Should Printing Companies Sell Online Using E-Commerce?

This question echoes through the halls of commercial printing companies everywhere: "Should we be selling online?" It feels like it’s just sitting there, the pressure to launch an e-commerce storefront. We see giants like Vistaprint and Amazon dominate the retail space, and it's easy to assume that every print service provider (PSP) needs to follow suit.

The truth, however, is more complex. The right answer isn't a simple "yes" or "no." It's "it depends."

The decision to embrace e-commerce is a strategic one, rooted in a deep understanding of your business model, your target customers, and ultimately your goals. Simply launching a retail-style website without clear alignment can be a costly, time-consuming distraction.

This guide will break down the different ways print companies can leverage e-commerce, where it excels, where it falls short, and how to determine the right path for your business.

Misconception: The "Vistaprint" Model is for Everyone

When most people think of "printing e-commerce," they picture a retail experience. A customer visits a website, chooses a standard product like a banner or business card, uploads a file or designs online, enters their credit card, and the order is complete. While this model is incredibly successful for high-volume, low-complexity, consumer-facing businesses, it's often a poor fit for traditional commercial printers.

The core business of many PSPs isn't selling standardized commodities. It's solving complex problems.

Your value lies in your expertise, the consultative process where you guide a client through the infinite variables of a project such as:

• Finishing and Embellishments - What type of binding, foiling, or die-cutting will achieve the desired effect?
• Paper and Substrates - Which paper stock will provide the right feel and durability?
• Logistics and Durability - Will the final piece withstand shipping, handling, or environmental factors like sunlight?
• Budgetary Constraints - How can the project be engineered to meet a specific price point without sacrificing quality?

Consider a well-known private school creating a high-end admissions booklet. The project requires prototyping, sampling, and a deep collaboration to ensure the final piece feels like the institution it represents. This type of high-touch, consultative work cannot be replicated with a standard e-commerce shopping cart. Forcing a complex project into a simple online form is a recipe for failure and frustration for both you and your client.

Where E-Commerce Shines for Commercial Printers: Beyond Retail

Just because the open-to-the-public retail model isn't a fit doesn't mean e-commerce has no place in your business. The key is to think of e-commerce not as a replacement for your sales team, but as a tool to enhance service, create efficiency, and strengthen client relationships.

Here are three strategic e-commerce models that work for commercial PSPs.

1. The White-Glove B2B Print Portal

This is perhaps the most powerful and common e-commerce implementation for commercial printers. You aren't selling to the general public; you are creating a private, branded storefront for a specific enterprise client.

Imagine you have a large corporate customer with multiple departments and locations. They frequently order a set of standardized materials: business cards, letterhead, brochures, event signage, etc. A B2B portal provides them with the following:

• Brand Control - Pre-approved templates ensure every order adheres to strict brand standards.
• Ease of Reordering - Employees can log in, personalize a business card with their name and title, and place an order in minutes without needing to contact a sales rep.
• Inventory Management - The system can track stock levels for warehoused items and trigger reorders automatically, streamlining the entire supply chain.

This is e-commerce as a high-touch service. It requires an initial consultative process to set up, but it locks in the client, simplifies their workflow, and frees up your team from managing small, repetitive orders.

2. The "Existing Customer" Storefront

Your relationship with a client may start with a complex, custom project, but that doesn't mean all their needs are complex. Once you've earned their trust, you can offer them a more traditional e-commerce experience for their simpler, recurring jobs.

This isn't about attracting new, unknown customers from a Google search. It's about providing a convenient, self-service option for the clients who already know and trust you. They don't need the full consultative process to reorder 500 standard postcards. By providing an easy-to-use online ordering system for these items, you add value and make it harder for them to look elsewhere.

3. The Productized Service Package

This is a more advanced strategy that bridges the gap between custom work and standardized products. Instead of selling a single item, you sell a pre-packaged solution targeted at a specific industry niche.

For example, you could create a "New Law Firm Marketing Kit" or a "HVAC Direct Mail Package." This package might include..

• Consultation and design of several postcard templates.
• Mailing list procurement for a specific geographic area.
• Printing and mailing services for a set number of pieces.

The customer transacts online, purchasing a comprehensive service rather than just a printed product. This model allows you to leverage your expertise, create a scalable offering, and attract clients with a clear, defined need.

Challenges of Retail Printing E-Commerce

For those still considering a public-facing, retail e-commerce site, it's critical to understand the challenges. You aren't just competing with the local printer down the street; you're competing with global, digitally-native giants.

• The SEO & Paid Ads Battle: Ranking organically (SEO) for terms like "buy banners online" is incredibly difficult. You are up against companies that have invested millions over decades to dominate these search results. The alternative is paid advertising (Google Shopping Ads, PPC), which is a highly competitive, low-margin game. It requires a different skill set, a perfectly optimized e-commerce site, and a significant, ongoing budget.
• Technical Complexity: Setting up a printing e-commerce site with dynamic pricing that accounts for quantity, substrates, finishes, and shipping is not trivial. You either invest heavily in a custom solution tied to your MIS or use a third-party platform (like PressWise), which adds a middleman and further squeezes your margins.
• The Sales Team Question: A full retail e-commerce model aims to eliminate the salesperson from the transaction. Many shops explore this path when they struggle to hire or retain sales staff. However, "if you build it, they will come" is a myth. An e-commerce site isn't a replacement for a salesperson; it's a different, and often more complex, sales channel that requires its own team of marketing and technical experts to run effectively.

It All Comes Down to Alignment

So, should your print company sell online?

Start by asking the right questions:

• What are my business goals? Am I trying to service existing clients more efficiently, enter a new niche market, or reduce the burden on my sales team?
• Who is my ideal customer? Do they need high-touch consultation or a simple, transactional experience?
• What am I trying to accomplish with e-commerce? Is it a tool for customer retention (portals), a channel for productized services, or an attempt to capture new retail business?
• Do I have the resources? Do I have the time, budget, and expertise to manage the technical and marketing demands of the path I choose?

If your goal is to better serve and retain your existing enterprise clients, then a B2B portal is a fantastic, strategic investment.

If your goal is to compete for retail-level commodity print jobs against the giants of the industry, you must be prepared for a difficult, expensive, and resource-intensive battle.

Ultimately, ecommerce is just a tool. When implemented in alignment with your core business strategy, it can be a powerful engine for efficiency and growth. When adopted without a clear purpose, it becomes a drain on resources that pulls you away from what you do best: delivering expert solutions for complex printing challenges.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.