“I am a local printer, I’m thinking about launching a business-to-consumer (B2C) website, what’s the best web-to-print solution?”

What does it mean to open an online store for anyone who happens to find you? That’s what B2C means; it means you’re consciously choosing to open a new location for doing business (potentially with strangers). Do you do business with strangers today? If your sales team works a prospect for months before closing them, the customer is no longer a stranger, and I bet you still get lots of business information (possibly a credit check before you would do a large job for a brand new customer?)

I am not against doing business with strangers and of course online transactions can have the advantage of upfront credit card payment to mitigate the risk of doing business with people you don’t know. I just want printers to understand what opening up a B2C online store entails. Many printers are looking to the B2C market as way to augment their business-to-business (B2B) work and fill extra plant capacity. This is a logical thought process but it would benefit from a better understanding of what it takes to build a successful online businesses.