Is ordering business cards for your entire company simple, quick, and affordable? Are the designs always consistent, including logo placement, colors, and formatting?

If you answered yes, you're probably utilizing the power of a Business Card Ordering Portal.

If you aren't, then this blog is for you. We'll take a look at what a Business Card Portal is, how it works, and the many benefits it provides.

What is a Business Card Ordering Portal?

A Business Card Portal —also known as a "Business Card Ordering Portal" and "Business Card Print Portal"— is a centralized platform that simplifies the process of ordering, creating, and managing business cards. They allow your company to easily order and customize each business card order from a single, private, self-service online store.

With features like customizable templates, easy reordering, and streamlined approval workflows, these portals make the ordering process seamless, ensure brand consistency, and save time and resources.

How Does a Business Card Portal Work?

Imagine visiting an online store and seeing an image of your company's business card and it has an "order" button next to it. You click the button, choose how many business cards you want, and then insert your contact information to see it prepopulated in the business card design. Once your information is applied, you then add the cards to your cart and proceed to check out. The business cards are then printed and delivered to where they need to be.

Simple right? That's how a Business Card Portal works—no contacting the design team, locating a printer, or distributing business cards. These web-based platforms streamline the entire business card ordering process.

The best part is that because the portal has the correct branded design and printing specifications locked in, you can give access to all employees, department administrators, or locations with confidence that no matter who is ordering business cards, they are on brand every time.

In addition to the self-ordering capability, these portals simplify business card management. You can set rules based on how many business cards a user can order and when they can order. You also have complete control over what can be customized within the design. For example, you may allow users to personalize the name, email, and phone number on the business card design but not the website URL or address.

So, what if you redesign your business card? It's simple! All you have to do is provide the new art and any other specifications to your portal provider. They'll then update your portal, and your entire company will have access to the newly approved, on-brand business cards.

The Benefits of a Business Card Portal

With business cards being such an essential business tool, ensuring they represent your business consistently throughout your entire company is something every business can benefit from. This means that where you store business card design templates and how you order them are also important.

Online Print Portals, as a primary business card printing method, creates a simple, efficient, and cost-effective way for large and small organizations to meet their marketing needs and successfully promote their business.

Here are just a few benefits you can take advantage of with a Business Card Portal:

Reduces the Time it Takes to Order Business Cards

Business Card Portals streamline the ordering process, eliminating the need for time-consuming back-and-forth communication between employees, designers, and printing companies. They turn a process that typically takes hours or days into just a few minutes.

Business Card Portal features that help you save time include:

• Employees can order business cards on their own while maintaining consistent branding.
• Users can quickly reorder their business cards with just a click of a button.
• Inventory fulfillment is available for even quicker business card ordering.
• Provides a simple workflow for managing and approving orders without all the steps.
• Advanced design software allows users to modify contact information and other details and see it in real-time to ensure their information is correct.
• Automatic updates regarding order confirmations, invoices, inventory levels, and approval notices are sent.

They help put control in the end users' hands and remove all extra steps, including finding and uploading files, personalizing, waiting for approval, finding a printer, and more. And you can spend your time on other essential business matters instead of worrying about who needs business cards and having to order and distribute them.

Saves Money and Reduces Waste

In addition to saving time, Business Card Portals also save money. While in the end, you will still need to pay for the business cards themself and shipping costs, by using a portal, you can order in smaller quantities, eliminate the need for costly design services, and plan your budget better since your portal is through a single vendor instead of several.

Overall, a few ways a Business Card Portal saves you money include:

• Product costs are reduced by moving away from multiple vendors with different prices to a single vendor with a set price.
• Waste is reduced with the ability to order only the quantities that are needed when needed.
• Design mistakes that require a re-print due to inconsistent branding are eliminated.
• 24/7 access to place orders rather than only during your printer's business hours allows you to prioritize business initiatives that will increase your revenue.

Ensures Consistent Business Card Designs

When your brand is delivered consistently, it retains its identity, which also needs to translate to your business card designs.

If the first letter of names in email addresses is capitalized, every employee's business card should reflect this. No matter the employee or department, the colors, logo placement, typeface font size, and layout must be the same.

These portals ensure consistent business card designs, ensuring that every business card ordered adheres to the same design standards and brand guidelines. With editable brand templates, users can quickly personalize their business cards without the ability to change anything about the design.

Better Control and Easier Managing

A Business Card Portal provides better control and oversight over the managing and ordering process. With an approval workflow, you can set rules, if desired, to review and approve all orders before they are produced.

You have complete control over who has access to your portal. As your company grows, you can update, remove, or add additional designs and products to your portal.

Capabilities that a Business Card Portal has to improve control include:

• You can limit access by employee role or by department.
• You can specify how many business cards a user can order and how often.
• You can require administrator approval on certain orders or every order.
• You can set restrictions for new employees so they can't place orders over a certain quantity.
• You can receive volume reports monthly or as needed.
• You can easily see orders by each user, including what materials they are ordering and how often.

Convenient For Your Entire Company

Online Business Card Portals are designed to make ordering business cards as simple as possible, and they offer 24/7 access so users can order their cards whenever it is most convenient for them. And they can be accessed wherever there is internet access.

Business Card Portals streamline the ordering, managing, proofing, shipping, and payment process. Instead of using separate printers for each of your company's locations or tracking down business card designs, everything is in one place.

Simply put, these portals are an efficient and convenient way to manage your company's business cards and empower your employees to order what they need when needed.

Flexible Accounting

Business Card Portals offer flexible payment options to match how your company operates.

They allow you to allocate costs across departments or locations, making it easier to manage budgets and expenses. For example, your portal provider can bill each user at checkout or track orders and send monthly invoices.

When to Use a Business Card Ordering Portal

It's time to join successful businesses that use Business Card Portals if:

• You find ordering business cards time-consuming.
• Your company orders business cards often.
• Your company is growing.
• You plan on growing your business.
• You have multiple locations.
• The number of employees you have is growing.
• You have experienced staff changes.
• Your company uses several business card designs.
• You own multiple companies.
• Your company has more than one department.
• You’re looking to save time and money.
• You want to protect your brand.
• You’re considering or going through a rebranding.
• Your company has multiple marketing materials.

Who Offers Business Card Portals?

Now that you know what a Business Card Portal is and how it can help, where do you find a portal provider?

Luckily, many companies offer portals like these, so finding one isn't difficult. When looking for one, make sure to find one that offers affordable prices, a helpful and attentive customer service team, fast turnarounds, high-quality printing, and the ability to implement other products into your portal other than just business cards, including apparel, direct mail materials, signage, digital assets, and more.

At Kingston Printing, our Business Card Ordering Portals, or Print Portals, are designed to simplify creating, managing, and ordering business cards, other materials, and brand assets. Plus, with our in-house mailing center, portal experts, design services, fast turnarounds, and advanced printing technology under one roof, we can save you even more time and money.

To learn more, click below to schedule a quick demo today.