Digital print manufacturers dominate a list of 11 companies the $120m Snap franchise group has endorsed to make up its supply channel to its 158 franchisee print shops across Australia
The list of ‘Gold Partners’ includes most of the usual suspects in digital print – Canon, Konica Minolta, Fuji Xerox and Ricoh – along with web design company Bloomtools and insurance broker OAMPS, but does not list any offset manufacturer.
BJ Ball is the only paper merchant making the cut, along with CMYKhub designated its trade printing partner – formalising its long-running strategy of outsourcing most commercial print jobs to CMYKhub to focus on shorter-run digital print work at Snap outlets.
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However, the arrangement is not exclusive and the companies are merely ‘approved suppliers of significant strategic value to the group’ that will be ‘endorsed and supported through the network’, meaning Snap franchise owners can still buy from any supplier they want.
The absence of any offset press manufacturers highlights the tendency of Snap franchises to either outsource offset work, or increasingly do much of it using high-end digital printers, as is the case for Snap Rowville with its new 100pmm Fuji Xerox Versant 2100.
Snap claims it is the only franchise group in Australia to have a major supply channel strategy, and says this is the first time it has rolled out such a large-scale supplier partnership initiative.
The move is part of the company’s transformation strategy that aims to make it an all-in-one destination for print, design and online marketing needs of small business.
Snap CEO Stephen Edwards says the partners were selected on their technology and product offerings, compatible values, and being big enough to deal with the size of the franchise network.
“Our new Gold Partner initiative has been many months in the making. We do not select them lightly, and each organisation involved already has a successful long-term working relationship with us,” he says.
“We are committed to becoming the print, design, website, and essential marketing services provider of choice for small businesses across Australia, and this move is our latest step towards this.”
Snap claims to service more than 500,000 business and retail clients, with a turnover of more than $120m, with 179 shops across Australia, China, New Zealand and Ireland.
The full list of Snap ‘Gold Partners’ is: Australia Post, Bloomtools, BJ Ball, Canon, CMYKhub, EFI, Konica Minolta, Fuji Xerox, Neopost, OAMPS and Ricoh.
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