So you’re a printer and you want to start conducting business online, if you follow the industry buzz words – you’re off to shop for a web to print solution. Please pause right here, before you talk to a single vendor, get clear on what you want to actually do online FIRST.

As you know printers come in all shapes and sizes, more frequently described by what kind of print manufacturing they actually do for customers (e.g. label printer, digital printer, offset printer, poster printer, copy shop, etc…). Your web to print technology has to satisfy the requirements of your particular print business. For example, if you do all your pricing based on cost + margin (typical for a commercial printer) and you select a web to print vendor who built their pricing logic based on digital printing (impression + paper + finishing – price list) then you’re going to have some challenges using that solution. This is just one example, there are many more.

The first step to going online doesn’t involve vendors at all. First decide what customers you intend to target, your current customers and more like them or the general public? I will cover the general public (B2C – business to consumer) option in another post, for now lets assume you’re targeting the business you’re in. What kind of printing are you doing for them (products / applications)? What data are you collecting from them for every job today? What data do you wish you were collecting for them that you are not today? What level of customization do you want to offer each customer (e.g. pricing, branding, product catalog, payment options, delivery options, etc…). Figure all this out BEFORE you go to vendors – then you will lead the discussion on finding the vendor that best suites your online strategy!