Qikink launches free creator store to power India’s merchandise economy

Print-on-demand platform Qikink has launched Creator Store, a free branded storefront that lets influencers, YouTubers, and digital creators in India sell custom merchandise without managing inventory, fulfilment, or logistics.

For most creators in India, advertising revenue remains the default income model. YouTube and Instagram payouts are tied to eligibility thresholds, and brand sponsorships tend to favour creators with large follower counts, leaving the majority of India's estimated four million content creators with limited ways to earn directly from their audiences.

Merchandise has long been seen as a way around this, but setting up a product business has its own demands. Manufacturing partnerships, inventory, payment gateways, shipping, and customer support require both capital and time that most individual creators do not have.

"Creators often come with an established audience that trusts them," said Sivaraman S, Founder of Qikink. "What they need is a way to turn that trust into income without taking on the risks associated with inventory, fulfilment, and upfront investment."

Through the Creator Store, creators can set up a personalized storefront, pick from over 350 customizable products, upload their dzesigns, set a selling price, and go live the same day, with no minimum order quantity and no stock to purchase upfront. The platform assigns a store URL instantly on sign-up, with the option to connect a custom domain. Creators who do not have their own artwork can use Qikink's ready-made design bundles. Once an order comes in, Qikink handles manufacturing, printing, packaging, delivery, and returns. Customers receive their orders under the creator's brand name, with no Qikink branding on the package. 

The platform runs on a print-on-demand model, meaning products are made only after an order is placed. This removes inventory risk and makes launching a merchandise line viable regardless of how large or small a creator's audience is. Payments are processed within the platform, with weekly payouts sent directly to the creator's bank account every Wednesday.

Qikink brings established operational scale to this segment. The company has served more than 25,000 brands, fulfilled over five million orders, and delivers across 29,000 pincodes in India, including Tier II and Tier III cities. Its 50,000 sq ft in-house manufacturing facility handles production and dispatch, with most orders shipped within 48 hours.

India's creator economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. The country's creator base grew from under a million influencers in 2020 to over four million by 2024, and a BCG report released at WAVES 2025 estimated that Indian creators collectively influence over 350 billion dollars in consumer spending annually. Despite the scale, sustainable income from content alone remains out of reach for the vast majority. Merchandise businesses, when the operational side is handled, give creators a direct and recurring revenue stream that does not depend on platform policies or algorithm changes.

The Creator Store targets a wider audience than just established influencers. The platform is also aimed at students, homemakers, and first-time entrepreneurs who want to start an online business without upfront investment. For Qikink, the initiative represents an extension of its core fulfilment infrastructure into a segment of sellers for whom the traditional barriers to starting a product business have historically been the highest.