From half a world away, Vistaprint's giant marketing and production machine is becoming the printer of choice for small business, with 40% of their sales now outside the US. Reading an article on hitwize confirmed how far Vistaprint NZ has come in terms of internet presence. 

Vistaprint has a growing customer base. Even my daughter-in-law used Vistaprint recently when starting her home business. She knew I was in the print industry, but the attraction of going online to instantly design and order was overwhelming. And who else provides this kind of service here? The cards that arrived a week later were certainly sub-standard from my perspective, but she loved them and is going to order more products... 

In Australia, it's a similar story, with Vistaprint leading in market profile ahead of local giants PMP, McMillan Printing, HannanPrint, Blue Star, Geon and even specialist provider Stream who have their own advanced online system. Australians at least have large Snap and Kwik Kopy franchises to head off Vistaprint inroads into small business - We have no one.

The Recession Means Good Times for Vistaprint

Vistaprints stock value has almost doubled in the last 12 months, with sales and margins at record levels. What's their secret?

Estimating guru Phillip Ruggles once noted, "VistaPrint may well have developed the default model for the next generation of commercial printer" - It's just a pity for the industry that only a handful are following their lead.

The British are coming!

Another similarly innovative, highly successful online printer is www.moo.com, based in London. Although only 3 years old, they've a huge, growing customer base, including loyal followers here in NZ.

Success Comes by Eliminating the Humans

The best online printshops have few problems making money out of the small order, small business market, that is often deemed 'unprofitable'. Yet it is only because most existing printers run antiquated, manually-driven sales quoting, admin and prepress systems than ensures their cost of servicing small runs often exceeds the margins made. A digital press certainly reduces much of the time needed for short-run work, but big overhead costs remain, due to the inefficient front-end processes. This is the area Vistaprint and others like them focus on.

Totally Wired and Super-Automated

MOO and Vistaprint also succeed because they're also wired into the internet in ways that 99.99% of printers worldwide are not. They provide smart self-service systems for instant pricing, ordering, design and tracking tools, plus a complete IT infrastructure to back it up.

Those popular 'request a quote' weblinks where enquiries are captured for an estimator to follow up later, now aren't needed for most orders. Quoting calculations are done by customers online in seconds. This self service facility is seen as essential. In our internet age, it is the norm and many people can't understand why most printers expect people to wait for hours or days. And only working Monday to Friday, 9-5 doesn't help or endear loyalty.

It's Marketing Jim, but Not as we know it.

Expertly marketing the site is critical too. Moo and Vistaprint are both agressive in the online advertising, blogs and search engine world. They even appear in communities like Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else their customers are likely to be spending time online. This perhaps explains why they both have a relatively large number of website support people on staff, not just to keep it updated, but to help with marketing.

It's important to run it like you would a normal retail store too. Have someone look after it. Stock it. Have regular specials and monthly offers. Promote it - Use regular direct mail drops, and a monthly email marketing campaign. Also try advertising the site with Google, in the local newspaper, street signage and even mobile phone keyword ads. This strategy also begs the question. Is your 0800 phone number or yellow pages ads relevant in our new online/mobile age?

Where to Start?

Firstly, look at the internet as friend, not foe. Quickly invest in a modern Web2Print Storefront. Pressero is by far the best value today. Unlike traditional options, it requires little upfront investment and can be up and running in a few weeks, paid for monthly as an online service, with no long term contracts. This means it can be established for short term projects, an existing website add-on, or as your primary web presense. 

It's a new world out there with a mountain of exciting opportunities, and the sooner we all realise that, the better...

See Print09 article for more ideas.  Reference also: Dr Joe Webb

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