.

3. The royalty received by the designers can be increased based on the success and sales of each designer, which will motivate the designers to continue using the website. 

4. The company can be more interactive by participating in giveaways and contests.