There is still a lot of room for improvement in online printing
Farsighted decision
One of Europe's leading online print shops is unitedprint.com SE, with production sites in Radebeul and Nuremberg. Although the company's roots go back to 1798 in the cathedral city of Meissen, it is now a cutting-edge enterprise.The rebuilding of the company in 2003 in Radebeul was also the year it was founded as an online print shop. Even then, it was a far-sighted and successful decision. Today, unitedprint employs over 700 people at 26 locations worldwide and offers one of the broadest portfolios in the industry. In addition to pure print products such as brochures and flyers, this also includes advertising technology, large format, packaging, promotional items, photo products, sophisticated textile printing and much more. With its nine brands, the company covers the most diverse needs of its customers. DDK Print Big, for example, is the specialist for large-format printing + advertising technology, Easyprint is the brand for private customers and small businesses, and Infowerk, the photo pioneer.In Switzerland, the Internet print shop is represented by its print24.com brand, which is aimed at professionals. Packaging printing orders can also be handled.Unitedprint now serves customers in 28 countries. Proximity to customers is ensured with local companies in the individual countries. 13 country managers work for the company locally. For Fabian Frenzel, Director Innovation/Marketing, this is an important aspect, as there are still many country-specific features. Consulting and quality control are very important, because the online print shop's success can only be sustained if its products meet customers' requirements. This is already evident from the fact that advice and support are provided in 18 languages. Checking the job data as a pre-check in the data center, the color check during printing and the sample check after further processing are three components of quality control. Personal contact persons are also available for key account customers, and a customer care team is responsible for complaint management in the event of complaints.
Innovative delivery model, short delivery times
The Internet print shop will continue to focus on consistent digitization of its production in the future. Short delivery times are the magic word here. "Investing in high-quality digital printing is one of our long-term strategies for being able to respond even better in the future and above all - with regard to our 3-2-1 delivery model - even faster to the wishes of our customers," emphasizes Ali Jason Bazooband, Chief Innovation/Marketing Officer at print24.com. The 3-2-1 delivery model means that customers receive the products in question within three days using standard shipping, within two days using express shipping, and within just one day using priority shipping.
Growth with the help of four strategies
It's no secret that competition in the online printing market is fierce between local, national and international players. However, this is likely to intensify even further in the coming years. Unitedprint is therefore focusing on four growth strategies: product expansion, internationalization, mobilization and localization.The company is the B2B player with the second-largest coverage worldwide and the first player with a genuine mobile eCommerce solution. In 2016, the USS partner stores were introduced, with which the market is also to be penetrated even better in the periphery.
For simple packaging designs, online printing offers many advantages
Steiner Werbung AG, based in Herisau, focuses on product and packaging design. Mainly for label printing, the agency also uses online portals. "As a communications consultant for Pago AG, I was involved in the development and marketing of the online store. In the label sector, this is one of the options we use for our customers. In addition to short delivery times, it offers the advantage of being able to access existing die-cuts," says Daniel Steiner, Marketing Manager and owner of Steiner Werbung. If die-cutting tears are already available, this saves the cost of die-cutting tools and, especially in connection with short runs, can account for as much as a third of the actual printing costs for labels. Another advantage Steiner describes is that he can track the previous order history online, i.e. what has already been ordered and what data is already available. "Based on this history, I then only have to determine the material and the delivery date for reprints, which makes order processing much easier. "Digital printing has also evolved in terms of materials. Today, the range of paper qualities that can be used is much wider and the color palette has also been expanded with special colors. Online print shops are also benefiting from this.
Usability of the portal is a factor
Steiner sees the limits of online printing in the complexity of a job. The simpler the product design, the more suitable it is for online printing. "For standard products such as promotional stickers, we regularly use stock varieties from the online store. This allows our customers to respond quickly to market requirements due to the short delivery times. Label specialties, however, where single or multiple types of finishing are used and a lot of know-how is required, currently remain the domain of classic label printers." As an example, he cites labels where, for example, hot foil stamping is used or where a white background is required.Steiner still sees a lot of potential for online printing. He is convinced that acceptance depends not only on the order itself, but also on the user-friendliness of a portal. Today, numerous classic packaging printers have already launched data centers and online portals, but these are very complicated in terms of process handling, so potential customers still tend to refrain from using them.
