Tote Bags for a Shop Opening: What New Stores Order

A shop opening is the one day when everybody who walks in is curious about you.

Short answer: most new shops order a simple printed cotton tote bag to give away or to pack purchases on opening day, and many add one nicer bag to sell or to give to their first regular customers. A natural cotton tote with a one-colour logo costs €7.47 per bag at 25 pieces and €1.49 at 500 pieces, excl. VAT, with free delivery in the EU.

In this guide I go through what we see shops order, how many bags you really need, when to order them so they arrive before the doors open, and how to make the bags keep working long after the opening party.

• Why bags matter at an opening
• Which bags new shops choose
• How many bags you need
• What opening bags cost
• When to order
• What to print on the bag
• Gift bags for the first purchases
• A real store opening order
• Bags on display and for sale
• Mistakes to avoid
• FAQ

 

Why do new shops hand out printed bags at an opening?

Because a bag leaves the shop with your customer and keeps telling people where it came from.

On opening day you have the attention of the street for a few hours. A printed tote bag is the part of that day that walks out of the door, gets carried to the tram, the office and the market, and shows your name to people who were not there.

We wrote about this in more detail in Tote Bags as Walking Business Cards, and the idea is even stronger for a new shop. Nobody knows your name yet, so every bag that is seen on the street does some of the work that a sign or an advert would do.

There is also a practical reason.

Many shops want to stop using single-use plastic bags at the till, and EU countries have had to cut the use of lightweight plastic carrier bags hard, as the European Commission explains on its page about plastic bags. A reusable cotton bag solves the packing question and the branding question at the same time.

A good opening bag is a small investment that keeps paying back.

 

Which printed bags work best for a shop opening?

The right bag depends on what you sell and what you want the bag to do on the day.

In practice, new shops usually pick from three roles: a giveaway bag for everybody who comes in, a bag to pack purchases in, and a nicer bag to sell or to give to the people who spend the most. One shop can use all three, or just one.

For giving away: a light 140 g/m² cotton tote in natural is the most common choice. It is big enough for a book, a bottle or a jumper, it folds flat, and the price drops quickly when you order a few hundred.

For packing purchases: a sturdy bag with a bottom or side gusset holds boxes and shoe cartons better. Our guide to cotton bag weights explains how 140, 220 and 340 g/m² feel in the hand.

For selling or for your best customers: a heavier bag with a detail people notice, like a front pocket, a coloured trim or a small canvas shape, works well as merchandise.

Here are four bags from our shop that fit these roles well.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the whole ranges in our collections of recycled cotton pocket tote bags, organic canvas mini totes and cotton gift bags with a ribbon drawstring.

Pick one bag per role and you are already well prepared.

 

How many bags do you need for a shop opening?

Count the people you expect, not the people you hope for.

A simple way to estimate is to look at how many people walk past your door in an hour, guess how many of them will come in on opening day, and multiply by the hours you are open. Then decide whether every visitor gets a bag or only those who buy something.

For a small shop on a normal shopping street, a giveaway bag for every buyer on the first day often means somewhere between 100 and 300 bags. A bigger store with a marketing campaign behind the opening can easily need 1,000 or more.

These are rough estimates, not rules, so adjust them to your own street and your own plans.

Two tips help a lot here. First, order a little more than you need, because the leftover bags are not wasted: you keep using them at the till in the weeks after the opening. Second, look at the price steps before you decide, because a bigger order can cost less per bag than you expect.

If you also plan a small welcome gift for the first customers, like a voucher or a sample, count those bags separately. A bag with something inside feels like a present, and people remember the shop that gave it to them.

Bags left over after the opening are never a loss.

 

What do printed bags for a shop opening cost?

The price per bag falls fast as the quantity grows.

All prices below are live prices from our shop with a one-colour print, excl. VAT, and delivery is included in the EU. The natural cotton tote starts at 25 pieces, and the three new bags start at 50 pieces.

 

 

To give you an idea in totals: 200 natural cotton totes cost €400.00, 500 cost €745.00, and 1,000 cost €1,380.00. If you add 100 recycled pocket totes to sell at the till, that is €1,197.00 more.

A second print colour or a full colour print costs more, and you can see the exact price for every option on each product page before you order. For a wider view of budgets, our guide on what to budget for printed tote bags compares retail, event and gift use.

Check the price at the next quantity step before you decide.

 

When should you order bags before the opening?

Order as soon as your logo and your opening date are fixed.

Production takes 10 to 15 working days from the moment you approve the digital proof, and delivery to any address in the EU is free. When you order on our website, you can write the date you need the bags in the date box in the cart, so we can tell you right away if it is tight.

Count backwards from the opening day and leave some room for the things that always happen before a shop opens. Shopfitters run late, the logo gets one more change, and someone needs to approve the proof while they are busy with everything else.

A practical plan is to approve the proof about four weeks before the opening. That gives the production time, the delivery and a few spare days for surprises.

You can also ask us to deliver straight to the new shop address, as long as someone is there to receive the boxes. If the shop is not ready yet, a delivery to your office or home is often the calmer option.

Early is always cheaper than urgent.

 

What should you print on a shop opening bag?

Print what will still be true a year from now.

Your logo or your shop name is the obvious choice. Many shops add the street address or the web address in small letters, so people can find them again without searching.

I would avoid printing the opening date or "grand opening" on the bag. It looks nice on the day, but after a month the bag starts to feel old, and you cannot use the leftover bags at the till any more.

One print colour on a natural bag looks calm and clean, and it is the most affordable option. If your logo has several colours, our post about different designs in one order explains when a full colour print makes more sense.

Think about where the print sits as well. A large logo in the middle of the bag is seen from far away, while a small logo near the top feels more like a quiet fashion label.

Keep the opening on the poster and the brand on the bag.

 

How do gift bags with a ribbon fit into an opening?

Gift bags turn a small purchase into something that feels like a present.

Our new cotton gift bags with a ribbon drawstring come in three sizes, from 15 × 22 cm to 49 × 62 cm, in a soft white cotton with a black, rose gold or light grey ribbon. Your logo goes on the front.

They work well for shops that sell jewellery, cosmetics, candles, scarves, books or anything people buy as a gift. On opening day you can pack every purchase in one, and later they become part of how your shop wraps things.

If you want to know more about cotton packaging in general, we explain the options in printed drawstring pouches as product packaging and on our page about bags for product packaging.

A ribbon makes the first purchase feel special.

 

What does a real store opening order look like?

This autumn a fashion chain ordered 5,000 printed bags from us for a new store in the Netherlands.

The bag colour was decided early, a calm beige cotton, and it did not change. The print did change: during the proof stage the team updated the colour of one part of the design, so we waited for the new artwork and made a new proof before production started.

That is very normal for an opening, and it is one more reason to start early. The brand team is busy with the whole store, and the bag is only one of many things they approve in the same weeks.

What helped most was that the quantity and the delivery address were clear from the start. With those two things fixed, a change in the artwork did not put the delivery date at risk.

Fix the quantity and the address first, and the rest can follow.

 

How can opening bags keep working after the first day?

The best opening bags go on working as merchandise and as packaging.

Hang a few bags near the till, filled or empty, and put a small price on them. People who liked the opening will often buy one more bag for a friend, and regular customers like to carry the bag of a shop they like.

This works especially well in bookshops, and we wrote about it in Why Bookstores Should Sell Their Own Tote Bags. The same thing works for concept stores, gift shops, delis and fashion boutiques.

A loyalty idea also works well: give a better bag to customers who come back a second or third time. Our post on how branded tote bags build customer loyalty has more ideas for cafés, hotels and boutiques.

When the first batch runs out, ordering the same bag again is simple, because we keep your approved artwork on file. You can read how that works in reordering custom tote bags.

One good bag can serve your shop for years.

 

What mistakes do shops make with opening bags?

Most mistakes come from ordering too late or too small.

• Ordering a week before the opening. Production alone takes 10 to 15 working days after proof approval.
• Printing the date on the bag. The leftover bags can no longer be used at the till.
• Choosing a bag that is too small for what you sell. Try your biggest product in the bag size before you order.
• Ordering exactly the number of visitors you expect. A few extra bags cost little and save stress on the day.
• Leaving the proof for the last minute. Approve it as soon as it arrives, so production can start.

If you want help with the choice, our page on custom printed bags for retail shops shows the bags shops order most.

A short checklist now saves a hectic week later.

 

FAQ about tote bags for a shop opening

 

What is the minimum order for printed bags for a shop opening?

The minimum is 25 pieces for most of our cotton tote bags.

The new pocket totes, canvas mini totes and gift bags with a ribbon start at 50 pieces.

 

How much does a printed tote bag cost for an opening?

A natural cotton tote with a one-colour print costs €7.47 per bag at 25 pieces and €1.49 at 500 pieces, excl. VAT.

Delivery in the EU is included in the price.

 

How long before the opening should I order?

Approve the digital proof about four weeks before the opening.

Production takes 10 to 15 working days from proof approval, and the rest is room for delivery and surprises.

 

Can you deliver the bags to the new shop?

Yes, we can deliver to the shop address anywhere in the EU, as long as someone can receive the boxes.

If the shop is not finished yet, choose an address where someone is always there.

 

Should I give a bag to every visitor or only to buyers?

That depends on your budget and on how many people you expect.

Many shops give a bag with every purchase on the first day, because it fills the street with their name without giving away bags to people who only look.

 

Can I order different bags in one order?

Each bag type and colour is its own product in our shop, so you add each one to the cart separately.

The minimum order applies to each product.

 

Can I sell the leftover bags in my shop?

Yes, and many shops do.

A heavier bag, like the recycled pocket tote, works especially well as merchandise.

 

Do you print full colour logos?

Yes, many of our bags can be printed in full colour.

You can see the price for each print option on the product page before you order.

 

Ready for your opening day

A shop opening is busy, and the bags are one of the easiest things to get right if you start early.

Choose one simple bag to give away or to pack purchases, add a nicer bag to sell if it fits your shop, print your name rather than the date, and approve the proof about four weeks before the doors open.

Then the bags will keep carrying your name long after the opening party is over.

 

Learn More About Custom Printed Bags

Tote Bags as Walking Business Cards

Why Bookstores Should Sell Their Own Tote Bags

How Branded Tote Bags Build Customer Loyalty & Repeat Visits

Reordering Custom Tote Bags: Same Bag, Several Addresses