When company team members need to order marketing pieces, personalize and order their business cards, or order a simple reprint, there are many steps and time taken away from day-to-day operations. This is an even bigger dilemma when employees need to order sales or marketing materials after business hours.

This is why many companies take advantage of Web-to-Print portals, so their entire team has 24/7 access to the materials they need while also being able to customize, print, and mail all through one online, easy to use interface.

If you're interested in learning more about Web-to-Print portals and how they can benefit your company in so many ways, then you’re in luck. We have everything you need to know about these amazing Web to Print solutions.

What is a Web-to-Print Portal?

A Web-to-Print portal—also known as an “Ordering Portal,” “Marketing Portal,” or “Brand Portal”—is a web-based storefront that companies often take advantage of that allows their employees to order pre-designed and approved products like business cards, brochures, promotional items, catalogs, postcards, and more.

Web to Print solutions also provide the option to include web-to-print design tools to certain products so that users can easily change certain information like names, addresses, or contact information while not compromising the branded design.

How Do Web-to-Print Portals Work?

Web-to-Print Portals work by housing all your sales and marketing materials under one online, private, and custom-built storefront.

Instead of visiting your printer’s website or calling to get a quote, all you need to do is visit your Web-to-Print solution, choose the desired product, personalize the design content if needed, and place the order. The entire process from pricing of each product, production, and order fulfillment is automated and taken care of in one place.

Everything including the size of the product and branding is already in place ensuring consistent branding across your entire company. So, no matter if someone is ordering catalogs from the east coast or west, the catalogs are the exact same with the proper design and branding.

Within your Web-to-Print Portal, you also have complete control over who has access to your portal along with what items and how many a user can order. For example, you can give new employees access to order only business cards while allowing your marketing team to order brochures, promotional products, and direct mail materials.

Benefits of Web-to-Print Portals

Lower Direct Product Costs

Research conducted by the Aberdeen Group found that companies that switched to a Web to Print solution achieved a 17% cost savings on print materials and related services. In another study conducted by the Electronic Document Systems Foundation, similar cost savings were found. They found that in companies with over 1,000 employees, 39% of companies reported savings of 10-25%, and 13% of companies reported savings of over 25%.

Waste Reduction

On-demand production technology through Web-to-Print Portals allow you to print as needed (rather than in bulk), which reduces both excess inventory and waste.

Also, because Web-to-Print Portals are hosted by a printer, you can also inventory regularly used products in your printer’s warehouse which allows you to free up space in the office, and by inventorying your products your materials skip the entire production process and are sent to the user as soon as an order is placed.

Convenience

Web-to-Print Portals allow users to order 24/7 rather than only during business hours. On top of that portals are accessible anywhere there is internet access. This means your employees who work from home, on the road, or late at night can easily and quickly order the materials they need when it’s most convenient for them.

Improved Visibility

With a Web-to-Print Portal in place, companies can track their spending based on an individual item and user. This means that companies are able to see how much users are spending and what they’re spending it on. Knowing this, companies can cut any unnecessary orders and costs.

Plus, because Web-to-Print Portals allow you to consistently present your brand, you are 3.5 times more likely to gain better brand visibility.

Improved Control

Web-to-Print Portals allow companies to implement a flexible security model that regulates user access and permissions. Companies can choose what certain products each user sees, and delegate different levels of visibility. For example, a sales rep may only be able to see brochures, and business cards as product options, and they may only be able to order 250 each month. While management may see promotional products, postcards, and catalogs along with business cards and brochures and be able to order as many as they need whenever they need them.

Companies can also create a system that requires the approval of a manager before orders are placed and moved into production. This can be for any order placed by certain users, or it could include materials that cost over a specified dollar amount.

Types of Web-to-Print Portals

Print Procurement

Print procurement platforms provide an e-procurement-style storefront for the customer. This format is useful for working with multiple vendors and receiving quotes from multiple vendors. It can typically also store information for all preferred printing suppliers and allows you to upload and manage files while giving your vendor access to all relevant assets.

Document Management

Online document management portals are self-service vaults that allow you to store and share all documents and files needed for print. This type of portal is often used by customers to reprint jobs and manage their product inventory and shipping. Since the products within the platform are previously approved, the user just needs to choose the files they need and then place an order through their printers. Printers can often integrate with this type of software as well, providing the option to track inventory through records of previous order history.

Print Workflow Automation

Print workflow automation—or what we call “Web to Print Portals,” “Ordering Portals,” and Brand Portals”—are online storefronts that are completely integrated with the production and mailing process. This type of Web-to-Print solution is a commodity in the print industry. The integration allows the customer to choose a pre-approved design or personalize a design using web-to-print design tools, get instant pricing, proofing, and shipping, and then send it directly into the pressroom to be printed.

This process is extremely time-efficient and allows the customer to go directly through the pre-flight process without talking to a sales representative.

These types of portal solutions allow companies to save a tremendous amount of time and money. They are designed to put as little stress on the users as possible, allowing them to access and order the branded materials they need easily and quickly.

Watch our Web to Print Portal video below to learn more and if you’re interested in the benefits of a web to print solutions, click below to schedule a free demo today!