Phone cases are everywhere. The demand for phone cases is on the rise due to the release of new phone versions, old phones, broken phone cases, increasing population, and new customers entering the market (such as teenagers owning their first phone). If you are interested in learning how to start a phone case business, now is the time. In fact, selling phone cases has never been really bad. So for those phone case entrepreneurs, we encourage you to bookmark this page, read through it step-by-step, and use each step to guide you to success in your phone case business.
Read on to learn how to start a phone case business without experience!
Advantages of starting a phone case business
Selling things like phone cases has several unique benefits by its very nature. They are complementary products used to protect the phone, make it prettier, and allow for additional features like credit card storage. We know that starting any business creates questions and concerns about the viability of a product. But aside from the usual day-to-day hurdles, the phone case business hasn't faced many major hurdles, especially when it comes to breaking into the market.
To encourage you to continue exploring how to start a phone case business, here are some advantages of selling phone cases as your main product:
The life cycle of the phone case is closely related to the life cycle of the phone. New iPhones and Androids come out every year, so not only do you get a regular wave of new leads, but the big phone companies often do the marketing for you.
The phone and phone case are broken. This introduces another group of buyers who change their case or upgrade to a new phone (hence the need for a new one) every few years. This also opens up the potential for repeat sales soon after a customer purchases (maybe they break the phone a few days after purchase). If you learn how to start a phone case business, it's hard to run out of potential customers.
You can source from high-quality print-on-demand dropshipping services such as Printful . These services provide your e-commerce customers with design tools, printing services, packaging, and drop shipping. There is no reason to store or print anything from your own home or office.
Low upfront costs and low initial risk. Printing a phone on email list demand requires a small up-front investment. Most small fees are paid when you make a sale.
Available online, through marketplaces and in person. You can run an online store, list on Amazon/eBay/Etsy/social media etc. and visit trade shows or craft fairs. All of these are opportunities to increase sales. It is also common to run outdoor or indoor mall kiosks to sell your phone case designs.
Profit margins are higher than other types of dropshipping products. Some items, such as homewares, decorations, and even some clothing items, have thin margins. Not so with phone cases.
Phone cases are designed to be simpler and you can make them yourself or use online templates. You can hire a designer, buy a template, or use an online marketplace for advanced designs. Learning how to start a phone case business also involves learning some design stuff.
Using a mobile device is easier to target a niche market. Think dog owners, bowlers, cooking enthusiasts, travelers, or even just a location-specific phone case like a Chicago neighborhood. These are the target markets that tend to sell.
It's easier to hold some inventory, handle returns, and absorb sunk costs. There are startups that struggle with bulky, expensive items, but phone cases are relatively cheap and super small.
This is a huge market for custom designs. You can offer custom phone cases in your business model that allow customers to print their names or special dates on their phones.
First things to consider before learning how to start a phone case business
It is important to understand the market and address some preliminary questions before developing a marketing strategy, building an online store, and conquering the phone case market.
Is it profitable to start a phone case business?
It depends on your approach, marketing efforts, and attractiveness of the design; but phone cases are definitely easier to monetize than other types of products.
One indicator showing the continued growth of the market is online search interest in phone cases. There are a variety of terms we can search to find these trends, but we'll stick with the basic "phone case" keyword.
According to Google Trends, interest in online searches for the keyword "phone case" has risen steadily over the past decade. You'll notice peaks and troughs in interest due to holidays, new phone launches, and customer demand, but average interest in this market continues to grow.
Phone Case Trends
Another way to analyze the popularity and growth of the phone case industry is to look at related keywords, not only considering their search volume, but also the competition required to successfully advertise for those keywords.
There is no doubt that the competition for hundreds of phone case keywords is too intense. However, there are still thousands of relevant keywords with low to medium competition levels, allowing new companies to target these keywords and see results.
Not to mention, the monthly search volume for these keywords is also impressive, starting at 100 monthly searches and going all the way up to 1 million, for example, the keyword "iphone 8 case" looks promising (many older but still available phones with lower competition), like the "leather phone case" keyword.