CafePress technology will allow visitors to the site to design their own t-shirts, posters, water bottles and other custom products. These fan-designed products will live alongside official merchandise in the ABC Online Store.

“In keeping with ABC’s ongoing commitment to technological innovation, we sought a merchandising solution that would fully leverage the power of the internet to significantly enhance and deepen our relationship with the ABC viewer,” said Mia Rondinella, VP of Business Planning & Development at ABCEG.

“Embracing the voices and enthusiasm of our fans is very important to us. Of equal importance to us was the ability to incorporate the latest in supply chain optimization technologies to enable us to more nimbly execute our retail strategy,” “We selected CafePress based on its proven experience engaging and monetizing mass consumer audiences online.”

This new arrangement expands upon a licensing agreement announced earlier this year which allowed fans of selected ABC television shows to design and sell authorized show merchandise on CafePress.com.
 

CafePress offers posters and framed prints in addition to t-shirts and mugs, of course, and Imagekind’s focus meets it there.  Another instance of product overlap between the sites occurs where greeting cards are concerned.  But while CafePress puts "Chairman Meow" and "I Want to Believe" images on display, Imagekind lists names like M.C. Escher, Andrew Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell.

 CafePress

To achieve this sort of "cultured" upgrade, CafePress probably paid in the neighborhood of $15 million or $20 million, according to Eric Eldon.  Since CafePress now has a semi-lock on the low- and highbrow, he states, "The purchase also suggests that it may be too late in the game for new startups to try to create their own t-shirt, art, and gift-selling online marketplaces."

Keep an eye out for some sort of integration between CafePress and Imagekind in the weeks ahead.  There’s been no official word on the matter, though, and as the demand for Pierre Auguste Renoir boxer shorts is likely to be small, the two sites may continue to operate as distinct brands.