With mounting pressure to drive profitability, retailers are making sure every spend yields returns and every square foot of store space is optimised. This means a more strategic approach to in-store communications and graphics, which in turn means redefining the way printed communications are used inside the store. As VM teams across brands, who typically manage the printed in store communications, point out, print comes with its own set of challenges. Besides, with the rising thrust on digital and its associated benefits and the growing focus on sustainability, it would seem like a natural choice to transition from print to digital. That however is not as simple as it would seem, and it would take a while before digital replaces printed communications. But what’s significant is the kind of challenges that retailers and brands face when it comes to sourcing the right kind of printing solution.  

Inconsistent quality across regions 

Avanish Saroj, Head- VM, Hamleys, which uses printed in-store campaigns for product launches, says, speaking about the key challenges when it comes to print, “The biggest challenge is in execution, especially in terms of variation in quality from region to region. This typically happens when the whole process is decentralised and is left to the local vendor to manage. Despite the use of same material, there is quality difference because of execution, which depends on the machinery available locally. In big cities, one can find the right machinery with possibilities for 4-5 colour variations, but it’s not so in smaller markets, and this results in inferior print quality. Maintenance of machines is also a challenge in smaller towns.” 

Talking further about the challenges specific to small towns, Avanish says, “Smaller towns are very price sensitive so they generally don’t use good quality materials like 3M, and instead tend to compromise with lower quality materials.”

While brands like Hamleys typically have centralised vendor database that is approved by the corporate team with fixed costing, many others follow a decentralised approach and that’s when the regional challenges kick in. Besides, onboarding a print vendor is a process that is fraught with its own challenges, especially given that not all vendors are open and transparent with respect to their machinery and capability. This despite the fact that most established retailers have a standard set of criteria when it comes to selecting their print partner. 

Criteria for selecting print vendor partner

Explaining the criteria that Hamleys follows while choosing their print vendor, Avanish list out the following:

• Turnaround time - the most important factor.  “The vendor has to deliver quality work in the specified timeline.” 

• Bandwidth – Pan-India presence and network is also important, as it indicates the number of locations they can cover 

• Pricing 

Is sustainability a factor? 

While most brands do agree that a print partner who follows sustainable practices is always preferred, they also acknowledge the fact that it may not be always feasible to make it the top criteria, obviously due to cost considerations. As Avanish points out, pricing and timeline are the more critical factors, although they try to ensure reusing or repurposing of materials as much as possible. 

Recommendations for way ahead 

Further, voicing out his suggestions to address some of the challenges in the printing eco-system, Avanish says, “There should be one standardised rate across the industry, whether orders come in bulk or not. Also, I would recommend using media which is available in India, rather than going for Chinese ones.  Once the demand goes up and production capacity scales up, then the rates will also come down for new media.”