What makes e-commerce for printers so complicated?
E-commerce in general is a complicated and tricky prospect for any business, but for PSP’s (Print Service Providers), e-commerce or “print-commerce” gets even harder.
Why?
1. Printing is a product AND a service, not just a product by itself.
2. Printing products have additional product attributes that make their databases exponentially more complex.
3. Online competition and profit margins are rough. Online print companies such as vistaprint and printrunner, have a concentrated online strategy in place to find and secure print buyers. PPC and advertising costs is expensive.
4. Print buyes are VERY price sensitive. With the advent of the Internet and “free shipping” offers from many providers, customer loyalty is decreasing at an alarming rate. Throw in e-economic sensitivity and “local” is not always preferred anymore.
5. Artwork. The print product itself is a result of the artwork provided to the order. Ensuring quality artwork to avoid garbage-in garbage-out, is another step and variable that needs to be clearly addressed by PSPs in their ordering process.
With 10 years experience in this field, we hope these little insights will help you to find a solution that best fits your needs.
