Print cannot be easily ordered online, claim Earthtone co-founders Nader Alaghband and David Reid. However, they have developed an online print buying site, which, according to VP of business development Kourosh Kaghazian, makes ordering print online “as easy as booking your holidays”.
Kaghazian explains: “We no longer only go to the local travel agent for a holiday – instead we search online to get the best deal. So why should print buyers just go to the local print shop? With Earthtone, print buyers can go online to find the most suitable printer. It’s less labour-intensive than searching for individual online print shops and it’s a smooth process for file delivery and payment.”
Due to launch in Q1 2009, Earthtone is a web to print solution that provides not only quotes from its database of over 1,000 UK and US digital printers, but also details of the printer’s location, opening hours, etc. It is free for printers to sign up, and free for customers to use, with Earthtone taking around 10% commission per job. The software start-up had hoped to launch in November last year, putting the launch back to December and then January. It explains that testing provided further evidence that buying print online is not as easy as people think, something it has now put right.
Alaghband predicts that Earthtone customers will be small to medium enterprises and mobile professionals who need to print simple documents such as presentations and reports. To do this, the customer uploads the document to the website, which can support over 70 different file formats. The customer views the printers that meet their requirements, the file is soft-proofed and the job paid for online. The chosen printer receives a notification of a new job and once printed, it can either be picked up by the customer or delivered.
Web to print is nothing new, Alaghband admits, but he describes Earthtone as giving more printers the opportunity to enter into e-commerce. He says: “The companies that provide online print buying tend to be the big name printers that have economies of scale to implement high-tech solutions. The independent printers may not be able to apply a web ordering service, so through Earthtone we’re helping connect the smaller printer with the small business consumer.”
Following tests with printers, Earthtone’s software can be added to a printer’s own website so that its customers can upload files and pay online, as well as being featured on Earthtone’s site. This alleviates concerns that Earthtone may actually drive existing clients away. Other functionality amendments have been made based on the test printers’ opinions, such as converting the files into PDF instead of XPS.
To help buyers purchase print whenever they need to, consumers can order print with Earthtone through their mobile, and websites can add a ‘print to Earthtone’ button that links into the Earthtone site. Hotels can also join, as Reid explains: “People often need to print while they are away, but the print services in hotels often require memory sticks, which are not secure. If a hotel signs up to Earthtone, the user can order the documents to be printed on the hotel printer.”
Web 2.0 is also embraced, as users can leave reviews and feedback about printers’ performance on Earthtone’s website, and search engine optimisation helps ensure that Earthtone features prominently in online search queries for a local or national printer.
For Alaghband, the focus of Earthtone’s services is simply to provide choice for both the printer and client. He explains: “With Earthtone, we are providing online options for a large amount of smaller printers, so consumers can access more printing choices more easily.”
Client viewpoint
Earthtone has had over 1,000 printers sign up to its online print buying site, but for what reason?
David Pealing, sales director of Earthtone member Severnprint, explains: “The online printing market is growing rapidly, yet it is difficult for individual print sellers like us to break into this market by ourselves. Working with Earthtone, we are able to grow our business risk-free while offering an improved service to our long-term customers. It took us less than an hour to register with the service and we’re looking forward to receiving many new online customers in 2009. Prospective customers will be able to see clearly the services that we can offer, and we are being rewarded for investing in green printing technology.”
• www.earthtone.net