Thanks to its flexibility and the wide range of functions and support provided, Idesignibuy is a solution with potential for the online print market as well.
Following on from the last editing environment (Combeenation), which I profiled here at beyond-print, today’s blog post deals with another mass customization tool that doesn’t have its origins in W2P. Established in 2009 and based in Pune, India, the software specialist, Idesignibuy, which is very active online, now has branches in Australia, the UK and the USA. Since its establishment the company has focused on developing mass customization tools. The programmers kicked off by concentrating on clothing and textiles customization, which is still this expanding company’s main field of activity. And to what extent does that affect our industry? Idesignibuy has already been developing editors for various industries for some time now and is increasingly promoting its own W2P capabilities. So that is reason enough to take a closer look at the potential of this online editor environment.
While Idesignibuy’s focus to date has not (yet) been on paper-based print products, it is still fun to take a look at the range of functions and support provided by its existing editor solutions. On its website the term W2P is currently being used primarily in connection with the printing of customizable items like T-shirts, mugs and stamps, although an example business card editor is already being promoted. This works using pre-defined templates and font libraries and an image upload option as standard tools. Store operators are given full back-end configuration control, to help adapt the editor environment to the requirements of their stores. This also involves seamless integration into an existing CMS. But there is no detailed information about integration into existing stores – however several satisfied store operators, customers from various countries, including some from Germany rave about how simple integration is.
Idesignibuy has specialized in flexible designers, which have applications in various different industries. A glance at its large portfolio is all it takes to verify that.
The editors allow you to customize all sorts of products from clothing via leather shoes to laptop cases and jewelry. The key benefits being promoted include simple integration plus desktop and mobile-capable usage. The online-based editors don’t require store operators to have any IT infrastructure either; customers are mentored through the store integration process by Idesignibuy’s in-house specialists. Idesignibuy also provides additional services like digital marketing support, store-compatible app development, general IT consultancy and Magento-based store upgrades.
“Its flexible and scalable designers make Idesignibuy an interesting option not only for start-ups. Those wanting to offer a mass customization service will find a range of interesting solutions here at affordable prices.” – Bernd Zipper
Currently the largest range of functions provided by the editors relate to bespoke suits and premium leather shoes. What particularly appeals to me is the pricing transparency and intended service life for each editor – most companies only provide such information on request. And what does a proper editor with a range of functions that are also suitable for handling complex print products cost? Given that no design tool has yet been provided for other paper-based print products, except for the business card editor, I took a look at both tools for design-it-yourself suits and shoes as well as the all-in-one designer. The HTML5-based, SaaS-format all-in-one designer costs 70 USD for a single month’s use (the options are 1, 3, 6 or 12 months). Added to that is a one-off (irrespective of service life duration) set-up fee of 200 USD. Longer-term rental is therefore definitely the considerably cheaper option. If you opt for this solution, you get a multi-perspective product preview function, a choice of sizes and colors, a product-specific design section and an enhancement option using more templates. Of course the “general” designer also includes text and image editing as well as design sharing and storage functions.
If you fancy designing something a bit more complex, you should now take a look at the shoe and suit designer. Mind you, I‘m talking function-related potential here – which products are ultimately included for design purposes can be determined by individual operators. Thus, for example the shoe designer costs 350 USD for a year plus a one-off set-up fee of 750 USD and the suit designer costs 200 USD plus 500 USD. The price supplement gives you the option of adding more complex procedures to go with those of the “simpler“ designer, like a 360° view, zoom function and configuration of even the smallest detail on the product. Anyone, who tries out the shoe designer, will get the impression that adaptation to handle more complex print products would definitely make sense.
I have certainly not explained every option that Idesignibuy and its designers cover. If you take a look at the company’s website you soon notice that it has extensive skills in this area. And specialists offering flexible yet complex mass customization solutions will have a competitive advantage in the future, there’s no doubt about that.
My take: Idesignibuy’s large portfolio provides a sufficient number of alternatives to existing customization software solutions. What I also like is the fact that the company’s transparent pricing policy enables those with less experience in this field to get an idea of what the tool costs. Depending on segment and price, the whole shebang is also scalable and adaptable to meet more sophisticated requirements. We should anticipate coming across this provider more frequently in future in W2P – given its potential, the company is highly unlikely to restrict itself to printable mugs, T-shirts or business cards…
