Should you use an online print ordering portal for your business? For most businesses, the answer is yes. But why?
The obvious benefit is convenience. Instead of emailing your sales rep, waiting for a response, and playing phone tag to confirm details, you log in and place an order the way you would on any e-commerce site. But the less obvious benefits are where the real value tends to reside.
What Does It Actually Cost You to Order Print the Old Way?
Think about the last time you ordered printed materials. How many people touched that order? How many emails went back and forth? How long did the whole process take from first contact to confirmed order?
Your time has a dollar value. Every manual step in an ordering process adds up. When you calculate what it costs your team to place, manage, and track orders manually over a year, the inefficiency becomes visible in a way it isn't when you look at each order in isolation.
An online portal removes most of those manual steps.
How Does a Portal Protect Your Brand Consistency?
When files live in a central repository with locked branding elements, your colors, logos, and layout standards stay consistent, no matter who places the order. Whether it is someone at headquarters, a regional sales rep, or a new hire placing their first order, they work from the same approved files.
If you want to allow some customization, such as individual headshots or personal contact information, you can enable those permissions at the field level while keeping everything else locked. The brand stays intact. The flexibility stays where you want it.
What Happens to Print Errors When Jobs Are Preset?
Most print errors come from human error: an outdated file, a missing font, a brochure ordered in the wrong version. When jobs are preset in an online system, those variables are removed. The file that goes to press is the file that was approved, every time.
That is not just a time savings. It is a real cost savings, because reprints and rush corrections are expensive.
Can a Portal Tell You What Is Actually Working?
Usage reports show which pieces your team orders most, which brochures sit untouched, and which collateral your salespeople actually rely on. That information is genuinely useful when you are deciding what to reprint, what to retire, and where to invest your next print marketing dollars.
If you have not yet set up an online print ordering portal with us, it is worth a conversation. If you already have one, give us a call anyway. Let us make sure you aren’t overlooking features that could save or make you money.
