▲ Marcus Boijemyr, chief product officer at GelatoConnect their order volume by leveraging flexible integrations and intelligent automation. “This is vital for the ongoing evolution of print businesses,” Boijemyr emphasises, adding: “Enabling them [PSPs] to expand on their traditional quote-based approaches by integrating efficient and automated SKU-based production, where a webshop combined with software like GelatoConnect can significantly enable growth and allow PSPs to capitalise on the rising demand for customised, made-toorder products.” A common mistake that Boijemyr highlights is for businesses to treat webstore orders like manually processed quotebased jobs, which creates inefficiencies and “limits scale”. GelatoConnect is an example of a platform which integrates with webstores like Shopify, Infigo, and Pressero in order to automate production, shipping, and inventory replenishment end to end. Boijemyr also highlights the importance of understanding the target audience, emphasising that B2C customers will be dependent on effective marketing, therefore meaning PSPs need a clear strategy to create demand generation from their customers. Beyond direct webstores, Boijemyr points to ecommerce platforms like Amazon and Shopify as well as specialised volume aggregators like Printerpix and Cloudprinter which can all help to aggregate volume and produce vast amounts of micro-orders. Boijemyr highlights that the biggest consideration for PSPs today is not the capacity or ability to produce the print, but largely how quick and efficient the work can be produced. “We are seeing a significant shift in the print industry,” says Boijemyr, adding: “The average print run has decreased from over 3,000 units to fewer than 30, leading to a rise in micro-orders and increasing complexity in production. This transformation marks the end of industrial era print economics. The winners will be those who embrace software, automation, and agility at the core of their operations. That’s what GelatoConnect was built for.” Making Print Hassle-Free Another company which has weighed in on the relevancy of webshops is Four Pees, an international consultancy and services organisation. The company helps businesses with “hassle-free” automation by providing web-to-print, job onboarding, packaging creation, and pre-press automation. Tom Peire, chief executive officer for Four Pees and chief evangelist of Atomyx, says: “The web-to-print picture has become increasingly complex in recent years with new channels emerging such as consumer and B2B marketplaces, print-on-demand services integrated with Shopify, and APIs connecting to enterprise ERP systems, meaning print shops can now manage their own production whilst outsourcing work to other print companies.” Piere points out that many printers are now faced with rising raw material costs, energy prices, and demand from customers for lower prices, meaning many are turning to web-to-print as a solution. When it comes to the considerations a company should have when implementing a webstore, Piere says: “The simple fact is that without all systems of a webstore communicating automatically, a printer’s webstore will be rife with inefficiencies. PSPs should choose a web-to-print solution that can integrate smoothly with their existing website and connect to third-party software such as MIS, ERP, or automation platforms. This ensures that the print webstore doesn’t just sit in a silo but becomes a fully functioning part of their wider production and sales ecosystem. “With connected automation, inefficiencies are eliminated with connectors linking the website, ERP, and carrier system, forming a continuous flow of information, removing the need for manual intervention and avoiding human error.” Piere points to Solopress as an example of a commercial printer utilising connected automation to increase its efficiency. Compared to 2019 the business is now operating at a 99.85% time dispatch rate, after automating its processes, with around 500 out of 2000 orders a day being manual compared to automated. On top of offering print portals to manage future orders, Piere also suggests We are seeing a significant shift in the print industry. The average print run has decreased from over 3,000 units to fewer than 30, leading to a rise in micro-orders and increasing complexity in production GelatoConnect was introduced to the print industry at drupa 2024 2024 According to a 2023 report by Smithers, the market for web-to-print totalled around $25.1bn (£18.7bn), which was up from $21.4bn (£15.9bn) in 2018 Factoid 48 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk July / August 2025 - Issue 355 SELLING ON WEBSHOPS
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