Webmart: making life easier and less expensive for procurement and marketing departments

Webmart wants to simplify printing decisions. Its set up and propositions are all about delivering best value, transparency of process and removing the hassles of working out which printer to use and how to manage print. Its network of printers and unique software combine to deliver the best market price for print – every time.

Thirteen years ago when the business was started by Simon Biltcliffe, it was no different from any other broking business, drawing on Biltcliffe’s knowledge of all the web offset presses in the market and using this to match any job with the most effective press for that job, whatever its run length or format. The arrival of the internet giving anyone the ability to find the printers and presses, undermined this proposition. Instead, Biltcliffe realised that the young business would have to use technology and started to build an online estimating system. “That started our love of technology,” he says. Over time that technology has become more sophisticated as it has evolved into a uniquely powerful application that underpins and drives the whole Webmart business.

The broking element, of finding the best supplier and price of any job, remains, albeit far removed from the old ways of doing business. But on to this has come a dynamic pricing tool delivering a price and placing an order with a highly trusted supplier inside an hour, a fully rounded print management service for key accounts and now the ability to supply the software under licence to customers who do not want to disperse an existing procurement team, but want to equip the team with the tools to get the best possible value for any print job.

Craig Robertson, Webmart’s key accounts director, says: “With key accounts we are working with art-working and designers to offer the full spectrum of service, organised so that we take the grind away so that the client can concentrate on what they want to be doing. They don’t want to be thinking about print, they want to think about campaigns.”

A large chunk of Webmart’s business remains in the web offset sector where it began more than a decade ago. Last year Biltcliffe says the business was responsible for 800 million inserts. It works for mail order, retail, travel and publishing businesses. For them it is often a case of delivering speed from concept to delivery.

Here Webmart’s online estimating and ordering service comes to the fore. The job is put out to the supplier base which is invited to submit its best price for any job. The underlying idea is that at any one time there is a printer looking to fill an empty slot on a press that would otherwise stand idle. This slot can be offered at a rate which gains the job and gives the ultimate customer the best possible price. The best price will often be 20% below the market average, but Webmart will never take the lowest price submitted, thus discouraging those companies that submit suicidal prices. Nor will it negotiate over a price. The printer is expected to understand his costs and to stand by these.

The smart part comes with the feedback that is sought on every job. The customer is asked to rate the service provided by Webmart and the job quality, the printer to do likewise. Very quickly the suppliers offering better quality are discovered, those that are failing will have their faults identified. This sparks a virtuous spiral of improvement as winning good feedback becomes an essential part of the process of winning a job. “Everybody knows they must always offer the best price,” says Robertson. “The system means there is constant assessment of suppliers, we ensure we are comparing like for like – B2 printer against B2 printer for example – and we are not hammering suppliers into the ground.

“What we are doing is recognition that the print market is charging by the hour. Active pricing allows us to deliver the best value to customers. On the other hand matrix pricing is like reading yesterday’s newspapers, it’s something that is out of date and of no use. Those working in this way may achieve a 20% saving at the start of a three-year contract, but a year in the pricing agreed is not being challenged. Our way offers best value day in, day out.”

This extends into the key account service where Robertson says: “It can seem as if print management has become tarnished recently, but this is different. This is smart print management.”

For retail operations, for example, Webmart has developed StoreSmart where it has on record intimate knowledge of every outlet in a chain, not only to the extent of knowing its floor space, but to be able to offer a 3D walkthrough to show how POS will be viewed by the store’s customers. Not surprisingly this can mean sitting down at concept meetings with the store chain management and their suppliers to work out how to deliver the maximum return from any campaign. “We are getting good forward visibility on what marketing is planning. They expect us as their supply partner to understand the latest materials and techniques. It is far removed from placing an order for 1,000 posters,” Robertson explains. “We are not thinking cost out, we are thinking value in.”

While Webmart has justifiable pride in its own training systems and the way that its teams share their knowledge about areas of special expertise, it is also able to call on a wider network of specialists in different disciplines to provide further advice and knowledge about developments and techniques in their areas. Consequently Webmart is not bragging when it can claim to have more than 450 years of experience across its staff. Its internal salary and reward system is organised to encourage recruitment of the best and to recognise loyalty. The programmers that maintain the management software for example, are not known as the IT department, but as Business Solutions. It’s a subtle distinction, but one that emphasises the central role in the organisation and the impact that delivering what customers want will have on the overall business. Thus when a new feature is requested by a customer, it is not added to a wish list to be considered at the next meeting in a month or six weeks time, but can be included within 24 hours if necessary.

As Webmart is now offering licences to customers to use the software within an existing procurement operation, this is a key factor. These companies can use the Webmart system across their roster of suppliers, selecting which printers are best suited to any particular job and receiving best prices back from request to quote submissions. They receive the same details about which printers are quoting above or below the market price that Webmart has, can filter the list according to technology, to an environmental accreditation or to any factor that is chosen. They get all the transparency over emails and communications about job progress that a normal Webmart customer receives, and they receive all the transparency that a procurement chief could wish for, especially the knowledge that the system is always geared to achieving the best price.

“What we can do is changing the way that people think,” says Robertson. “What we do is measurable and auditable. And for procurement departments, which are taking a greater and greater role, that is important. At the same time we are offering our experience and knowledge for marketing teams.”

So far Webmart has expanded through word of mouth referrals, Biltcliffe claiming that there has been little marketing, though the bright yellow building in Bicester and strong identity built around the yellow and magenta highlights suggests that company has not sought anonymity either. However, the company has begun to stretch a little, talking to print associations overseas and taking the stand at procurement exhibitions to explain the thinking and approach (even that it can be applied outside print). There is clearly room for Webmart to continue its expansion for a while yet. Closer to home changing market dynamics will provide opportunity. The constant search to lower costs shows no sign of slowing hence many print customers are looking to outsource what is still considered a cost for many. Biltcliffe adds: “And we believe the contract magazine market will start to come back as the supplier base contracts and reduces its internal service levels so that smaller hobby publishers are going to find it difficult to get the good customer service that they require. That is where we can step in.”

The observation applies to publishers, it applies equally across the spectrum. If Webmart did not exist to meet this need, it would be necessary to invent it.