Online print has many facets. It works differently in Europe than in the USA, and there are also differences between individual countries. But one thing is true everywhere: many developments within the printing industry in recent years were initially triggered by online printing. And: traditional print shops and online print shops are working together more often and more closely. Bernd Zipper revealed why this is good in an interview with WhatTheyThink.
“Online print is always a mirror of developments in the markets. With Corona, the supply problems with paper or the uncertainties regarding energy have also influenced online print. But we see that online print is growing once again after the crisis and is recovering faster than some conventional print shops. Yet I also see that individual specialized, traditional print shops are growing. And why? Because they are interacting with online printers. Because they’re joining forces – and that’s a really cool thing!” is how Bernd Zipper sums up current developments in the printing industry in an interview with Ralf Schlözer from WhatTheyThink.
Large online printers in particular are expanding their product portfolios by increasingly collaborating with smaller print shops. In turn, they themselves benefit in the long run from the technological developments of recent years, most of which were developed in the first place because they were needed for online printing.
Online printing is more than just printing
It is important to understand, he said, that online print is nothing special, but simply the “evolution of print.” “We need to understand that,” Zipper said. “But we also need to understand that online print is more than ‘just’ printing. Namely, it’s a new way of selling. And this new way of selling is constantly changing. That’s why it’s so important to exchange ideas about online print and the business models behind it” – whether at local events like BOPE last week in Gorinchem (NL), or at the most important global event for online print, the Online Print Symposium in Munich.
Already secured your OPS ticket?
Find out what the participants can expect there – and what it all has to do with the two types of customers – in the video clip on WhatTheyThink – or directly at the Online Print Symposium on 23 and 24 March at the Science Congress Center in Munich. If you don’t have a ticket for the OPS yet, you should book quickly!
Speaking of collaboration: It’s not just traditional print shops and online print shops that are working more and more closely together. WhatTheyThink and BEYONDPRINT will also be exchanging content from time to time in the future. We are looking forward to the collaboration!
