The Dutch online printer Printshopz has been able to increase its share of customers enormously after implementing the Durst Smart Editor in its web shop: the online editor gives customers the security they need to place their order.
In recent years, Printshopz has benefited from the dynamic development of the online printing market. Back in 2008, the company had already entered the industry as a pure reseller and successfully sold the so-called "Skydancers". In 2014, the company started its own print production and, with this move, simultaneously expanded its range massively in the direction of flags and beach flags.
Durst digital printing
"We have constantly invested in new printing technologies, thus intentionally extending our range," explains CEO Thom van Ommen. "Having our own production gives us enormous flexibility: we can control the quality of production by ourselves and react immediately to price volatile market situations as well." To keep up with the growth, a new building with 4,000 square meters of production space was opened in 2021. The start-up currently employs around 50 people, and this is certainly not the end of the story, as Thom van Ommen points out. The customers of the online print shop come mainly from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Because of its convenient location, Printshopz can also operate across borders and process deliveries within the same day. This explains the fairly high sales share of 45 percent with German customers.
An online editor is essential to reduce customer inhibitions when placing an order.
Today, 80 percent of all orders at Printshopz are placed online. "However, our web shop is not only used by our end customers. Partners and resellers also appreciate the simple, transparent and secure ordering process," he says. By connecting the entire technical infrastructure, a workflow has been implemented that enables largely automated production and offers customers a high level of service. "Our customers can use their account to track order status, manage delivery addresses, call up invoices and reorder orders directly from the archive."
Durst digital printing
The web shop is essentially based on Magento software, which was adapted to the specific requirements of Printshopz. In addition, Enfocus' Switch workflow was integrated, creating a powerful end-to-end solution. However, one weak point from Thom van Ommen's point of view was the previous online editor, which lacked the desired stability, especially with large files. "An online editor is quite fundamental for our business model, since the visualization can significantly reduce the inhibitions for our customers on the way to ordering."
Durst Smart Editor is seamlessly integrated into the existing workflow, resulting in an increased automation level.
Durst had been known as a trusted partner for many years, since Printshopz uses, among other systems, two P5 350 printers for UV printing. "At some point, we got into conversation with the Durst team and took a closer look at the Durst Smart Editor. We were impressed by the functionality and user-friendliness on the one hand, and the stability and reliability of the solution on the other." During the demo, it also became clear that the Smart Editor can easily process even files with a volume of 1 GB and more, as is the case for photo wallpapers. Furthermore, Printshopz had already acknowledged that the Durst Smart Editor could be seamlessly integrated into the existing workflow, resulting in a further increase in the level of automation of the entire workflow.
Durst digital printing
"With just a few adaptations, we implemented and got the Durst Smart Editor up and running in three weeks," emphasizes Thom van Ommen, who takes this opportunity to refer to Durst's support service, emphasizing its expertise and valuable contribution in sharing ideas and suggestions.
Thanks to the Smart Editor, the percentage of new customers has increased by more than 30 percent.
Beside the Smart Editor design options, end customers particularly appreciate the visualization options. The preview provides customers with a precise idea of how their products will look directly on the monitor. This even goes as far as simulating the color appearance of the real product in the case of flags, for example, or checking the positioning of the templates in the case of banners printed on both sides. "The percentage of new customers has increased by more than 30 percent since the introduction of the Durst Smart Editor."
Durst digital printing
And of course, Printshopz is continuously working on further developing its web shop. Among other ideas, the company is considering the integration of databases for clip art, design templates, and stock images. Another topic that the online print shop would like to tackle in the near future is the production of cardboard packaging in short runs.
