The increase in printers adopting digital print has given a boost to W2P sales as clients become more web savvy, writes Nosmot Gbadamosi
Web-to-print (W2P) has come a long way in a relatively short space of time. The market is packed full of software providers and has been driven by the growth in digital print technology. The rise in web-savvy print buyers who are used to ordering other products online has also helped.
"For a younger generation of print buyers, the inability to order online is enough reason to go elsewhere, so a W2P solution is a must," explains John Davies, business strategy manager at the Fujifilm European software business unit.
It is now a mature market, according to Gareth Parker, production print solutions marketing manager at Ricoh UK.Five years ago, W2P was essentially an FTP site where print buyers could upload files. Today, it's more sophisticated, catering to both litho and digital printrooms.