Web to print is a crucial feature required to sustain in the rising competitive environment. Printers across world strive to develop web to print solutions for getting more sales and volumes and face numerous web to print adoption and implementation challenges. Web to print software providers actually operates in a B2B2C industry where three parties are involved – Software Provider, Printers and End User or Print Buyers. Ultimately it is the end user or print buyers who is using the web to print storefront and thus it is absolutely necessary to understand their perspective on web to print features. We will continue with the above-mentioned terminologies for the three parties involved in web to print implementation.
Printers consider web to print as the technological investment and rely on software providers for technological expertise and integration with the current or proposed hardware. Software provider works with best of their teams for web to print implementation but still half of the web to print initiatives fail to attract end-users to order from their online portal. The reason being they have not taken care of the print buyers in the entire scenario. Most of the printers tend to go for web to print solution because everyone else is without evaluating their current and future business plan. Every printer does not need the full-fledged web to print solution, yes it is true.
The profile of customer determines whether you require web to print solution or some other technology can be adapted for print buyers. Printing companies having few B2B clients may need efficient Print MIS technology but not a full-fledged web to print. The reason being their web to the print solution will never be able to get enough website traffic to even cover up implementation costs. Whereas B2C printers or growing print startups need to have an advanced web to print storefront to attract new customers.
Develop a Customer Adoption Program
Customer participation can be crucial in launching and successfully handling web to print program. Web to print assists you in reaching to customers but it doesn’t mean that just having it will give profits or more customers. Web to print lessons work in terms of manual entering and keeping records, convincing customers without showing anything material or maintaining print jobs but it comes with conditions to make it a hit with end-users or print buyers. A carefully designed customer adoption program can help in making web to print successful and getting it used for the way it is designed i.e getting print via digital channels.
Web to print makes printing business an e-commerce business and understanding trending customer trends in e-commerce can help printers to understand customers’ point of view for accepting online print ordering.
Discuss launch with end-users
Printers skip this step thinking that since its digital age customers tend to shop online. Being in the digital age is for convenience and printing is not something we buy for convenience. Corporate customers buy print for commercial requirements and retail customers for gifting, personalization or other personal reasons.
Discussing launch with customers will give you an idea whether print buyers are looking for web to print solution. It is not necessary that the discussion needs to be formalized in terms of finding, how many customers find it useful and other statistics. Sales team tend to develop good relations with customers and they can ask for the launch of web to print storefront on-the-go. Customers responding positively will be curious to know about the benefits they will get with the launch of web to print stores. This indicates that customers are actually looking for online print ordering solution.
After discussing with customers, printers can go for phase launch and training of web to print for sales and marketing team. This will help different business teams in making customers understand the usability and functionality of web to print orders. Launching full-fledged feature-rich portal can confuse both teams and customers to adopt web to print solution and thus, results in failed efforts.
Discuss customer profile with software provider
The right approach is to strike a perfect balance between customer-facing and back-end features. As said earlier, maybe every printer doesn’t require web to print solution but discussing customer type and profile can help software provider in implementing right software for business.
Blending the lines of customers’ perspective and the right web to print
Software providers can help with the right technological solution but find the right customer problem is a task for printers. Frequent to and fro in workflow approval, change in logos, placing business cards order every time for a new employee, working out on print pricing based on changing artwork and paper requirements are some of the reasons customers tend to get frustrated in print ordering process.
Customers value feature like easy product browsing, payment methods, fully responsive and mobile ready website, easy signing in for customer accounts etc. These features tend to vary for retail and corporate customers. Giving right weight to each features and not over accessorizing the solution is very trivial. Software provider can help in providing the right set of features based on customer profile, type, past orders and other attributes.
Conclusion –
Web to print in the age of customer has to be more dynamic and addressable towards customer problems. Printing industry is struggling to keep print alive and retain customers because of multi-channel digital engagement. Hyper personalized web to print portals catering to the smallest requirements of customers can help printers in engaging with customers and giving them the solution for the problems they are facing with offline print services. Printers need to put up web to print platform in collaboration with printers that will solve the problem based on customer requirements, not technology. Web to print is enabling both smooth, automated experiences whilst also giving customers the opportunity to personalize their designs using live design tool with printers vis-à-vis businesses need to redesign and rethink their old processes and ageing non-interactive websites to make most of this opportunity.
