Vistaprint starts trade printing service

Vistaprint's Deer Park plant has won a Shingo award for excellence

Vistaprint’s Deer Park plant has won a Shingo award for excellence

Vistaprint is starting a new programme, TradeAdvantage, to offer trade services to print and copy shops, opening access to a large range of 120 print and promotional products at a competitive price Vistaprint says the new TradeAdvantage programme aims to hit the sweet spot for printers ordering quantities of one right up to 20,000 in everything from business cards to flyers, to t-shirts and mugs. Paul Heath, vice president for Vistaprint Australia, New Zealand and Japan says, “We are not known for supplying the trade in Australia but we have global systems that enable us to do this around the world – we have a great heritage internationally of supplying resellers. TradeAdvantage will give them access to a huge number of new products and enable them to move into new profitable markets, for zero investment.” Printers signing up before Octover 31 will qualify for a promotional offer of 50 per cent of business cards and flyers between now and the end fo the year. Go to the dedicated webpage to join up, www.vistaprint.biz/tradeadvantage. Just like its existing well established print business, the whole operation will be online, enabling print shops around the country to order 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with instant pricing. Vistaprint says its specialist setup for handling large volumes of small quantity orders will provide an economical way for printers to service their smaller customers while enjoying attractive margins. The web to print specialist is known for providing business cards, documents and marketing collateral, but less well known for its huge range of apparel, promotional items, calendars, cards and photo books, all of which it can produce, in runs as low as one, at it says an affordable price. All of these products will be available to its trade resellers at steeply discounted prices, and all are produced at Vistaprint’s award winning Deer Park site in Melbourne. While it currently does have some trade print customers on its books, this is its first formal trade-only programme. Vistaprint will provide standard discounts to all products and quantities, with tiered discounts depending on average monthly purchases. The online ordering system makes it easy for a printer to see the prices.

Paul Heath, vice president for Vistaprint Australia, New Zealand and Japan

Paul Heath, vice president for Vistaprint Australia, New Zealand and Japan

Vistaprint sets its pricing to the reseller via a trade-only portal, allowing them to add whatever margin they determine to reach their own sell price to their customers. Heath says that margin could easily be 50 per cent, or even as high as 200 per cent or more, depending on the product and how the reseller wishes to set their prices. There will also be regular discounts on key products, which the company says will offer the trade an opportunity to further increase their margins. All of these prices will be available online, allowing printers to quickly look them up without waiting for a quote. Standard and 3D rendered proofs are available online for approval by the trade partner’s end user customers before confirming their order. The portal will also store designs that have been ordered for each of their partners’ customers, forever, meaning the printer can easily access previous designs for reprints. This is not Vistaprint’s first tilt at the trade service game, though the trade-only portal is new. The company has similar supply arrangements with Staples and FedEx in North America, and in March signed a joint venture with Japan’s largest chain of photo print stores, Plaza Create. The company says it is is well aware of trade customers’ desire to protect their client list, and says it is taking measures to assure printers that their customers are safe. Orders will be mailed in white label packaging, either to the printer or directly to the customer, with no sign of the relationship with Vistaprint. Heath says, “We know the trade will be concerned about Vistaprint marketing directly to their customers, but we want to assure them that is not what we are about.” He says the proportion of the market that buys print online is relatively small, and by far the majority of businesses prefer to source from print and copy shops and graphic designers. He says, “Our research shows that customers who choose to buy from print and copy shops value that personal interaction. These customers are coming to their local printer for design, convenience, advice and face-to-face service. “Anybody who wants to buy print from the internet probably already sees Vistaprint, as we are ubiquitous online. However, the end user customers buying from a print and copy shop are making a conscious decision not to buy online, due to their specific needs. So we are looking to leverage the personal relationships that trade printers have with their customers, by providing them with a great product at a great price. “This programme brings all the advantages of a pureplay online business with a fantastic manufacturing engine to print and copy partners who have storefronts and strong customer relationships.”

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