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Making auction templates forms
Online-based e-commerce solutions are revolutionizing print procurement
New dot-corn companies are appearing almost daily-- you literally need a scorecard to keep up. Some printers are creating their own e-commerce solutions. Others are oursourcing the job to a third-party service provider. Buyers are taking an active role in the "webulization" of print by initiating third-parry solutions and inviting their vendors to join them in real-time online communication either by quoting every project or producing projects under contract.
In all forms, browser-based e-commerce solutions are revolutionizing the print procurement process--from design to delivery. Content creators are getting involved in the printing process much earlier. Both print buyers and printers are discovering the benefits of business-to-business e-commerce: access to a broader range of customers and vendors, improved customer service, reduced operational costs and faster service/product delivery. Perhaps most significantly, the Internet is enabling an unprecedented level of communication between printers and their customers.
"The Internet is truly transformative," declares Bob Rosen, R.H. Rosen & Associates (New York City). "It's a fundamentally different way of providing your customers with a way of interacting that's easier for both of you. The real power of these Web-based solutions, however, is not the savings or speed made possible by the technology. That was the original rationale, but the real benefit is that the technology gives the customer a reason to interact more closely with you and build the two companies together."
"It's simply a tool," concurs Suzanne Carnes, president of Print Solutions (Arlington, VA). "The other things don't go away--customers still need printers to be problem-solvers and to educate them. They still need to know how to run their businesses better, and that requires face-to-face contact.
Buyers will judge e-commerce solutions by their communication potential, according to Carnes. "Does it increase the speed of communication and the delivery of the job? Does it increase the accuracy of the communication? Most importantly, does it enhance or take away from the existing relationship?"
Canes, a former print buyer and print sales representative who has trained more than 3,000 print buyers, says she is encouraged by solutions that offer automatic job tracking and reporting because such functions increase printers' accountability to buyers. The consultant adds that, although some auction sites have robust information gathering capabilities, relationship-enhancement may be lacking. "It's like going on a blind date every single time," relates Carnes. "You have to start over and tell that person your life history, explain all those nebulous things about how you do business, your expectations and so on."
The majority of current e-commerce solutions are courting the corporate print buyer. It may be true, as one e-commerce exec quips, that "Nobody is buying annual report covers over the Web yet," but it seems inevitable that the Web will join the phone and fax as a standard business communication tool.
How do you get started in business-to-business e-commerce? You could design your own solution, provided you had sufficient funds, IT know-how and manpower. How much would it cost? ImageX is reported to have spent $8.6 million on its launch. (The company recently acquired PrintBid.com and PaperDeals.com.) Business Marketing magazine asked a group of developers to estimate the costs of creating a hypothetical business-to-business site. The median price totaled $693,000. If you use a third-party solution, expect to pay a one- to two-percent transaction fee--some arrangements may provide for an initial set-up fee and annual maintenance costs.
Printers will find e-commerce options tailored for all sizes of operations. Quebecor, for example, recently announced it had obtained a non-exclusive license that allows it to offer the proprietary GetSmart e-commerce system (iGetSmart.com) to Quebecor's worldwide client base. This electronic software solution provides a real-time online inventory management system that provides functions such as electronic order entry, warehousing, distribution, billing and financial data export. Quebecor will pay a set-up fee and an undisclosed percentage of all revenues processed through the system.
PagePath's e-commerce solution, MyOrderDesk, is intended for quick printers, small commercial printers, designers, etc. It consists of a Web-based order entry, file transfer, confirmation and job management system. The product is free--it is supported by banner ads.
"This isn't a buying or bidding service," explains PagePath's Steve Ciesmier. "It's a private-label system for printers to use to do online commerce with their clients on the printers' own website."
MyOrderDesk incorporates PagePath's Launch! Web file transfer engine enabling customers to transfer multiple files to the participating printer through their browsers. Although the transfer uses FTP and zips the files with their order information, this is transparent to the user--users do not need FTP training. Orders, documents or art files entered through MyOrderDesk are automatically acknowledged by e-mail. Customers get a confirmation message while an e-mail alert is sent to the printer. A weblink in the e-mail uses the printer's browser to retrieve the bundled order and any job files. Order data is password protected, ensuring that customers see only their company's information.
Printable.com's suite of hosted services, PrintServ, pledges to "e-commerce enable" printer websites--without a transaction fee. Printers who need websites can use PrintServ's self-serve website creation and management tools "for complete control over site content and appearance," according to John Gaffney, vice president, marketing. Adding e-commerce capabilities, such as RFQ management and creating "Customer Centers" are other possibilities.
Digital print and fulfillment providers in the $5 million to $50 million range are the focus of MediaFlex.com's Online Print Center system. "We're kind of an e-commerce third-party solution for the print provider," explains Greg Goldman, vice president of marketing. "We're in the background--we don't get in the middle of the relationships printers have cultivated with their clients."
Print shops can use Online Print Center to manage, distribute and fulfill on-demand print orders ("everything from business cards and reprinted articles to multi-page brochures or posters") for corporate customers. On the buyer's side, it handles orders, quotes and confirmation processes. On the printer's side, it handles credit card processing and maintenance of customers' digital assets. Printers can use the Online Print Center to set up corporate image centers for individual customers--online catalogs that allow customers to browse through a library of digital assets and order on-demand printing.
One of the earliest e-commerce solution providers, Collabria, offers printers and distributors its PrintCommerce solution. It enables a printer's customer to order data sheets, brochures, letterhead, business cards, forms and other products from personalized online catalogs, as well as print on-demand documents and variable data documents. The catalogs carry the printer's or distributor's brand--not Collabria's.
Since users' input is restricted to specific preset design templates and rules, file integrity is assured. And, since the basic design is known in advance, the system can impose the files in a variety of configurations based on the amount and timing of orders, ultimately supplying the printer with a completely pressready PDF file. Collabria recently announced webDocket, a project management solution that allows all members of the print project team to work off a single job docket, available from anywhere via the Internet. It automatically notifies team members of job spec changes, facilitates digital file upload, review and approval, and tracks job milestones.
Noosh's solution promises to "eliminate the typical communication mayhem that often exists between buyers, brokers, printers and creative agencies" by centralizing information. The buyer decides which and how many printers can bid on a job. Noosh's Live Jobs technology gives all parties current status of a print job's specifications, estimates, change orders and real-time status.
Several months ago, the company formed a joint marketing alliance with Consolidated Graphics for the latter to introduce and implement the Noosh.com service to 12,000 Consolidated Graphics clients. This past January, Noosh announced a partnership with Wallace for Wallace to expand its existing integrated corporate print management tools @w.i.n, with Noosh's print creation workflow. About 480 Wallace clients currently use the @w.i.n. system.
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