Growth Strategies for Quick Copy Printers Using Trade Printing Services

Quick copy print shops often get requests for jobs that are outside their current capacity which can limit growth. Yet they can drive growth and competitiveness with the strategic use of trade printing services. By outsourcing to wholesale printers, they can reduce production costs and enhance efficiency through access to additional technologies and specialized expertise. Wholesale partnerships also allow for an instant expansion of print products and services without adding to fixed costs. Improved turnaround times and competitive pricing structures can happen thanks to access to digital and offset trade printing capabilities. Here are several ways this can work for a quick copy shop or small commercial printer in search of growth.

Reduce Print Production Costs

Quick printers can reduce production costs by taking advantage of the economies of scale and specialized equipment of wholesale trade printers. At some point, in-house quick copy jobs become cheaper to outsource. And of course, trade print shops are an excellent way to increase capacity for shops that are running behind.

By outsourcing printing tasks to trade printers, printing companies can lower their production costs and maintain competitive pricing.

You probably won’t hear this from other trade printers, but companies should regularly compare quotes from multiple wholesale printers.

Why?

In research that we did about getting the best quotes for Western Trade Printing (WTP) purchasing, we found that things had dramatically changed with our vendors. Our industry is constantly changing. Our decisions, which were based on an expedient “that’s the way things have always been done” approach, were costing us money.

By looking at our top three suppliers for any given product, we discovered that where Company A was the leader a few years ago, today Company B had the advantage. In evaluating quotes, we look not only at price, but also at speed of quotes, quality, customer service and communication. They all factor heavily in our decisions.

Our recommendation for a good printing quote strategy:

1 – Always include the top 3 (or more) suppliers requests for quotes.

2 – Solicit quotes regularly.

3 – Keep an open feedback loop with vendors to let them know where their pricing and service stand in comparison to competitors.

This benefits vendors and purchasers alike.

Better Efficiency With Specialized Print Expertise

Here at WTP we like to say that “our shop is your shop.” Our staff, from the front office to the shop floor, has more than 250+ years of collective experience in the printing industry.

That’s a considerable resource that is yours to use as needed to help grow your business.

And it’s not just the technical skills of print operations that are available. You can lean on the staff here at WTP for help in printing business development, marketing, and sales.

You can read several printing business case studies of how WTP has helped some of their most successful clients overcome challenges.

Expand Services and Products With Wholesale Printing

One of the best ways to accelerate growth for small commercial printers is by expanding their services. Partnering with a wholesale printer like Western Trade Printing lets companies instantly offer a wider range of print products without the need to invest in equipment, staffing, overtime, or infrastructure.

Small quick copy printers typically have limitations on equipment and staffing. A B2B client can easily request print jobs that are outside the shop’s internal production capacity. That’s where a trade print shop can deliver significant value.

Such a partnership has several benefits that contribute directly to growth:

➤ It can attract new clientele from different industries.

➤ It can help sell more products and services to existing clients.

➤ By satisfying more client demands, they can foster long-term relationships.

➤ It helps companies manage the costs of growth.

➤ It offers the benefits of bulk purchasing.

➤ If offers G7 methodology for consistent color reproduction across all devices and substrates.

➤ It offers sustainable printing practices with FSC certification, lean operations, vegetable-based inks, and eco-friendly paper availability.

➤ It protects the company from economic downturns because no fixed costs are involved in a trade printing partnership.

Examples of Wholesale Print Products Available at Western Trade Printing (WTP)

Examples of Wholesale Print Services Available at WTP

Improve Turnaround Times with Trade Printing

It’s an on-demand world, which means that turnaround time reduction can be a game-changer for quick copy printing companies. Trade printers can play a pivotal role in achieving this goal.

With advanced digital printing, 40” offset printing and bindery technology, and efficient production processes, wholesale printers like WTP can markedly reduce turnaround times. WTP’s range of printing and bindery equipment and streamlined processes helps companies meet tight deadlines without compromising on quality.

Same-day or next-day service options are available for urgent projects.

Copy shops that face equipment limitations and resource availability can easily meet customer demands with a trade printing partnership.

The bottom line is that anything that improves turnaround times will enhance competitiveness. In turn, this makes a company more attractive to more clients.

Maintain Competitive Pricing

Maintaining competitive pricing in a quick copy shop is a key challenge  (as well as for nearly any other printing business.) Trade printing shops like WTP will help with competitive pricing in several ways.

Bulk Purchases

One of the ways WTP helps clients compete on price is bulk purchasing of paper. We buy lots of paper at prices that may not be available to smaller buyers. This lets us keep our wholesale printing prices quite competitive.

Competitive pricing structures

Western Trade Printing offers wholesale pricing structures that allow for profitable margins on a wide range of print products and services. We only offer printing services to the trade, and we never sell to the end user. This keeps our pricing very competitive and protects your accounts.

Mail Discounts

WTP makes use of hidden bulk mail discounts that are sometimes even ignored by professional mailing companies. These are List Enhancements and Destination Entry discounts.

It’s our experience that done right, they can get postage discounts that run into the thousands of dollars on any given mailing job.

The reason many companies don’t use these discounts is that it takes a bit of work. That’s why WTP developed a process for doing the work for our clients.

To see how much this might save, companies can send us a historical list or previous mailing and we’ll run it through our process. (See our contact details below.)

Negotiated discounts

WTP’s mission is to establish lifetime relationships with all our clients. Every situation is unique, so we encourage companies to call and talk about how we can help them meet their long-term goals. This includes negotiated pricing or other custom programs to meet specific needs.

Web-to-Print

Quick copy shops can process a lot of smaller orders each day. It doesn’t make sense to wait for custom quotes on every job. To efficiently work with a wholesale print provider requires a good web-to-print solution that handles the most common types of print jobs.

Western Trade Printing has a 24 hour web-to-print client portal that offers fast quotes on all popular print projects. This includes:

•    Business cards

•    Booklets, catalogs, magazines – including 5.5x8.5 and 8.5x11 short to medium runs

•    Brochures, newsletters, flyers

•    Brochures with mailing services

•    Door hangers

•    Post cards, club cards, and rack cards

•    Postcards with mailing services

•    Posters – Photo quality inkjet

Turnaround times of 2, 3 and 4 business days are available.

For longer print runs, for custom items, or for any type of job not shown in the online order menu, clients can use WTP’s Custom Quote page. These typically get responded to within hours on the same business day.

Sustainability Through Trade Printing

Consumers and companies increasingly demand eco-friendly products and services. They want to work with print service providers that demonstrate eco-friendly operations and products.

In our recent article on eco-friendly printing, we mentioned a McKinsey study which found that products that made ESG claims (environmental, social, and governance) averaged 28% cumulative growth compared to 20% for products without any claims.

Being eco-friendly is about more than just recycled paper. Sustainable printing materials, processes, and technology all contribute to a brand's sustainability efforts.

By working with a wholesale printer like WTP, clients get to use our commitment to sustainability efforts as theirs. These eco-friendly practices include the following:

✅ Digital workflow reduces physical proofing waste

✅ Chem-free processing of plates

✅ Non-toxic consumables

✅ Energy-efficient presses

✅ Digital short-run capabilities means reduced inventories and waste

✅ Computerized bindery equipment reduces errors and waste

✅ Computerized press equipment reduces waste, is consistent and accurate

✅ Printing on recycled paper

✅ Printing on recyclable papers and synthetics

✅ Recycling of all paper waste from press and bindery

✅ Vegetable-based inks

✅ Recycling of all inks

✅ Aqueous coatings

✅ G7 or similar printing methodology reduces waste and errors

✅ FSC certification means environmentally responsible sourcing

✅ Lean manufacturing (inherently green)

Quick copy printers can get significant opportunities for growth by working with wholesale printing companies like Western Trade Printing. A good partnership delivers a reduction of printing costs, competitive pricing, better efficiency, expanded product and service offering, faster turnaround times, and in-depth sustainability practices.

To Work with Western Trade Printing

To get a quote, contact Western Trade Printing's estimating department at 559-251-8595 ext. 1.

Or get a free no-obligation custom quote here on the WTP customer portal.

For more tips and insight on operating a quick copy or commercial printing company, visit this resource page. Or use the search box at the top of every page.