Web2Print Experts has developed a free tool for the printing industry, which is designed to help printers find web to print software providers.
According to Global Industry Analysts (GIA), the global market for web to print software is projected to reach $869 million by the year 2017.
The company’s aim is to encourage printers to think through their online strategy before they invest in technology, and to provide them with a free tool that makes that process easier. The objective is to create one place where printers from around the globe can search for web to print software solutions.
Jennifer Matt, founder and president, said, ‘Too many printers have invested in web to print software that doesn’t match their fundamental needs for doing business online. We can’t work with every printer individually, so we wanted to provide a tool that prevents the most egregious investment mistakes.’
The tool is free to both printers and to web to print software providers. The company has collected information about vendors from around the world and categorised them according to the most critical factors for consideration when investing in web to print software. Such as who are you targeting online? What do you want to sell them? Where do you intend to conduct business (geography)?
A step by step guide brings printers to the set of web-to-print software providers who best fit their requirements. The vendors have an opportunity to display their user interfaces, answer a few key questions, and provide validated answers to the key decision making criteria for web to print software decisions.
‘We purposefully stayed above the feature-level comparison because features are constantly changing,’ said product manager, Heath Cajandig. ‘From the hundreds of web to print projects we’ve been involved with, we never saw failure at the feature level. Failed purchasing decisions are always at the more strategic level of the wrong tool for the target market, wrong product workflow support, or a solution that is not properly localised for the target region.’
The company has contacted web to print software providers all over the world to collect the data necessary for the launch of the W2P Finder. ‘We know there are a lot more regional web-to-print software providers out there, especially here in Europe where each country has regional players,’ Sven Miller, Web2Print Experts Europe, reports. ‘We fully expect to, and have planned for, the addition of solution providers as well as keeping the W2P Finder up to date.’
