Innovation, research and experimentation are the assets that underpin Pixartprinting's business model, while speed, engagement and communication are the key to the success of the leading European B2B Upload & Print company. CEO of Pixartprinting Alessandro Tenderini began his outline of what lies in store for the company in the short and medium term by stating “we have grown by 30% in the past year, and we aim to grow even more in 2016". The aim is to extend the company's reach, both geographically and in terms of the product sectors it serves, offering an ever-expanding range of services that create new needs amongst the firm's users.
The exponential growth at the company reached record highs in 2015: it now has an active customer base of 220,000 (compared to 45,000 in 2013), with over 9,000 print jobs a day managed by 500 members of staff (of which 100 have been recruited in the past year). The company is based on the three pillars of trust, reliability and innovation, and its logistics and manufacturing processes are highly computerised, allowing the firm to offer its appreciative customers a unique combination: ever more competitive prices paired with high quality and excellent customer service.
The coming months promise to be very busy for the company, in line with Pixartprinting's wish to continue to innovate and grow: from its arrival in America to the constant development of the catalogue, holistic marketing, a new fully responsive website, a novel branding project based around video content and the presentation of Pixmas 2015.
Pixartprinting arrives in America
“And the best is yet to .com”. With this forecast the management announced a new and important step in the company's geographical expansion: the launch of Pixartprinting North America, with its logistical and commercial offices in Boston. “This is a new and very exciting challenge for us, because our analysis shows that this market has great potential for the services we offer", Tenderini said. "We are taking this step in collaboration with the Cimpress Group, of which we are part". Cimpress, a global leader in mass customisation, is investing money in a manufacturing network that includes both its own sites and third party suppliers to manage orders placed with the Group's brands, including Pixartprinting North America. This venture into the USA market, supported by a tailored marketing strategy, brings with it the strong Italian flavour that sets Pixartprinting apart: a company with Italy at its heart both in terms of the way the business is run and the creative and innovative way it communicates. The e-shop will have a ".com" domain.
An ever-growing product range
The markets in which the firm operates and the customer base are also growing thanks to new items in the product range. “This year we have launched 38 new products, including brand new items, updates to old models and new uses given to existing ranges. Listening to clients' needs underpins this process, using the tools we have put in place, including our customer care service, Reevoo and market analysis", Federico Gonzalez, Commercial Manager at Pixartprinting explained. "There is a lot of collaboration between the R&D, manufacturing and marketing departments: we work tirelessly not only to offer innovative products but also to fine tune our existing catalogue to keep customers satisfied, and above all to ensure they remain loyal. The aim of all this is to be a benchmark for our users and to provide a service that covers all aspects. We have also introduced a loyalty programme, STARWAY, which rewards our premium clients, and which is proving to be very successful. Our work to develop customer loyalty is also in the interest of our clients, as by dealing with a single partner they can make savings both in terms of money and time”.
The new products include a range of Paper Shopping Bags launched at the beginning of the year and expanded to such an extent that they now have a dedicated sample pack; Wineline, a complete range of wine-related products with packaging that can be customised on all surfaces; and the Fastlane service, a new area of the website that allows clients to buy the firm's bestselling products in pre-configured designs with a single click, at even more affordable prices and with ultra-fast delivery. Not to mention PVC cards for promotional use, Diaries and a larger range of office products, including hardcover and softcover Notebooks and Notepads.
Holistic marketing
One of Pixartprinting's strong points is its holistic marketing strategy, which seeks to provide the right message at the right time, and aims both to acquire new clients and to ensure the loyalty of existing customers, using up- and cross-selling techniques.
"Unlike traditional marketing, where the aim is to acquire as large a number of clients as possible by prioritising the sales channel, we work to create engagement and retention, concentrating on the clients themselves. With our highly computerised and digital model for managing commercial and marketing activities, the relationship with our users has a similar dynamic to that seen in B2C markets", Andrea Pizzola, Sales & Marketing Director at Pixartprinting noted. "Every year we set ourselves fresh challenges in this area: the aim is to expand the range of markets we sell to and encourage clients who are still operating offline to work online instead”.
To put this engagement policy into practice, Pixartprinting focuses on the digital world with a mixture of strategies, working in harmony, like an orchestra playing in perfect unison.
“Our digital strategy is based on various tools, such as CPC, retargeting, merchandising, display advertising, affiliation, email marketing and social media. We use these channels to promote high quality content and information on the firm's product portfolio", Davide Turatti, Digital Marketing Manager at Pixartprinting explained. "We create topics, themes and subjects linked to our clients' businesses so that they become familiar with Pixartprinting, which in turn identifies their requirements and develops solutions to meet their current and latent needs”.
A lot of attention is focused on social media, which is used as a two-way communication channel, to ensure the company is seen as vibrant, engaged and active. Flexible customer care remains crucial, and it also makes use of these networks to provide timely support, aiming to overcome the physical distance between the company and the client.
Pixartprinting's digital strategy developed in two stages: initially it focused on optimising and reinforcing the brand, but now the focus is on analysing the data collected in order to carry out increasingly sophisticated profiling of its users. The data is then optimised on a single DMP (Data Management Platform), which contains all the information gathered both from Pixartprinting's channels and externally, with the aim of identifying clients and their digital identity and so offering them increasingly relevant products.
A fully-responsive e-shop
As part of its commitment to making its clients' lives easier and aim to cover all platforms and all channels, the Pixartprinting e-shop is now fully responsive. In other words, all functions can be accessed via desktop, tablet and mobile. “We are the first company in the Upload & Print sector to have achieved this milestone, which, for a website as complex as ours, is no mean feat. This is further confirmation of how much we care about our clients, who are not merely seen as consumers, but as people whose needs must be satisfied and, if possible, pre-empted" Pizzola commented. "The investments made to make the site fully responsive should be seen as part of our holistic marketing strategy, which is well-managed and always on the lookout for innovative platforms, so it can provide a punctual and personalised service to the market".
PIXMAS: the campaign for Christmas 2015
Another example of Pixartprinting's desire to explore new commercial strategies is PIXMAS, the series of special offers dedicated entirely to Christmas promotions. The formula that has been adopted is a campaign running from 23 November to 11 December, which allows clients to benefit from one promotion a day. A sort of promotional advent calendar, where the user opens their personal virtual door, with a new offer every 24 hours and a countdown showing how long they have until it expires.
The theme is AN 8-BIT CHRISTMAS: 1990s computer graphics have been given a Christmas makeover, with the generation they once inspired through classic computer games now grown up and amongst Pixartprinting's customer base. The campaign is a metaphor that goes to the very heart of Pixartprinting's ethos: it successfully managed to overcome the challenge of approaching the long-established printing market with a youthful language.
