Case Study: Longreads funds original journalism through a low‑overhead merchandise store with WooCommerce

Building the Longreads Merchandise Store with Printful and WooCommerce

Longreads, a published longform storytelling site, wanted a low‑overhead way for supporters to show their loyalty and help fund journalism through merchandise. The team lacked time, fulfillment capacity, and upfront capital for minimum prints, so they needed a solution that preserved the Longreads brand without adding day‑to‑day overhead.

They built a clean, brand‑consistent store using WooCommerce on a separate WordPress site and outsourced printing and fulfillment to Printful, with TaxJar for sales tax and WooCommerce Anti‑Fraud for protection. The store launched in about six weeks, largely runs automatically, funnels profits to the story fund, and has driven steady sales and social engagement through existing email and social channels.

Longreads

Kjell Reigstad

Art Director