Talking Print’s video cards are normally bought by creatives but have been very popular with consumers

 

The internet abounds with websites selling unique and personalised gifts to consumers, making dealing with the public a potentially profitable route for digital printers to consider, finds Andy Knaggs.

The ability to personalise print, and the growth of retail websites such as Amazon, Notonthehighstreet, eBay and Etsy, has raised the possibility of commercial printers dabbling successfully in business-to-consumer (B2C) sales channels. These sites often want, or even insist upon, products for sale that are unique, and it is hard to get more unique than personalised to an individual.

Years ago, many printers would have steered well clear of selling to the public, quailing at the overheads that would most likely be encountered in managing the processes, relationships and support needed for such an offering. These days, however, if you have the right idea, which often involves personalised products, then getting a listing or a presence on such websites can be a profitable exercise.

A case in point has been Talking Print, which ordinarily sells novel ‘audio and lights in print’ and ‘video in print’ products to creatives, marketers and printers. In recent times this offer has been augmented with a consumer-facing product range, which it sells through Amazon and eBay. These are white-label products: customers can record a personalised message for a greetings card, which is delivered in a blank white card for the recipient to create their own designs upon.  

‘We started selling on eBay and Amazon about four years ago,’ said Talking Print’s David Hyams. ‘It is a really good way of offering minimum order products. We can offer just one unit and people can print the designs they want. I’m targeting the craft market – young mothers. It’s a perfect way of doing it and it’s more than just a greeting card.’ 

Creative concept

A side-effect of the offering is that creatives are also buying these white-label products and using them as concepts for ideas they have or for pitches. Talking Print has its own shop on eBay, whereas the business that comes via Amazon is more search-driven. On Amazon alone, the business sold £20,000 worth of products in the last yearly figures, which had grown from £15,000 the year before, and £6000 the year before that; and all of this on products that are retailing at £4.49 each.  

‘We are actually selling quite a lot on Amazon with no marketing; people are just finding us,’ said Mr Hyams. ‘If you search under “record your own card” in Amazon it comes up. It’s word of mouth and a lot of repeat orders really.’ He describes the setting up and maintenance of these listings as ‘a labour love’, especially with eBay, because Talking Print has Power Seller status, so it has to maintain certain levels of sales and service. 

‘eBay is really difficult in that you just have to be good all the time; you cannot miss customers’ deadlines and you cannot fail to meet the quality control. We have to be as vigilant with a mum buying something for her son as we are with a big brand.’  

Mr Hyams said he tries to ‘ring-fence’ customer orders, so that any contact made by customers is using email, rather than on the phone. ‘We try to keep it simple. The offer is very simple and it doesn’t usually go wrong. Occasionally we need to speak on the phone to deal with a problem, and we have to take that on the chin. You have to remember that that card means as much to the little old grandmother ordering it as five thousand video brochures does to another customer. It’s important to ring-fence it because otherwise you can get bogged down with enquiries. That’s where eBay and Amazon are really good, because they have help lines, and customers can see the answers to previous questions.’ 

In terms of the margins that might be expected, there will of course be handling or listing fees by such websites. For Talking Print this seems to be working out at about 15% per transaction, which leaves only a small profit margin for the company itself, but Mr Hyams sees a longer game: ‘I don’t feel ripped off by it. We do have to work really hard for that one card, and we will probably make less than £1 on it, but the far bigger thing is that for every product we send out, we put a leaflet in, and that helps with cross-marketing.’ 

Overall, he sees sites such as Amazon and eBay as great ways of testing new and unique ideas without major expenditure. Talking Print is even getting enquiries from digital printers saying they want to offer these kinds of products to customers, with Talking Print supplying the audio and video modules. 

Scoring a Century

It doesn’t always have to be the case that the print company itself has the direct relationship with the consumer through these sites. Century Studios near Nottingham has developed an added element to its business through small creative agencies and designers that are selling bespoke printed wedding stationery and pictures through Notonthehighstreet, printed and supplied by Century. These types of customer are passionate about their work and often need some hand-holding, as well as production of samples to prove their concepts can work.

‘It’s an entirely different market and it has widened our customer base,’ said managing director Jon Waring. ‘We are geared towards it because we are set up to run out bespoke print on a bespoke basis. It has grown organically and added revenue for us, and we haven’t had to spend money on marketing – our marketing is through social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.’

As a third angle to the opportunity for printers around retail websites, why not examine the documentation that online retailers pack with their orders? Consultant Kieran Parmar of KJP Global has implemented a project to turn the packing note that luxury homeware and gifts brand Amara Living sends with its internet orders into a dynamic, colour printed document generated with Xerox XMPie, capable of up- and cross-selling additional items and helping the brand improve customer retention. 

‘I have developed the complete end-to-end system from data injection onwards and I want to take that model to other printers to show them what they can do,’ he says.

Whether you do it purely online with eBay, Amazon or other retail sites, or via some print in the package, all by yourself or hire in some help, the internet is continuing to provide opportunities to sell the right kind of print.

Read the full April issue online here