How to choose the best Web to Print Software provider in 2021

There is various leading web to print software available on the market. But only one product can meet your needs. There are various factors you have to evaluate a software product on. It will allow you to know if the product is the right fit for your business or not.

The technological advances that have occurred in the print industry in the past few decades have allowed the industry to thrive more than ever. It has also improved the profitability of the business, big or small. It allows them to stay competitive in the market and fulfil their business goals with a hybrid version that flashes the qualities of an eCommerce store in the traditional print business.

Moreover, the print software must meet the needs of not just you as a service provided but also the people visiting your website. An increasing number of print service providers are using the web to print software the implementing new practices in running their business. It allows them to get the benefits of data insights, provides them wide reach through an eCommerce like a store.

According to Statista, eCommerce sales are expected to reach $4.9 trillion USD in 2021. This is more than double the number in 2019. Covid-19 has just quickened the adoption rate of technology.
If you are looking for the right print store software provider, here are some tips you can use. This proven roadmap will allow you to avoid any mistakes and save you from investing your money in an inefficient product.

Tips you can use to choose the best web to print software provider

Implementation

With the growing involvement of technology in our lives, businesses have started seeing major opportunities in the online market. It allows them to grow their reach and find people that are searching for their products and services.

Having said that, a lot has been said and predicted about the web to print software. It is a critical decision for many print businesses because there are pros and cons associated with every technology, including web to print.

The major challenge is that of implementation of the software. Meanwhile, a product can be great. It may not be implemented right and may hinder the customer experience. Furthermore, it may also cause some discrepancies in the business operations. We would be sharing more relative tips in the later sections of this blog.

Planning

Planning is crucial as it helps when you know about your needs. You face industry challenges, and you have your unique challenges. A web to print solution that is specially designed and developed for the products you offer and produce ready-to-print files that your machinery supports.

Depending on your niche, you might be using various types of printing equipment. A web to print software must comply with your needs and provide you with the services as required.
Also, scalability should not be ignored. It is possible if you go with the right web to print software provider, you will be able to cater to all the solutions. Printing is a very diverse industry; the advent of digital printing has allowed printers to provide solutions for even the products that were once seen as unprintable. Popular sites are available in the market where you can go for personalized printing on T-shirts, promotional items, business cards, and wide-format banners.

Choose a niche and list out all the necessary things you require in a product to help you manage the business. This includes specifying the finished size, printing material, coating, quantity, etc. This would help you provide the service providers with things they would need to customize the product.

Targeted Customer base

Knowing your customers requires you to target the marketing efforts as per the specifics. Similarly, you need a web to print provider that offers your users the same ease to perform customizations to the product and get them delivered to their doorsteps.

The user interface is a very necessary component of your software product. It decides how your users are interacting with your product, and if there are any problems in the design, you may start losing potential leads. Make sure you research your competitors well and know the good latest trends that can help you engage the customers and improve their experience to a great extent. So, when you are adding the customization tool, you must consider what tools are necessary for users to customize the products, such as text, images, clipart, design tools, etc.

For the printers that provide business solutions other than retail products, the user interface would be completely different. Business cards, flyers, menu cards, banners require some more high-end tools to create pixel-perfect designs with the print output having to cut the margins, adding QR codes, trimming marks, etc.

Back-office implementation

You must consult with the software product provider to configure your product catalogue and implement your print workflow with minimum training and staff. You can also consider the feasibility of integrating your current MIS and workflow systems.

Choose a solution that gives you user-friendly and scalable back-office support that can be implemented for a full print cycle requiring minimum human intervention.

Quality

What you see on the internet is going to be completely different from what is going to be printed. On the web, the image format is RGB, and the print format is CMYK. Also, the pixels are 72 DPI on the internet and 300 DPI on a printed copy.

The web to print solution must consider these things. To get the print accurate print engine must be able to convert the web designs to print-ready files or offers layered PDF or source files that can be improved for the print quality.

Limited design area

The designing tools would offer the users a limited area to design the products. Most of the web to print solutions would require you to scale up or down the products to fit the visible design area.
The design is very small in the design tool and needs to be printed on a larger surface. You need a solution that can help you maximize the design area offer your users great solutions with unprecedented quality. You need a solution that allows users to maximize the design area for the customers also. Avoid the tool that requires studio that requires scrolling and paging to view the design area.

Excellent support and training

While the web to print solution provider offers you the solutions mentioned above, many solution providers do not have a well-established support team. The lack of support would make it impossible for you to offer assistance in case something goes wrong with the product.

Also, untrained staff and lack of on-time support are major challenges, and you must look for someone with in-house customer service and trained staff. This would ensure the successful implementation of the web to print software.

Purchase the licensed software

You can either purchase a software product or go with internet-based software that provides you services based on the subscription, like the SaaS application. SaaS applications provide you with a more scalable solution as you can change your plan anytime and also offer you services at a low cost. It is also a less risky option, and you can move to a licensed product later if needed.

Marketing and promotion strategy

Discuss the features and support provided for SEO and marketing. You must go with a product that allows you to add the marketing plugins to the product. It allows you to promote your business properly on online platforms and involve everybody, including your staff, customers, and their needs to help you broaden your online visibility and increase your chances of success in the market.

Wrapping Up

We have tried to incorporate all the necessary features to buy the right web to print software. You must focus on how well the software product is able to interpret your needs as a business. Make sure the product is easily scalable, and you can add plugins and features to the product to increase its capabilities of the product.