Print industry predictions part 5: the rise of e-commerce
How much purchasing do you do offline?
For the average person it will be very little. The majority of our purchases are delivered to our door from supermarket online shopping sites, Amazon and specialised retailers. Even if you buy something in person you will have researched it and even maybe paid for it online.
The printing industry is already heading the same way
There has been a big rise in online purchasing. This has happened in two ways. Firstly, end users are increasingly purchasing from online printing companies. But larger companies are often using their own personal web-to-print portals.
Everything I have said so far is happening right now. But I see big changes ahead.
Small businesses will purchase online – but often not from printing companies
Already, it is easy for anyone to sell print only with no machinery. You can buy a white label print site relatively easily and set it up for your own needs.
In the future it will also be easy to purchase print from the likes of Amazon. The software already exists to let companies integrate with major online retailers.
And finally, some printing companies will develop as providers to niche sectors. Need help with products for a dog show? There’s a printing company that sells exactly that (and not much else).
However, the end user online environment is, and will continue to be, really hard for the average general commercial printer. This space will be owned by two types of company. Firstly, the big online trade printers who have enough SEO and adwords budget. And secondly, those who promote to a very specialist small niche, such as dog shows or extremely local services.
Large businesses will purchase from their own secure environment
The traditional web-to-print set-up will no longer be flexible enough for many customers. Rather than purchasing from a set library of products, they will opt for their own system that allows them to instantly specify and price any piece of print. They will also be able to drop in their own designs to each piece of print.
Again, the software already exists for this to happen. A personal system can be set up easily and quickly. The question is how many companies will be able to afford the investment in this level of technology and how widespread it will become.
Most communication will happen automatically
Whether you are looking at purchasing a job manually or online, the amount of human communication will decrease dramatically. Future MIS systems will easily connect with a customer’s in-house messaging system. This means that communication will happen automatically and in real time. After upload, there need be no manual communication for job approval, scheduling, delivery or accounting.
The printing industry will be producing for more e-commerce customers
More and more business will be online: printing companies will need to fit in to new supply chains and have the right range of products. But as more companies introduce e-commerce options, they will need help and education.
There’s a great opportunity for print here
It is time for printing companies to educate their customers on how they can adopt e-commerce and supply them with the right ideas, marketing and packaging.
One way to sell e-commerce is to create a sales campaign
Members of The Successful Print Sales Circle create their own campaign, starting in month nine of their membership. Enrolment opens again at the end of Spetember.
If you want to get going with sales planning straight away, my book “How To Succeed At Print Sales” gives you step-by-step guidance on creating your own 12-week sales project.
