Spinning a Web
There's no denying the advantages of a web-to-print system. It allowed the process to move quicker, permitted last minute changes and wiped out the middle man or woman (no more face-to-face meetings for approval or to discuss changes).
Remote publishing was an invention that allowed print houses, graphic designers and clients to tweak prepress templates, therefore, making it cost- and time-effective.
As the days go on, innovations in the web-to-print arena only are getting better.
Lisa Hoffman, brand manager for Arlington, Texas-based PrintPlace.com, said the company is always striving to be a leader in the web-to-print arena. She believes the key is innovation beyond e-commerce.
"Some of the things we're working on for 2011 include interactive online proofing (example: moving a fold or perf line on an interactive proof without requiring new artwork upload) and custom job management," she explained.
And that's not all. Recently, PrintPlace.com added the capability for brokers and other resellers to have privately branded PDF proofs. In 2010, it also expanded its product line to include new offerings such as different sizes, options and stocks in booklets, presentation folders, door hangers and newsletters.
In addition, this year, Hoffman said the company extended its cut-off times for sending jobs to press. Next year, it will add mailing list purchasing to the website, as well as inserting and numbering.
Zarik Mergerdichian, CEO of Glendale, California-based trade printer 4over, touted Redtagprintsale.com as the latest innovation for print resellers in the web-to-print industry. It is a business model and website specifically designed to capture orders from an increasing number of price-conscious consumers who are going online to purchase their print needs directly from web-based retail printers.
"The average print reseller can not compete against these retailers, so Redtagprintsale.com does it for them, captures the order and then distributes the retail profits and customer leads it generates back to the participating resellers," he said. "This innovative technology will soon be offering unique and compelling products that are designed to draw in the retail consumer and drive the profits and customer leads back to the participating print resellers."
Mergerdichian remarked, 4over also recognizes the need to continuously offer new products and services. Its latest innovation, Marketplace, was created to provide customers with more ways to generate business and increase their profitability. Since Marketplace remains in the development stages, more details will follow in the future.
With innovation no doubt comes inspiration, but it also brings changes and challenges. One change Sam Vignjevic, e-commerce director for Greenville, South Carolina-based growll.com, foresees is: "this market will be required to provide more custom solutions via the e-commerce model. We see our custom quotes taking off in this direction. The next step will be for e-commerce shoppers to be able to select customized diecuts, special folds, unique pockets, etc., dynamically instead of through traditional custom ordering methods on their print orders."
Hoffman had another thought.
As new print buyers enter the arena, she said, these people will be more conditioned to look online for needed products and services.
"For a professional print buyer, the focus will shift almost entirely to estimating, ordering and proofing online, and pricing will play a more vital role than relationships. For the end-user, print resellers will continue to play a vital role as long as they are offering a value-added service," she said.
In terms of challenges, Mergerdichian summed it up like this: "The marriage of paper, ink and technology will, no doubt, also result in some exciting new products in the future. The challenges will be whether a company has the foresight, flexibility and financial resources to take advantage of these new developments."
Despite challenges, there are plenty of trends in the industry. Hoffman commented turnaround times will continue to get faster as print buyers become more conditioned to the instant access provided by online ordering.
"PrintPlace.com now offers Same Day turns on all of our coated stock products—including plus-cover booklets and calendars," she added. "We extended the send to press cutoff time for same day and one-day turns recently to noon central time. Integrated print and direct mail online ordering and management is another growing trend in web-to-print. While we have offered mailing services for several years, our mailing services and options will be greatly enhanced in 2011."
4over has a secret it is not giving up just yet.
"We believe the latest trend in the industry is or soon will be bringing more than just ink and paper to the customer," Mergerdichian said. "But at this time we are not able to share more than this."
Some web-to-print trends are hanging on to their last breaths. For example, the tradition of extended press checks and proofing job slowly is dying down, Mergerdichian noted.
"Today's technology is such that they are not as necessary as they used to be," Mergerdichian said. "Speed, convenience and price are the name of the game today."
Vignjevic added, competitive bids that are below costs are dying out. "[It] seemed for a couple of years we were getting calls asking us to match prices that were just unreal. Actually, below costs. These requests are going away because our pricing is very competitive and people are now looking at the entire price, including proofing, bindery and shipping. They are realizing that competitors are loading up these extra services with markup. What looked like a great deal up front, may actually be costing more."
For the most part, there's still a money crunch.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, the group charged with keeping track of when economic slumps begin and end, recently announced the United States' Great Recession ended in June 2009.
These print pros still feel the penny pinching.
Vignjevic said his company absolutely remains impacted.
"It has enabled us to be more efficient in our internal processes and focus on what we do best, which is focus on the needs of our customers. We don't take transactions for granted. Every order is important. We are also spending much more time with customers through trade shows, conventions, tours and conference calls in an effort to partner with them," he explained.
Mergerdichian concurred.
"Print consumers cut back on their spending, and for those that did spend, more of them turned to the online direct to retail printers," he said. "As a result, our customers have been suffering and by extension so has 4over. The downturn in the economy meant that we had to make some hard choices with respect to where best to place our resources. We decided that continuing to expand our footprint and to develop new products and services would be more beneficial to our customer base in the long run, so we have continued to devote significant resources in these areas, when conventional wisdom would have suggested otherwise. Because our resources are not unlimited, however, some minor cutbacks in services were necessary."
Hoffman stated the current economic climate has impacted her company in a positive way. "Budget constraints have forced print buyers to look online for solutions. PrintPlace.com is poised to provide offset lithography at a speed and price that is difficult to match. Additionally, our commitment to customer service is aiding in our growth. There is an old saying that says you can pick two: speed, quality or price. Our customers say that they can get all three with PrintPlace.com. Our aim is to continually improve all facets of the business with an eye toward making a significant contribution to an industry we love.
Regardless of hot trends, dead trends and obstacles, there is something to look forward to in the future.
"The unlimited opportunity of print is the most exciting thing on the horizon," Vignjevic said. "I continue to believe that print is a fantastic way to communicate a message and direct mail is both a great medium to send a message and fantastic way to provide an additional revenue stream."