E-commerce system connects printers with buyers

What is claimed to be the first non-proprietary e-commerce platform connecting businesses and buyers to local printing suppliers across the UK has been launched.

Earthtone claimed that by building on the growth in the mobile workforce and the shift to e-procurement by business buyers, the company connects print providers to the expanding internet-based printing market.

The company added that it believes that it can offer printers a new revenue stream without any start-up investment and providing them with the tools they need to capitalise on the online printing opportunity.

Claimed to be designed to enable printers to acquire new customers via the internet and to enable customers to locate and transact online with local printers, the Earthtone platform provides printers with an online storefront built on secure technology.

The platform's location mapping is said to identify local print providers and its range of value-added features, including online payment, support for over 100 file formats and fully integrated shipping.

That should reduce printers' transaction costs and give locally-focused print centres on the network the opportunity to acquire national accounts, added Earthtone.

Supporting all print centres, irrespective of the technology they already employ, the platform enables them to set their own pricing and retain their own branding.

By charging printers neither set-up costs nor continuing fees, Earthtone said that its commercial model makes signing-up a risk-free proposition.

Print centres pay a small commission on volume for business that Earthtone's marketing, including optimising the online storefronts for search engines, drives to their print centres.

The company said that printing firms that sign to the service before the end of August will be able to take advantage of discounts.

Earthtone's founder and chief executive officer, Nader Alaghband, said: "Online shopping is revolutionising the way that buyers and sellers interact.

With online print procurement forecasted to reach 45 per cent before the end of the decade, printers that want to reap the benefits of this trend must offer increasingly discerning online customers a shopping experience that effectively meets their expectations.

David Reid, the company's co-founder and chief operating officer, commented: "Printers are faced with a confusing array of applications and existing systems and services are dominated by a few 'big box' brands.

For buyers, the fragmented nature of those options creates inefficiency and fails to deliver on consumer expectations.

Up to now, printers have been asked to make a significant upfront investment for an online storefront that new customers can't easily find and which existing customers don't like and don't use.

In the UK, the quick printing market is estimated to be worth GBP1 billion and Earthtone said it is seeking to capitalise on a number of UK and European trends, including a mobile workforce.

The company added that web-to-print usage is forecast to grow by 248 per cent by 2010 to in excess of GBP7.2 billion.

Earthtone said it will launch its service to print buyers in September .

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