Inclusive Holiday Commerce: How Print‑on‑Demand Brands Can Honor Diverse Traditions

The New Holiday Reality For E‑commerce Sellers

If you run a print‑on‑demand or dropshipping store, the holiday season is your Super Bowl. Yet the real opportunity is no longer just about selling more mugs and ornaments. It is about helping real families feel seen in a season that is emotionally complex, deeply cultural, and increasingly diverse.

In the United States alone, families navigate Christmas alongside Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, Eid, and many other celebrations. Adoption, foster care, transracial families, and immigration can layer different cultures, grief, and joy into the same living room. At the same time, digital shopping and platforms similar to Amazon have reshaped how people discover and buy holiday products, something reflected in commentary on cultural diversity and holiday traditions in the U.S. business community.

As a mentor to e‑commerce founders in the on‑demand printing and dropshipping space, I see the same pattern every year. Brands that treat holidays as a generic, one‑size‑fits‑all “Christmas sale” compete on discounts. Brands that treat holidays as an opportunity to honor identity, culture, and story compete on meaning. The second group tends to win on loyalty and lifetime value.

This article will walk you through how to build that second kind of brand, drawing on what adoption organizations, multicultural gifting experts, and holiday décor brands are already doing well.

Why Holiday Products Matter So Much To Families

Holiday décor and gifts are not neutral. They tell children who belongs, whose story counts, and which traditions are “normal.”

Adoption Adds Layers To Holiday Emotions

Adoption and foster care can make Christmas and other holidays both magical and painful. Nightlight, an adoption organization that writes about supporting adopted children during the holidays, describes how a girl adopted at age seven felt it was “not fair” that her younger brothers had more Christmas ornaments and lifelong memories with the family. Something as simple as ornaments on a tree became a visible reminder of years she did not get to share.

Nightlight’s guidance is clear: parents cannot erase those lost years, but they can acknowledge the unfairness, sit with the child in their grief, and make tangible gestures like creating extra ornaments to help “catch up” and make the child feel included. Holiday products, in other words, can become tools of repair.

Adoption Network’s discussion of families who do not celebrate Christmas at all adds another dimension. Many American children are surrounded by Christmas trees, Santa, and school events, even when their own family follows different religious or cultural traditions. Parents are encouraged to create their own rituals, sometimes letting children enjoy non‑religious elements like visiting Santa or hanging twinkle lights while clearly explaining the family’s beliefs. The goal is not to copy Christmas with things like “Chanukah bushes,” but to help kids enjoy the season and learn about tolerance without abandoning their own values.

Adoptions With Love, an adoption agency that writes about holiday traditions for newly adoptive families, reinforces the idea that rituals are powerful. They describe holiday traditions as recurring activities, from baking to decorating to religious observances, that strengthen bonds, teach values, and create shared memories. For transracial or transcultural adoptions, they strongly recommend honoring the child’s heritage by learning and incorporating holiday customs from the child’s culture.

Taken together, these adoption‑focused perspectives tell you something important as a seller: ornaments, décor, and personalized gifts are not trivial extras. For many families, they are how a new family story gets written, especially in the first years after adoption.

Diversity Inside One Household

Cultural diversity does not just happen at the national level; it happens inside individual households. Goodwishes, a brand that publishes a multicultural holiday gift guide, shows just how many celebrations your customers may be navigating. They map out thoughtful gifting ideas for Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, Eid al‑Fitr, Nowruz, Winter Solstice, Japanese New Year, and more. Their core recommendation is to research the specific holidays and customs your recipient observes, paying attention to symbolism and taboos.

They also call out specific examples, such as avoiding white flowers for many East Asian recipients because of mourning associations, and steering clear of unlucky numbers like four in some Lunar New Year cash gifts. In other words, “holiday” is not a single category. It is a portfolio of cultures, values, and sensitivities.

That complexity is amplified in families created by adoption, especially across cultures. Adoptions With Love suggests integrating foods, books, decorations, and stories from a child’s birth culture into holiday celebrations. Adoption Network encourages non‑Christmas families to create or enhance their own rituals so children can be proud of their heritage while living in a Christmas‑dominant environment. Nightlight recommends building in time for grief and remembering birth families as part of the holiday rhythm.

As a seller, your catalog can either flatten those stories into a generic “Merry Christmas” or help families weave them together.

Where Inclusive Product Ideas Are Coming From

You do not have to guess what inclusive holiday products look like. There are already brands pointing the way in wrapping paper, ornaments, children’s gifts, and corporate gifting.

Multicultural Wrap, Décor, And Representation

Greentop Gifts, for example, centers its products on gift wrap and apparel that showcase “brown faces” in joyful, everyday holiday scenes. A customer testimonial describes how a child’s birthday party became a conversation starter because so many guests asked about the wrapping paper and loved seeing representation that felt personal. That testimonial highlights two commercially important points. First, inclusive imagery turns a commodity like wrapping paper into something that feels bespoke. Second, visible representation generates organic word‑of‑mouth in real social settings.

On the décor side, the site Colours of Us curates more than one hundred multicultural Christmas decorations and accessories. The existence of such a large, representation‑focused collection is a signal of demand. Families are looking for ornaments, stockings, and figurines that reflect a wider range of skin tones and cultural backgrounds, not just one default.

Mandy’s Moon Personalized Gifts extends this representation specifically to children. Their “Children of the World & Multicultural Kids” collection features characters representing about thirty different countries. Another design line depicts kids of many races together. Some items can be personalized with names, creating a bridge between multicultural representation and individual identity.

For a print‑on‑demand seller, these examples are a blueprint. Diverse faces, global themes, and personalization are not niche; they are becoming a baseline expectation for many modern families.

Personalized Ornaments And Keepsakes As Story Tools

Holiday Traditions, a brand specializing in handcrafted and personalized ornaments, illustrates how deep you can go with personalization. Their product copy describes ornaments that are laser‑engraved using vector‑based design tools. Names, dates, messages, and symbols are translated into precise, permanent markings on materials like acrylic or wood. They emphasize durability, archival‑grade materials, and protective coatings that resist fading and humidity so keepsakes can last across many seasons.

Their range includes personalized ornaments, custom designs, engraved ornaments, handcrafted pieces, unique and special themes, gift‑ready formats, Christmas keepsakes, and even bespoke ornaments that involve client consultations. They position ornaments as part of an evolving collection that can mark milestones like new babies, newlyweds, and annual celebrations, eventually becoming heirloom sets.

This approach aligns closely with adoption‑focused guidance. Nightlight suggests planning ahead by collecting ornaments and mementos that document the adoption journey, then reviewing them together once the child joins the family. Adoptions With Love encourages families to use holidays to celebrate past adoption milestones and set goals for the New Year. Ornaments that can capture dates, names, and short stories are an ideal format for that kind of narrative.

From a business standpoint, this is a powerful product category for print‑on‑demand because it combines high emotional value with relatively low production cost and strong repeat‑purchase potential.

Multicultural Gifts Across Holidays

Goodwishes’ multicultural holiday gift guide provides a practical map of what different celebrations emphasize. Hanukkah gifts often center on menorah candles, dreidels, chocolate coins, cookbooks, and keepsakes that highlight Jewish culture, with a recommendation to avoid mixing Hanukkah and other religious symbols unless you know it is welcome. Diwali gifts include decorative lamps, traditional sweets like ladoos and barfis, jewelry that symbolizes prosperity, and colorful home décor. Kwanzaa gifting leans toward books on African history and culture, handcrafted items from African artisans, kinaras and candles, and creative kits that reflect principles like unity and creativity. Lunar New Year is associated with red envelopes of money, lanterns, quality tea, and symbolic foods; amounts containing the number four are discouraged. Eid al‑Fitr gifts include sweets or dates, modest clothing, charitable donations, and high‑quality fragrances, all aligned with halal values.

These insights do not just help individuals choose better gifts; they help you design better product lines and marketing language for your store. You can create artwork, color palettes, and personalization options that align with what these holidays actually celebrate instead of forcing them into a Christmas mold.

To visualize this, consider a simplified mapping of what families value and how you might respond as a print‑on‑demand seller.

These angles are not prescriptions from the sources; they are practical applications you can design around, as long as you approach them with cultural humility and additional research.

Corporate Gifts That Actually Feel Human

Holiday commerce is not only about consumer households. Corporate gifting is a significant revenue stream for many print‑on‑demand sellers when approached thoughtfully.

Huckle Bee Farms, a producer of infused honeys, offers a useful model. Their article on personalized corporate holiday gifts argues that the best gifts combine usefulness, quality, and emotion. They highlight gourmet foods, wellness products, unique experiences, and even pet‑friendly items as top categories. Their core product, small‑batch infused honey, becomes a storytelling platform: they tie it to local sourcing, sustainability, and support for pollinators.

For corporate buyers, they offer clear customization options: logo labels, custom box artwork, personalized insert cards, and curated pairings like teas or cheese‑board accessories. They describe a “Build Your Own Bundle” workflow where clients choose jar size and infusion, upload a logo, and approve a proof. They even offer K9 Honey for dog‑focused campaigns, complete with safety labeling and instructions.

They also emphasize sustainability. Packaging recommendations include Amish‑made crates, reusable or recyclable glass bottles with minimal plastic, and uncoated recycled‑paper inserts. Supporting pollinators is framed as a tangible corporate social responsibility narrative instead of vague environmental claims.

For a print‑on‑demand or dropshipping entrepreneur, this is a strong template. Instead of generic branded mugs, you can build small, curated bundles pairing your personalized products with story‑rich items and eco‑friendly packaging, then sell them as ready‑to‑ship corporate gifts.

Turning Insights Into Product Lines In Your PoD Or Dropshipping Store

Let us translate these examples into concrete product strategies you can execute with print partners and dropship suppliers.

Product Line: Multicultural Kids And Families

Mandy’s Moon demonstrates that parents actively look for children’s gifts showing kids from about thirty countries and many races together. Greentop Gifts shows that parents of Black and brown children, in particular, are eager for wrapping paper and apparel that reflect them in joyful settings.

In a print‑on‑demand store, you can build a “global kids” collection that goes beyond generic stick figures. Commission illustrators to create diverse characters with varied skin tones, hair types, and cultural clothing, but keep the designs playful and child‑centered. Offer personalization options where parents can choose a character that resembles their child and add a name or short phrase.

From an adoption perspective, this matters. Adoptions With Love notes that transracial and transcultural adoptions benefit from incorporating the child’s heritage into everyday family life. When an adopted child can see a character that looks like them on their holiday mug, stocking, or journal, it reinforces that their story belongs in the family’s traditions.

Product Line: Story‑Driven Ornaments And Keepsakes

Holiday Traditions’ approach to ornaments is highly transferable to print‑on‑demand. They emphasize that ornaments should be designed for durability and structural balance, with weight distribution that does not pull down branches and attachment points that do not break. They use laser engraving and vector‑based design to ensure precise, permanent personalization.

You may not be manufacturing the ornaments yourself, but you can set similar quality standards with your suppliers. Focus on materials that can handle multi‑year use, and test sample pieces for weight and finish. Build collections that make it easy for families to add one new ornament every year, organized by theme: first holiday together, new home, new baby, first holiday after adoption, and similar milestones.

Nightlight’s suggestion to collect ornaments and mementos that tell a child’s story gives you a marketing angle as well. You can create product descriptions and landing pages that invite families to start a “life story tree” or “adoption journey collection,” with prompts for what to engrave and how to use each ornament in storytelling.

Product Line: Corporate And B2B Holiday Sets

Huckle Bee Farms uses honey as their core product; your core might be engraved drinkware, notebooks, wall art, or apparel. The shared principle is this: corporate holiday gifts work best when they feel both branded and genuinely thoughtful.

You can offer tiered bundles: a basic level with a single personalized product and a simple card, a mid‑tier level with two or three coordinated items, and a premium level that adds a story element such as a booklet about the artisans, sustainability practices, or a cause the company supports. Huckle Bee Farms’ emphasis on pet‑friendly gifts, like K9 Honey bundles, points to a powerful niche: dog‑owning clients often have strong emotional attachments to pet‑related gifts and are likely to share them on social media.

Sustainability is another clear differentiator. Huckle Bee Farms highlights reusable glass packaging and low‑waste inserts; you can mirror that by choosing packaging materials that are recyclable and by explicitly calling out those choices in your product copy. Corporate buyers are under pressure to show authentic social responsibility, and concrete details about materials help.

Product Line: Experiences‑In‑A‑Box For “Holidays Around The World”

An Elfster blog about a “Christmas Around the World” party offers a creative template for experiential products. A group of college students created an inclusive celebration where each person contributed a tradition from their culture. Scottish tartan inspired a table runner and bows. Mexican tradition showed up as a snowman‑shaped piñata. Hawaiian culture appeared through shared foods like lumpia and pineapple‑rich desserts. German heritage contributed warm wassail. Brazilian tradition added a Papai Noel sock gift exchange with a price cap.

You can turn this concept into themed bundles for families or friend groups who want to host their own “holidays around the world” night. For example, create a box that includes printed décor like tartan‑patterned table runners or banners, piñata‑themed wall art or printable templates, recipe cards for dishes or drinks mentioned in the sources, and printed instruction cards explaining a sock‑based gift exchange.

The key is to provide enough structure that hosts feel guided, but enough flexibility that they can plug in their own foods and music. This kind of box encourages cultural exchange and gives your brand a reputation for creativity and inclusion.

Designing With Cultural Intelligence And Care

Inclusive products can backfire if they feel careless or stereotypical. The Goodwishes guide is a useful reminder that respect starts with research. They urge givers to understand symbolism and taboos, such as avoiding white flowers in many East Asian cultures because of mourning associations and steering clear of unlucky numbers in monetary gifts for Lunar New Year.

They also caution against casually mixing religious symbols, for instance combining Hanukkah and Christmas imagery, without knowing that the recipient is comfortable with it. That principle applies directly to your designs. A “holiday mash‑up” sweater that throws together a menorah, a nativity scene, and Diwali lamps might look playful to you but disrespectful to people who actually live those traditions.

King of Christmas, a brand that publishes content on global Christmas traditions, underscores the sheer diversity even within one holiday. They describe German Christmas markets, Spain’s huge lottery and Christmas Eve feasts, Italy’s seafood‑focused Christmas Eve meal and La Befana on Epiphany, Scandinavian St. Lucia celebrations focused on light, Mexican Las Posadas processions, Brazilian summer barbeques, Philippine pre‑dawn church services over many days, Ethiopian Christmas on January 7, South African beach barbecues, Nigerian street parties with jollof rice, Australian and Fijian summer feasts, Iceland’s Yule Lads and book‑giving, and Ukrainian spider‑web tree decorations.

As a designer or brand owner, that kind of diversity should slow you down. Instead of assuming that “Christmas” means one look and one set of symbols, you can choose a specific cultural lens for each design and label it clearly. That way, customers see that you are not trying to speak for every culture at once but offering focused, respectful options.

Cultural intelligence is also about how you market. Goodwishes repeatedly emphasizes the power of a sincere, handwritten note paired with any gift. For your e‑commerce store, that translates into encouraging customers to add gift messages that are about memories, gratitude, or shared experiences, not just their name.

Building Traditions, Not Just Transactions

Many adoptive and multicultural families are actively creating new holiday traditions right now. Adoptions With Love talks about couples reflecting on their childhood holidays, choosing favorite elements to keep, identifying what to change, and intentionally adding activities that match their child’s personality. They suggest baking days, gingerbread houses, playing Santa, lighting the menorah, crafting, or even ordering takeout as valid traditions. The emphasis is not on matching a cultural script but on doing something consistently together.

Adoption Network, in its discussion of non‑Christmas families, suggests using Christmas Day for volunteering at food pantries or shelters, donating time and outgrown toys, or inviting friends to experience the family’s own religious or cultural holiday traditions. They also suggest that visiting Santa or enjoying mall decorations can be compared to attending a friend’s birthday party: you can have fun and be happy for others while understanding that it is not your holiday.

Nightlight reminds parents to keep routines as steady as possible, reduce overstimulation, choose familiar foods if a child is not used to typical Christmas meals, and intentionally build in time for grief, for example through letters or ornaments honoring people the child misses.

Your products can support all of this. You can create ornaments and wall art that help mark volunteering as a tradition, not just gift‑opening. You can design décor that emphasizes “light,” “peace,” or “gratitude” without tying those words to a single holiday, which is helpful for families that do not celebrate Christmas but still enjoy seasonal coziness. You can create low‑sensory, soft color palettes for décor aimed at children who are easily overwhelmed, in contrast to the loudest, brightest options on the market.

The Family Connections blog, in its piece titled “Blending Traditions: The Impact of Adoption on Holiday Celebrations,” signals how important it is for adoptive families to blend different traditions thoughtfully. Even without their full text, the theme aligns with what other adoption agencies are saying: holidays are where family identity is negotiated. When your catalog respects that, you are not just selling products; you are partnering in that identity work.

Operating As A Forward‑Thinking PoD Brand

From a practical entrepreneurship standpoint, inclusive holiday commerce requires a bit more intention up front but pays off in depth of customer relationship.

In my mentoring work with print‑on‑demand founders, I encourage them to treat the holiday line as a multi‑year project, not a one‑season scramble. Start by choosing a small number of cultural focus areas that are authentic to your team and that you are willing to research properly. It is better to have a deeply respectful Diwali and Eid collection plus an adoption‑friendly Christmas collection than a shallow, error‑prone catalog that tries to cover every holiday on earth.

Build your personalization workflows as carefully as Holiday Traditions and Huckle Bee Farms describe theirs. That includes clear input fields, visual proofs where possible, and realistic cut‑off dates for holiday delivery. Remember that many adoptive families, for example, may want “first holiday together” ornaments in the very year a child arrives; your messaging should make it clear when they need to order to receive them in time.

Marketing‑wise, do not hide the “why.” Greentop Gifts puts representation at the center of their story. Huckle Bee Farms puts small‑batch authenticity, sustainability, and pollinator support front and center. Adoption agencies like Adoptions With Love and Nightlight explain why traditions matter so much to family formation. You can connect these dots in your brand narrative: representation, tradition‑building, and thoughtful gifting are not side benefits; they are your mission.

At the same time, stay adaptive. A LinkedIn article on cultural diversity and holiday traditions reflects on how digital marketing and online shopping have changed family practices, sometimes diluting older customs while creating space for new ones with grandchildren. The core message is that some aspects of tradition change and others stay constant, and that the ability to adjust is a blessing. Your product line and marketing should reflect that same posture: honoring what people love about their holidays while making room for new, more inclusive patterns.

Short FAQ For Merchants

Is it risky to design products for holidays I do not personally celebrate?

It can be if you move too quickly, but it becomes an opportunity when you approach it with humility. Follow the kind of guidance Goodwishes offers by researching symbolism, avoiding known taboos, and asking members of that community to review your designs before launch. Be transparent in your product copy about the inspiration behind each piece and invite feedback.

How can I avoid tokenism when featuring diverse characters and cultures?

Look at brands like Greentop Gifts and Mandy’s Moon. They do not add one token diverse design to an otherwise homogeneous catalog. Representation is woven through their offerings, from wrapping paper to children’s gifts. Aim for depth within each cultural focus, offer meaningful personalization, and avoid caricatures. When you depict a culture, connect it to real traditions, foods, or practices described by reputable sources, not just costumes and stereotypes.

What if my current audience is mostly used to conventional Christmas products?

Change does not mean abandoning them. The LinkedIn reflection on changing holiday traditions points out that meaningful new practices can sit alongside cherished old ones. You can introduce inclusive and adoption‑friendly lines alongside existing bestsellers, telling the story of why you are expanding. Many customers will welcome the chance to choose gifts that better fit their own family or the families they love.

Closing

Inclusive holiday commerce is not about being politically correct; it is about being human‑centered and future‑ready. When you design print‑on‑demand and dropship products that honor diverse cultures, adoption stories, and evolving family traditions, you move from selling seasonal novelties to helping your customers build rituals that last. That is the kind of work that keeps a brand relevant year after year.

References

1. https://blog.nchs.org/adoptive-family-holiday-traditions
2. https://www.adoptfamilyconnections.org/blog/blending-traditions-the-impact-of-adoption-on-holiday-celebrations
3. https://adoptionswithlove.org/adoptive-parents/creating-holiday-traditions-as-a-newly-adoptive-family
4. https://adoptioncouncil.org/publications/unwrapping-opportunities-for-adoptive-families-during-the-holidays/
5. https://creatingafamily.org/adoption-category/adoption-blog/our-families-cherished-holiday-traditions/
6. https://nightlight.org/2023/12/supporting-your-adopted-child-during-the-holidays/
7. https://greentopgifts.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoreeIjuBw56SFVGmZ_EokQhQ4UsbSxOlv5_sy-Zae8YDP5XopiF
8. https://www.personalizationmall.com/Personalized-Christmas-Gifts-s9.store?srsltid=AfmBOooK668gqjZyXEriV5zDNu_Q-DiMbQlZYPmNeKM3xe-f55g-2N3W
9. https://www.thingsremembered.com/personalized-holiday-christmas-gifts-s106.store
10. https://adoption.com/celebrate-culture-holidays/?__hstc=101661790.8da91b5f8b42a5531651a132262dd89d.1756944000322.1756944000323.1756944000324.1&__hssc=101661790.1.1756944000325&__hsfp=2825657416