E-Commerce Can Yield New Growth
- Published: February 01, 2001, By Yolanda Simonsis, Associate Publisher/Editor
Yes, I'm talking about e-commerce again. Consumers like you and me, our families, and our friends have become comfortable enough with the Web to opt for purchasing practically any grocery or retail product via the Internet. As well, certainly e-commerce represents an opportunity for a converting operation not only to sell its own products to its customers but also to buy its production consumables, supplies, and equipment more cost effectively. The electronic exchange of information and purchasing can so simplify and automate the selling/buying process that orders can take place like clockwork, without manual intervention unless a change is desired.
The recent Chicago conference of the Research and Engineering Council for the Graphic Arts Industry, held in White Stone, VA, focused on the world-class pressroom. Keynoter Marc Olin, president and co-CEO of PrintCafe, discussed how the world of e-commerce has impacted the pressroom, only one segment of the horizontal converting industry. He told the group that e-commerce offers printers the opportunity to save time and money; improve both internal and customer communications; speed access to information and resources; eliminate misinformation, delays, and unexpected costs; and improve employee productivity. He cautioned conference attendees not to regard e-commerce as a threat but instead to use the new technology to reduce the costs of purchasing and customer service.
Internet purchasing has had its ups and downs with dot.com companies quickly coming and going, but the company whose main function is to manufacture actual products, in my opinion, has obvious advantages and a wonderful opportunity to grow its profits by extending services to provide product purchase over the Web.
It represents potential incremental revenue. If you're concerned whether such a move might spell your demise like many of the here-today/gone-tomorrow dot.com companies, remember the advantage a manufacturing company has over most of those dead dot.coms—its link to a core competency beyond a cyberspace storefront.
Speaking of storefronts as they relate to on-line grocery shopping, USA Chicago, a communications firm that specializes in packaging e-commerce, claims that the popularity of on-line grocery shopping has created new challenges for the packaging industry.
Will it represent possible growth for converters of packaging? That depends if you manufacture semi-rigid or flexible packaging. USA Chicago's CEO Patrick J. Yanahan claims, "Not only must a product package get noticed, it must be sturdy enough be transported, either by mail or on a truck. The plastic or paper sacks of yesteryear no longer are viable options." Your comments are welcome. Send me an e-mail message at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
