Sell globally, print locally

Print Solutions

Taopix is launching a universal print manufacturing facility complete with truly global shipping options to create a comprehensive and wide reaching fulfilment platform.

The photobook and photo gifts industry is dominated by two types of business. On the one hand the print industry, renowned for high quality finished products but often playing catch up in e-commerce experience and digital marketing expertise. On the other hand, e-commerce giants and recognisable retail brands that often lack experience in print manufacturing and drop shipping. Where businesses succeed in both camps, they are often domestically strong but limited internationally.

Taopix has observed that print manufacturing and drop shipping experience has often been a barrier to entry for many very successful e-commerce and/or retail businesses in building their own photobook or photo gift revenue stream. For companies well versed in printing and shipping, expansion outside of their own product capability or geography has proved equally challenging.

Another important issue in the photobook sector is cart abandonment. A recent study has indicated that a significant number of abandoned photobook projects are abandoned due to high shipping costs and long deliver timescales – two problems typically associated with not printing locally to the consumer.

Taopix solves all of the above challenges as it launches TaoPrint, a cloud based solution that allows any business to manufacture thousands of different photobook and personalised gift products and have them shipped to anywhere in the world. If you are a printer, TaoPrint lets you expand your business beyond your current product and geographical capabilities. Furthermore, TaoPrint allows you to manufacture products near to the location of the consumer thus reducing shipping costs and delivery times, a significant help in growing customer acquisition and conversion and a major contributor to lowering cart abandonment.

‘The key to growing a very successful personalised photobook and gift business is the ability to sell such products to a large captive customer base and to be fully equipped with the necessary digital marketing skill set required to compete on the Internet,’ said James Gray, founder and CEO of Taopix. ‘While born out of the print industry, Taopix is actually a tech company empowering the digital economy with the ability to create and sell amazing photo based personalised products. All too often software providers in our space take for granted the experience needed in print manufacture and drop shipping to make such businesses viable.’

TaoPrint is a new component within the Taopix platform for manufacturing over 5000 different physical products anywhere in the world and shipping them directly to the end consumer, similarly anywhere in the world. TaoPrint will do this at the most optimal cost commensurate with the consumer’s desired delivery times. Seamlessly integrated in to the overall Taopix user experience, TaoPrint will completely unburden retail businesses from the need to orchestrate their own manufacturing and drop shipping capability. At the same time, TaoPrint will enable existing printers to significantly expand their current capabilities.

‘TaoPrint is groundbreaking and serves two key market opportunities for Taopix customers,’ Steffen Haaga, commercial director for Taopix explained. ‘First, if you are a successful e-commerce business wishing to launch a photo/personalised gift business, you no longer need to think about manufacturing and drop shipping. It is no longer a barrier to entry. By choosing the Taopix platform, you can successfully launch your photo/personalisation business globally and be instantly connected to a global manufacturing and shipping network by default. Secondly, if you are a print manufacturer currently offering photo/personalisation products, TaoPrint can massively increase your own product range or geographic reach without needing to limit your business to only products you yourself can manufacture in places where you are physically located.’

TaoPrint is a connector, an API, but a very powerful one. Behind the scenes it is connected to hundreds of print manufacturers worldwide, but not just any manufacturers. Each print facility connected to TaoPrint is prequalified and rigorously tested.

In addition, TaoPrint is connected to over 250 logistics companies worldwide, providing an incredible array of shipping options every time a customer orders a product. It uses a sophisticated algorithmic learning engine to seamlessly choose the most appropriate location for printing based on hundreds of criteria ranging from the nature of the product to be printed to the performance and track record of each printer on the TaoPrint network. The shipping options can be set up automatically as defaults or left to the consumer to choose from an array of the best options provided automatically by TaoPrint.

‘While TaoPrint is a fully automated intelligent engine, all of our customers will be able to build their own manufacturing and shipping ‘over rides,’ said Kevin Gale, co-founder and CTO of Taopix. ‘That way, our customers who are printers themselves can maximise manufacturing at their own facility while simultaneously offering a wider range of products than they themselves can’t currently make.’

TaoPrint has been developed in an exclusive partnership with Cloudprinter.com, the Netherlands based start up founded by Mogens Winther and Martijn Eier, both highly respected members of the digital print and photo commerce community. ‘We are enormously excited about the launch of TaoPrint,’ said Martijn Eier. ‘It is a perfect use case for the Cloudprinter.com solution and I believe it will power significant value for Taopix’ customers.’

TaoPrint will be available from Q4 2018.