More and more businesses today are moving a part or even all of their activities online. This includes many print businesses, as they are increasingly driven to add more personalisation options to their portfolios (custom-made banners, roll-ups, creative signage applications, custom apparel, etc.), and create more seamless purchasing and ordering processes. But being available 24/7 isn’t the only benefit they receive from going online.
If you’re still on the fence about bringing your print business online, here are 7 good reasons why you should:
1. Improved visibility and site accessibility
Being online means your customers can get in touch with you more easily, find all the info they need in one place, and browse your product range at their own pace – whenever and wherever they want.
2. Expand your reach
By including online payment and shipping features, optimizing your website for SEO, and using various online advertising tools, you can quickly expand your reach well beyond your geographic area or current customer pool. You may even find yourself wanting to create all kinds of new products and services that cater specifically to these new customers.
3. Expand your portfolio
Selling online also allows you to explore new markets and devote more time to specific niches. By capturing and storing information about how your customers engage with your products online, you’ll be able to respond to their changing needs much more effectively, and use these insights to venture into other interesting markets. And by continuously fine-tuning the quality of your offering, you’ll end up with much happier customers.
4. Quicker go-to market
The process of releasing new products and services online is often easier, as you can more quickly add them to your portfolio, giving you access to new revenue streams without having to invest in any additional resources. This will make it easier to respond to specific trends and circumstances, like the current need for personalised masks and safety signage. Moreover, you can start promoting them right away to your target audiences through your website, e-mail, social channels, and Google services.
5. Excellent cost-efficiency
Depending on the platform you choose, there are various cost benefits to going online, besides the rapid go-to market and option to explore new niches. If you pick a fully integrated, cloud-based e-commerce platform with fixed monthly subscription fees, regularly scheduled maintenance and free hosting, you’ll be amazed at just how easy it is to integrate it with your current business model. At a remarkably low cost of implementation and maintenance, while maintaining a clear and profitable ROI.
6. Personalisation options
Online platforms greatly facilitate personalisation. You can let customers upload their own designs, preview the final product, and pay for their items right away. You can also put up a variety of ready-to-use templates or online forms for more specific design requests. While on some platforms, the edit and store modules are sold separately, others will include everything on a single platform – for more easy integration and a seamless customer experience.
7. Client portals
If you frequently work with larger, repeat customers with very unique needs, customer-specific store environments allow you to create tailored product portfolios and services at pre-set prices. Your customers will be able to profit from special promotions, quickly access frequently purchased items, and received products made and branded specifically for them or their customers, without having to look through dozens of irrelevant items.
Start building your online business today
We have been hard at work to create a platform that delivers all this and more. Meet PersBiz, our brand new cloud-based online webshop designed specifically for Sign Makers and Print Service Providers.
This platform is based on over 30 years of experience in the printing business, and feedback we received from print companies all over the world who had been trying to get their businesses online but have often felt that it was either too complicated and time-consuming, or that the platforms they’d already used were lacking in some way.
With PersBiz, the process of bringing your operations online will be easier and more complete than ever before. It not only integrates perfectly with your established printing workflow, but is extremely easy to set-up, manage and learn, with a clear and measurable ROI. And it lets you add in all the functionality you want, without limiting you or making you pay for features you would never use.
But most of all: it will enable you to sell an even wider range of customisable print products to new and existing customers; like banners, posters, phone covers, stickers, t-shirts and much more. And it’s backed by the same trusted support you know and love from our printers.
