Many web-to-print solutions are available to help your company serve the growing number of people who expect to be able to order printed products online. Each web to print program has a different user interface and handles different types of printed products used by different groups of customers. What they all have in common is the promise to help your printing business expand its customer base without much staff involvement..
Unfortunately, web-to-print solutions sometimes create more problems than they solve. Building online storefronts for your company’s products can be a bigger challenge than you first thought. If a web to print solution isn’t the best fit your business, your company can get bogged down with a glitch-filled system that takes months (or years) to launch.
This is a major problem, because the quality of your customer’s experience matters today more than ever. If customers believe that your online ordering system is clunky or confusing, they won’t use it. Some may gripe about your system and recommend other sites from which to order printed products.
Keep in mind that many people who buy printed products online may not have any prior experience buying print. If your web to print site uses the same jargon-filled file-submission instructions you give experienced print buyers, you will lose some online sales.
The first versions of web-to-print software were developed independently of the management information systems (MIS) that were created or adapted for the printing business.
So, a standalone web-to-print solution might not work well with your existing systems for handling incoming orders. Every time you must re-enter data related to the job or customer, you are wasting valuable time and not reaping the full benefits of your web-to-print system.
You web to print solution should be easy for your employees to update and maintain. You will routinely be adding or removing products or adjusting prices and discounts in each online storefront.
Just as your customers want the online buying experience to be simple and straightforward, your employees need to be able to update the websites without extensive training.
One web-to-print solution to consider is the optional web-to-print module for Ordant’s easy-to-use print business management software. Ordant software, including the web-to-print module, can be used with dozens of different workflows involving commercial offset presses, digital presses, screen printing equipment, large-format digital printers, label printers, and sign making equipment.
The Ordant web-to-print module was built specifically for proven, reliable integration into Ordant print business management software. All of the customer information and data about each job flow directly into Ordant’s tools for order entry, job status tracking, invoicing, and shipping-label printing. Users of Ordant web-to-print system can easily use past estimates and order histories to re-order products, upload files for new projects, and track the status of jobs in progress.
Ordant’s web-to-print solution is quite flexible. You can set up portals through which key business clients can order the full range of products and services your printing firm or sign shop offers. Or, you can offer a few selected products or services at wholesale prices to other printing businesses.
After you gain experience operating a web-to-print portal for your business customers, you can further expand your customer base by setting up your own online storefront to sell digitally printed merchandise directly to consumers. Ordant’s fast, powerful software can be used to set up those types of e-commerce sites too.
For a demo of Ordant software, including the web-to-print module, visit https://ordant.com/web-to-print/