Posts tagged solution

Many print companies are under the assumption that by merely putting their print shop online they can become an online printing powerhouse. They won’t.  In reality, it takes a considerable amount of time and money to drive web traffic.  The average print shop does not have the knowledge or budget to successfully drive traffic to their online print store, because a typical print shop has fewer than 15 employees and annual revenues under $2 million.[1]  

In contrast, Vistaprint had a net income of $817 million in 2011, but it came after $177 million in advertising costs and over 2,600 employees worldwide.[2]   Vistaprint uses their funds to place advertisements on all the foremost websites; Google, Bing, Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, and Pandora. They use product placement, direct marketing techniques, and strategic partnerships to drive traffic to their site. They’re everywhere. I can’t watch an entire episode of Hell’s Kitchen on Hulu without seeing commercials for Vistaprint in-between Gordon Ramsay degrading chefs and throwing raw chicken. 

For Vistaprint this constant publicity and marketing is essential. Various shops employ direct mail campaigns or search engine optimization, but evolving into a bustling ecommerce printer requires more than a web-to-print “solution” and an e-mail blast.

However, a print shop can expand their business with a couple vital tools. First they need an efficient way to communicate with consumers. Most print shop workers have to deal with constant phone calls and e-mails from pestering customers concerned about their orders. These nuisances turn the print personnel into gofers, fetching quotes and updates on orders rather than exploring new consumer bases and generating fresh business. Rich customer communication portals with self service options allow both printers and customers to easily access, manage, and track the order from purchase to fulfillment.  With these time and cost savings, the printer’s focus can shift from coddling customers to executing sales strategy.

Another fundamental tactic is utilizing a streamlined management solution. Streamlining the ordering process creates additional workflow benefits because print shops are often hectic environments; where an overdue order is lost revenue, and a misplaced order can be a lost customer.  A management solution that separates the duties of employees within the company (ordering, back-end, delivery) can eradicate most of the errors that print shops have, such as missing collection on rush fees or misplacing orders. With orders and jobs funneling into one unified management program, workflow can be effectively managed to decrease lost revenues.  

Utilizing both of these tools won’t catapult your company into an $800 million revenue year like Vistaprint, but they are just a couple important aspects to increasing profits and escalating a print shop. While few companies have the working capital to execute advertising like Vistaprint, all print companies have opportunities more efficiently manage their business.

Keen encompasses these strategies in our complete ecommerce solution in ways no other company has done before in the print industry. Keen has combined all facets of print into one modern easy-to-use product; customer communication tools, strategic partnerships with trade printers, integrated shipping and tax information, a streamlined front-end and back-end management solution, a transaction gateway, and more than I could name in a single blog post. In just 24 short hours the first multi-tenant SaaS for the print industry developed by Keen Systems will launch at Graph Expo. Join us as the print industry changes forever.

Booth #1071 

[1]   http://www.inplantgraphics.com/blog/economics-101-the-law-supply-demand-in-plant-print-shops-ray-chambers#

[2]   http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1262976/000095012311078262/b85327e10vk.htm