The printing industry is currently witnessing cut-throat competition across both offline and online mediums. While there is no shortage of pop-up print shops in any neighborhood, web-to-print storefronts have also mushroomed on the internet rapidly in the last five years and how.
From greetings cards, signboards and buttons to t-shirts and photo frames - today, anything and everything can be personalized and printed after the order has been placed in a matter of minutes by a customer from the comforts of his or home or office.
A Global Industry Analysts report states the global web-to-print market is expected to touch USD 1.3bn by 2022. According to NAPL, almost 57% of printers attributed web-to-print storefronts for their increased profitability.
The statistics aren’t surprising given the kind of functionalities like online Design Studio, Quick Editor, and Print MIS customers get to use on the W2P storefront.
Similar to W2P, the printing industry has also witnessed the birth of other technologies such as Print-On-Demand (POD) and Clout-To-Print (CTP).
Ecommerce Marketplace Solution For Printers
You must have heard of Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart, Nykaa that sell products from multiple vendors on their websites; they are successful eCommerce marketplaces in India, brands to reckon with.
The same concept can also empower printing companies across the globe. It is a lucrative option for amateur entrepreneurs who are looking to start their printing company and want an already established support system to run the show.
The print marketplaces allow third-party vendors like large-scale printers, graphic designers, personalized print product sellers to offer their services online - thus reducing the time and effort required to get the job done.
An eCommerce marketplace printing solution allows the customer to search for printers from an area, type of printing, reviews and ratings, price range, and more along with placing and tracking an order.
How Printing Companies Can Benefit From The Ecommerce Marketplace Concept
1. The print marketplace holds responsibility for the maintenance of inventory and running the operations.
Absolutely! The marketplace manages inventory, supervises logistics and operations and fixes technical glitches.
Have you ever noticed as a customer, you never directly deal with the vendor when you purchase something from a marketplace like Amazon?
It’s always the Amazon representatives who connect with you in case of order delays, refunds or queries; never the vendor. That’s the whole point of selling on a marketplace.
The printer never has to worry about such aspects of running a business. It gets empowered by the marketplace support it receives and scales the business.
2. The print marketplace simplifies orders for the printers.
That’s correct!
Customers are spoiled for choice. They will always be happy to have more brands selling them on a single platform. No wonder, the print marketplace allows the customers to choose a design of their interest and place the order online quickly.
A print marketplace solution can also enable a change or alteration of orders even at the last moment. Customers can track the progress of their order online and reap the benefits of adjusting quality, shipping locations, and delivery dates.
The eCommerce marketplace takes care of the front-end seamlessly for the printing companies to focus on delivering a high-quality product to their customers.
3. The print marketplace increases the productivity of the printers.
With the burden of operational efficiencies transferred to the eCommerce marketplace, the printing companies, graphic designers and product sellers can focus on promoting their respective businesses and improving their margins.
They have more time on their hands to utilize their time more strategically on business development, client servicing, improving production processes, and more.
Studies show 66% of printers that sell on an eCommerce marketplace are more receptive towards automation and streamlining workflows in no small extent.
Such efficiency-related changes are only possible when the printer isn’t investing its resources to deliver products at the door or to resolve customer complaints - both of which take up a lot of time and money.
4. The print marketplace reduces the time between order submissions and final delivery.
That’s correct! It doesn’t matter whether a customer wants to print 200 business cards or 1,000 flyers in a short period - the traditional print workflow can never be that fast.
The print marketplace reduces the time between order submissions and final delivery, thus making it ideal for meeting tight deadlines.
The print brokers, for starters, can smoothly navigate through the vast maze of competition by allowing the customers to enjoy the best solutions at customizable rates.
Moreover, the use of smartphones and tablets has also enabled the customers to design and place an order for any product from their device, while on-the-go.
Place any order on the eCommerce marketplace, and the customer will receive it faster than any offline printer.
Today, There Are Many Marketplace Web2Print Solutions
Owing to the increasing popularity of an eCommerce marketplace for printers, it isn't surprising to see solutions for those who want to build a network of print resellers, vendors, graphic designers, print service providers, and customers on a single centralized platform.
Design’N’Buy, for instance, assists marketplace owners to set up and manage an extensive print marketplace which gives win-win options to end-users, re-sellers, designers and print vendors.
Design’N’Buy’s marketplace solution has been created on Magento community edition platform; thus, it is entirely open source and ready for customization as per varying business needs.
There are other software providers too that can help you start a marketplace of your own.
Are You Ready To Be Empowered?
The print marketplace offers a solution that is best of both worlds regarding minimizing challenges of standalone print commerce websites and providing products to customers on time.
The concept of eCommerce marketplace can help struggling printing businesses to sustain in the longer run, improve margins and increase profits.
Amy Watson has completed her education in Information Technology sector and then she has started working in eCommerce web to print storefront research & development segment at Design’N’Buy. After getting more than 5 years of experience in print marketplace solution for printers, she found best interaction model about it. She really enjoys her success in research and development for start-up business and also in extending current model with highly reflective ROI.