Well, it's finally happened. It was inevitable really; like an octopus but with a thousand tentacles they search out every interesting looking nook and cranny of commerce until they find one that they like the taste of then devour it whole while it's still alive.
Walmart is now offering 'small business printing' in Canada, in association with PNI. You can take a look here: http://bit.ly/kxpyy
They are promoting marketing materials, business stationery and promotional gifts, including the option to upload your own logos and images. You can use their templates online or you can download Word or InDesign templates to customise your own artwork then upload a PDF.
On the one hand, congratulations go to PNI for expanding into a potentially massive distribution channel with a truly global potential. On the other hand, are we going to witness more price erosion and further commoditisation of the printed piece? We all know Walmart's reputation for tough deals with suppliers, which in turn lead to low prices in the stores. However, $44 dollars for a pack of 500 business cards is a reasonable price, and it suggests to me that these will not be printed digitally. Now I appreciate that this has only recently launched and, as with all new things, I'm sure it will only get better and better, but I'm afraid to say that both the designs and the application itself are not very inspiring or intuitive. Put it this way, if their fresh fruit and vegetables looked like this they'd be throwing a lot of it away!
I'm not sure Vistaprint or Mimeo will be quaking in their boots just yet. However, the mere fact that Walmart has decided to test this market should make the rest of the printing industry sit up and take notice. Look what the supermarkets did to the small shopkeepers, and what is the average printing business to the supermarkets if not an equivalent small shopkeeper?
If Walmart do succeed (and why not just buy VistaPrint?)then you can be sure other supermarkets will want a piece of the action. Any printer who can should be planning to work with their key clients to understand the benefits of Web-to-Print, Walmart's involvement might actually help to promote the concept. I can't see many small businesses asking the teenager on the checkout for advice on multi-channel marketing, can you?
Yet another reason why now is the time to take your business online.
www.w2p.co.uk
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Its very informative post, thanks for sharing it with us.You can also Personalized your product business with web to print Storefront
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