E-business in the graphic arts industry - 15/10/09

E-business for graphic arts companies: opportunities for growth!

E-business as a concept is often oversimplified and equalled to e-commerce. We believe this is a pity because it denies a lot of opportunities for growth. The below article explores the opportunities for growth brought along by e-business within the graphic arts industry.

Defining E-business, E-procurement and E-commerce.

Before we want to show you the opportunities that e-business brings along, we would like to set things straight. A clear distinction between the above related concepts will provide additional insights in how to make money via the worldwide web!

• E-business: an umbrella term that refers to any type of business transaction on the Internet. This means E-business includes E-commerce and E-procurement. Examples can be found in numerous industries. E-business examples for the graphic arts industry are discussed more in detail below.


• E-procurement: the Internet streamlines the purchase of goods in order to reduce costs. Examples e-sourcing, e-tendering, electronic ERP, etc.


• E-commerce: selling goods and/or services online. Example: webshop for stock order.

E-business in the graphics arts industry: opportunities for growth!

What could e-business mean for companies within the graphic arts industry? Now that we've defined the meaning of e-business and distinguished it from other related concepts like e-commerce or e-procurement, we can start to explore the opportunities. What opportunities can we come up with for e-services for graphic arts companies? What services can be integrated in your or your customer's website?

• Web2Print a.k.a. online personalization and order of marketing collateral
  This type of e-business allows you to do business with your customers directly via the internet. Next to ordering stock material, your customers are able to create and order personalized business printings. And he doesn't even have to leave his own website! Solutions like this are typically referred to as "web-to-print" and are extremely useful when serving large multinational corporate clients and/or dealer networks.

  Interested in software that enables you to offer this new, innovative e-service?
  Read more about our web2print webshop for brand management services



• Online review, correction & approval of marketing collateral
  This type of e-business solution allows you to do business with your customers directly via the internet. Your customer is able to view, flip-through, correct and approve documents without leaving his or your website.

  Interested in software that enables you to offer this e-service?
  Read more about our online correction of InDesign documents solution



• Online image shop, asset management
  Setting up an online image bank could well mean the beginning of a new e-service for your company. Managing the images of your customers who access the image library to see and use their images could well be the beginning of a new stream of income. But the big money is made on a higher level: manage all digital assets of your customer - not only logos and images.

  Interested in software that enables you to offer this e-service?
  Read more about our online image bank.



• Online image editing services
  Ever wondered why you always have to do the photoshop work for your customers? The answer is easy: they simply cannot work with Adobe Photoshop. But what if you could offer them a website to do his photo editing, without the need to have any knowledge about photoshop? Great, right?

  Interested in software that enables you to offer this e-service?
  Contact us



• Online translation management services for multilingual print jobs
  If you deal with multilingual jobs and think about how to reduce your prepress time and costs, you definitely should consider this e-service. An online translation management application allows interactive cooperation between three key players: graphic designer, translators and marketers.

  Multilingual jobs is something you have to go through regularly?
  Learn how our online translation management software can make it easier!
  Or read our web2print case study: "Riou: producing multilingual about 5 times faster"



• Online data(base) management
  An other type of e-business for graphic arts companies could be the online management of customer data. You manage their data and make it accessible via your or your customer's website. Next to that, the data can immediately be used for production purposes; let's say a Direct Mail campaign.

  Start managing your customer's data online now!
  Contact us



• Online project management
  Finally the opportunity to create and manage campaigns via an easy online interface could bring additional dollars (or any other currency, because the web service is global!) into your wallet.

  Start managing your customers' projects now!
  Contact us

Noticed an opportunity for your growth?

We hope at least to have provided useful insights into the possibilities of e-business for graphic arts companies. If you'd like to start your e-business project, do not hesitate and contact us.