Printing is a huge market. From promotional, commercial, consumer and personalised print, there’s a plethora of avenues for print industries to navigate before they continue on to find their niche. Many businesses within the market offer a range of printing to their target audience, which doesn’t need to be a concise selection of ideal customers.
We’re here to explore and add weight to the justification of adding personalised print functionality to your existing print business.
What is personalised print?
For many printers, adding personalisation to their offering can see a huge increase in revenue. Personalised print takes user data, which is either collected automatically or input by the user, and allows for bespoke printing. Commonly in the commercial space, you can find personalised print in the form of marketing flyers and leaflets. Personalised print, through photo personalisation, translates to print production of images chosen by the user, used most commonly within the consumer space. These can be paper print products, textiles or even 3D items such as mugs. The addition of a photo and text creates a one-off product, personalised by the user.
How can personalised print boost my business?
Expanding an existing print business into the world of personalisation can provide a world of growth. If you’re already running offset lithography or digital printing methods within your business, you have the equipment already! Very short batch runs, or single piece print jobs are a fundamental aspect of personalised print. Otherwise, how could the product be personal, if it is produced en bulk?
Not only is a higher value placed on personalised products, you’re also able to reach a much wider audience. Consider your last visit to a museum gift shop, where chocolate bars and keyrings are available with pre-printed names on them. You always look for your own name, don’t you? If there’s only 15 names available, and yours isn’t one of them, you’re not their customer. By allowing for personalised print, you’re widening the customer pool so much that it practically becomes unlimited. Use your existing production for a higher ROI per product sale.
Do you remember the #ShareACoke campaign? Simply printing popular names onto cans of Coke increased Coca-Cola’s sales by 7%. If you think about how Coca-Cola is one of the biggest companies in the world, you’ll see thousands upon thousands of cans rolling in to make that 7%. We think that this is a pretty good example for the power of personalised print; one of the largest global companies managed to hike sales through personalisation.
How can I increase my ROI as a printer?
By offering personalised print products, you are meeting your customer in a way which truly allows them to envision the desired product within their life. Shoppers will increase their spend by 7% if the item features an element of personalisation*. Encouraging and facilitating the purchase of personalised gifts is a reliable means of increasing your revenue, by selling the items you are already able to produce.
If you’re already equipped with the necessary production aspects, all you need is market-leading software to provide the horsepower for your business venture. With no overhaul of working practices, equipment or purchasing stale stock that’ll sit acquiring dust, your financial outlay is minimal when adding personalisation to your printing repertoire.
Other areas to consider your ROI are your materials. Ensure that your restock schedule aligns with your average uses – there’s no point consistently over-ordering product which isn’t being churned out. Assess your supplies, your usage, and consider quotations from suppliers to see if you could be getting cheaper consumables elsewhere. Reducing your running costs whilst still getting the same quality return is sure to feel good for your business’ pocket.
Automating processes within your company could help to reduce hands-on hours. Freeing up the time of yourself and your team to focus more on output and less on housekeeping allows for a skyrocket in productivity. Taopix has capabilities for, and encourages use of, automation software such as n8n. Such plug-ins can be used in tandem with your Taopix platform to automate stock alerts, provide customer order updates and more. A multi-faceted approach from each investment produces clearer, easier outcomes. Allowing your productivity to flourish will do wonders for your ROI.
How do printers venture into a specific market?
The market choice for printers is phenomenal. Near enough every industry, or person, requires print at some stage. You can head down the consumer or commercial route – even both, if you manage your marketing effectively. Consider your personal interests when looking to target a specific market, alongside the demand.
A lack of competition within a specific niche doesn’t translate to a lack of demand. If anything, you could be the answer the market has been looking for. Focussing on school printing, sports activities, commercial runs, pet accessories and more provide ample opportunity within it’s own court. Personalisation slots readily into each of these markets, allowing you to sell your carefully selected designs alongside the products designed by your customers. Providing product freedom within your niche should make you a one-stop-shop for your target market.
Identifying your market is an important process. Choosing your niche should be based upon:
- Your personal interest to drive the business in this direction
- Anticipated demand – powered by your own market research
- ROI opportunity
- Competition – in business operations, but also your online competition
- How easy it will be to access your business as a first time user, who is not aware of your brand name.
There are many considerations to weigh up when choosing a new market. Your Taopix representative is readily on-hand to discuss your business plans, provide support within the market and advise from their wealth of experience.
Contact us for a no-obligation chat and have a venture through our demo site – a preview of how your own print ecommerce could look, to experience real personalisation.