“When OMG gave us the opportunity to try STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine stores, we knew it was something we had to look into. And it was the best thing we’ve done in the last couple of years.”
– Scott Hassmann, Co-Owner of Cloud 9 Sports
About Cloud 9 Sports
Cloud 9 Sports is an innovative sports apparel company that specializes in providing schools, teams, and companies with high-quality uniforms, spirit wear, and branded merchandise. The company prides itself on delivering excellent customer service, offering a wide variety of products, and quick turnaround times that give customers the products they want, when they want them.
Black Diamond, WA
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2006
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20
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Location
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Year Founded
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Employees
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The Challenge
During busy season, it’s difficult to consider adding new processes or tools to your business to boost your bottom line. Orders need to get out the door, customers are inquiring about the status of their merchandise, and you’re sweating about hitting order minimums across stores. But during Cloud 9’s busiest season, Josh Mitchell brought an exciting idea to his team for consideration—a print-on-demand solution with OrderMyGear (OMG) and STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine.
“When OMG gave us the opportunity to try print-on-demand stores, we knew it was something we had to look into,” said Scott Hassmann, Co-Owner of Cloud 9. “To slow down and add something new to our process was incredibly difficult, but it was the best thing we’ve done in the last couple years.” By using the STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine integration, the Cloud 9 team was able to free up significant manual labor across their company, improve customer satisfaction, and even pursue new business opportunities outside of their core vertical of athletic teams and schools.
Longtime Online Store Users, New to Print-on-Demand
Being an OMG customer since 2017, the Cloud 9 team was already familiar with launching and running online stores. In fact, they originally selected OMG as a technology partner to upgrade their tech stack. “When we went to OMG, it was a technology upgrade,” said Hassmann. “OMG is just a better platform and has more professional-looking stores—it was the right move.”
When the team took a breath during busy season to consider running print-on-demand stores, they were able to lean on years of online stores experience, as well as the support from the OMG team, as they tested the new integration on their business.
They’ve since used the integration to automate their online store and fulfillment operations. With live inventory visibility during store setup, access to STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine’s vetted Decorator Network, and guided onboarding support, the team saved significant time on tasks they had done manually before. Print-on-demand also empowered their team to launch more year-round stores, have more flexibility with the types of products and hard goods they offer, plus explore new markets—like corporate programs.
$125,000+
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3,950+
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150+
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total print-on-demand sales
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print-on-demand products ordered
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print-on-demand stores launched
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Benefits for promotional product distributors, apparel decorators, and team dealers include:
- No Order Minimums – Perfect for single-unit or low-quantity orders.
- Diverse Product Selection – Access a variety of products from top suppliers, including both apparel and hard goods.
- Quick-Turn Orders – Easily fulfill orders of all sizes with fast turnaround times.
- Vetted Decorator Network – Work with an extensive, trusted network of decorators.
- Hands-off Fulfillment – Eliminate the hassle of managing orders, decoration, and shipping.
Common use cases for print-on-demand stores include:
- Year-round Stores – Items are decorated and fulfilled as orders are placed.
- Missed Deadlines – Allow customers to place orders even after a store has closed.
- Busy Season Relief – Free up bandwidth during busy season to allow for more sales.
- More Decoration Options – Offer more decoration types without adding in-house capabilities.
Keys to Success
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Create an Amazon-like Experience
With lightning fast turnaround times and no order minimums.
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Save More, Do Less
Cut down on costs with no upfront inventory costs or need to hold inventory.
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Offer More Variety
Get creative by offering a wider range of products and decoration methods.
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Do Less, Say ‘Yes’ to More
When Cloud 9 began using the STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine integration, they were excited about being able to source, decorate, and ship orders—completely hands-off and on-demand. The integration takes away the stress of having to hit order minimums, especially on highly customized or unique items, which removes a major barrier to winning new business.
According to Hassmann, this had a massive, positive effect on their business, “We’re excited about opening more stores because we’re making money. Customers are getting what they want, and we don’t have to worry about hitting minimums. It has taken that stress away.”
Through the STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine integration, businesses can launch more stores without worrying about meeting minimums, producing too much, upfront inventory costs, or decoration capacity. This gives you the ease of hands-off decoration and fulfillment, while giving your customers the products they want, when they want them.
The Amazon Effect: Place Orders On-Demand
Another consideration when launching online stores is meeting customer expectations, who expect to have their items shipped almost instantly, plus the ability to track their orders. Commonly, branded merchandise orders can be stalled or delayed due to unmet order minimums.
But with print-on-demand stores, delays due to minimums are a thing of the past. According to Kelly Bean, Co-Owner at Cloud 9, this has relieved a lot of internal stress. “When people ask, it’s nice to be able to say “Oh sure, three items have been ordered and we can fulfill that order and not wait for nine more to come in to hit 12. It just makes the conversation a lot easier to have with customers when it’s, ‘This is going to ship within three to five days.”
Kelly also discussed the benefits of providing shoppers with an Amazon-like experience, “We can make status updates on our end, and we can notify the customer. They always want to know about tracking because they can find that on platforms like Amazon.”
Offer More Variety on Stores
The STAHLS’ Fulfill Engine integration also gives businesses more avenues to offer a wider variety of products, with access to thousands of hard good and apparel items from top suppliers.
Cloud 9 has already seen success in fulfilling small batch, hard good orders. Mitchell sees this as a key way to maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, “ I think the more we can say ‘yes’ to a customer versus ‘no’, the better. If we don’t offer specific items to a store, like water bottles, customers will just call a competitor to see if they offer it.”
In addition to the variety of product types you can offer, the integration also supports a wide range of decoration methods, ensuring a high-quality, decorated item regardless of the selected decoration type.
Hassmann commented that this has allowed them to reduce negative customer feedback, while also supporting a higher volume of orders, “Now that we’re creating more stores, we’re starting to offer DTF (Direct-to-Film). We’ve taken over 300 individual orders and have not had one complaint. It’s amazing.”
Grow New and Existing Customers
Having the freedom to route orders through Fulfill Engine’s decorator network opened up new opportunities for the Cloud 9 team—from strengthening existing customer relationships to pursuing new business. “ Fulfill Engine has freed up time for us to chase more. I’m excited about this Fall and Spring as we start to chase business for next year, I think we can reach even more customers,” said Mitchell.
With more time back in their day, the team also had more opportunities to nurture and grow existing customer relationships. According to Hassmann, Cloud 9 is already taking advantage of their saved time to focus on improving the lives of their customers, “I’ve had more time freed up to make my stores better and try different things. It allows us to focus on our business and it pays off—we’re getting back to customers much quicker.”
The Result: Print-on-Demand Success
Launching print-on-demand stores through OMG allowed the Cloud 9 team to transform one of their busiest seasons into a springboard for growth—streamlining fulfillment, expanding product offerings, and eliminating order minimum stress. The result? Increased sales, delighted customers, and more time to pursue new growth opportunities, making it one of the most impactful decisions the team has made in years.
ChatGPT said:
“We sent the Fulfill Engine store link out to a customer and I got goosebumps—because that’s it. I don’t have to do anything else. It’s amazing.”
Kelly Bean
Customer Service and Sales Representative // Cloud 9 Sports
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