Beyond Order Taking: What Print E-Commerce Really Delivers

Print e-commerce reaches far beyond moving order-taking onto the web.

Going the online transaction route can address challenges that sit outside printing itself, including tighter control and allocation of marketing funds and a stronger brand influence. It changes more than the way business is conducted; much greater value lies behind it.

If e-commerce is viewed only as a simple adjustment to the transaction model between a company and its customers, a long list of problems will appear once it is actually put to work. E-commerce is, of course, a payment method, but what makes it truly distinctive is the extensive added value that can be built around it.

Today, a printing company that is truly successful is destined to be more than a pure printing operation. This does not refer to businesses that merely embed QR codes, pURLs and similar elements into print services, nor to those that use the label “marketing service provider” and deliver services through cross-media marketing. No—absolutely not.

The value-added services discussed here are the non-mainstream part that sits outside the transaction, yet in sales they often become the decisive factor in closing a deal. For instance, many large retail chains will not contact a printing company over every small matter; they have marketing budgets and brand control management. A portion of those marketing budgets goes to printing, and brand control is also integrated into the printed products.

The sale is not centered on printing; it is centered on bringing decentralized marketing budgets under unified control so that no regional gaps emerge. Note: this has nothing to do with whether ink or toner is used. Note also: this kind of added value can only be delivered by an online ordering system. Where would such a conversation take place? Only in high-level discussions with the customer’s marketing director or finance director. Achieve that, and you will keep your business forever.

Print e-commerce can give printing companies value-added advantages beyond print production, allowing them to reach deep into a customer’s organizational structure and thereby win more business.

Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-369993.html