We have all changed the way in which we buy goods and services and it’s safe to say that an online presence has saved some businesses.
A review of our customer activity through the Covid pandemic has shown that those with a good website offering customers the ability to order online, have maintained a reasonable turn-over.
Customers utilising a web to print system have gone one step further, with some reporting higher levels of business than previous years. (With access to Storefront from efi, XMPie from Xerox and Coreprint from Vpress, we can support most business needs.)
Of course, the type of work has changed.
B2C has seen a massive increase, driven by people working from home who still require print to complete their daily tasks.
B2B has changed, in part due to the lack of events and the need for organisations to get their message out. The charity sector has driven a huge increase in the demand for Direct Mail bringing B2B and B2C closer together.
Our own habits have changed in the most basic ways. Prior to the first lockdown, it was rare for me to read the items which arrived in the post, until late in the evening and even then, it was only ‘scanned’.
Now, time spent sitting at a desk, phone-calling or zoom meeting has become the ‘norm’ and the sound of post hitting the front door-mat has given me a welcome diversion.
I now stop what I am doing to read the mail and I’m pretty certain that I am not the only one.
As a result, my own interaction with charities has increased. I’ve even started buying more greetings cards to accompany the gifts that I order online……well… we couldn’t go to the shops could we?
What was initially a change of purchasing, has now become, for me, a way of life.
It isn’t just purchasing that has changed, the way we interact with others has taken a huge turn.
I wonder how many people had used Zoom or Teams for meetings prior to the lockdown?
Another new ‘way of life’.
In the last 12 months Zoom meetings, such as The Crown Pub, set up by Vpress, has maintained my social life as well as expanding my business connections. (Crown Pub Registration – Vpress)
Online is great for business, but it’s also great for wellbeing, and it is here to stay.
Want to secure your own business?….get online and open your virtual doors…after all.. you just read this!
For more information on web2print solutions, email paul.stead@digitalprint.org.uk or call 07518 604611.