customers with marketing and sales initiatives. “We provide unbranded product imagery for websites and digital comms, unbranded selling brochures that we can overbrand with customers' logos, hands on product training at our showroom, and even unbranded e-shot templates,” she says. “All an extra free service we provide to help our trade customers sell the product and in turn expand and grow in the large-format print sector. All of this extra material can be found on the customer’s online account, where they can now also purchase all hardware online for next day delivery, again making the buying process incredibly straightforward.” Swinging back to actual print, what is currently proving popular with Very’s trade customers? Corcoran picks out textile and soft signage as key growth areas, adding that due to the reusability and more environmentally friendly nature of fabric print, customers are opting for its larger fabric back walls. Elsewhere, modular display solutions are also growing in demand, with an increased need for portable systems that are practical for setup and can be used time and time again. Economies of Scale Meanwhile, Scott Conway, director and co-founder of Venture Banners, has similar feedback in terms of the advantages of working with a trade printer. He says a true trade partner will help you diversify in markets that would be too difficult or expensive to enter traditionally. “A trade supplier should be trusted, and consistent with their products, materials, and pricing,” he says, adding: “Our consistency gives our customers confidence support their needs. Also from Solopress is the Soloflo API solution, developed with the aim of assisting print resellers. With Soloflo, orders flow directly from Solopress’ production workflow, removing the need for resellers to re-enter customer orders manually to have them fulfilled by Solopress. Alongside this, new from Solopress is Brand Central, which allows companies to have their own online print-buying portal. It is a microsite, tailored to the customer’s brand, that allows stakeholders to order print that’s consistently on-brand and reasonably priced. With its finger clearly on the pulse of the market, Solopress is very well placed to advise on key market trends. However, when it comes to picking out the most popular work and demands from customers, Kilcoyne says this is tough to pin down as it sees such a variety of work come through our doors. “That said, we’ve recently experienced a number of requests for stand-up pouch packaging and greater versatility on stickers, so we’ve responded to those by broadening our range to accommodate them,” Kilcoyne says, adding: “We’re always receptive to suggestions and we have channels in place to ensure that trends we see at an account manager level translate into new products and options. “By and large, our trade partners serve a wide range of markets, with many finding their niche in areas like publishing, retail, hospitality, or events. For that reason, we aim to offer the maximum versatility in terms of products, materials, sizes, and finishing, as well as keeping things flexible and accommodating bespoke requests.” New Routes to Market Also in this area is Very Displays, whose marketing manager, Kirsty Corcoran, says the main advantages of working with a trade printer and supplier such as Very Displays are simply the ease and extra routes to market that become available – especially with its expertise in the wide- and large-format print sector. “We offer large-format printing to help our trade customers when their production is at full capacity, or for those that have limited resource,” Corcoran says, adding: “By supplying the full service to our trade customers, we expand their capabilities, allowing them to say yes to all their customers’ needs and requests. “We know what we’re good at and we stick to that, so our customers can lean on our years of expertise to provide their customers with a much wider variety of products without having to invest in additional machinery or personnel.” Corcoran lists tube fabric display backwalls and flags as Very’s print bread and butter, though it also has a large stock holding of display hardware, which she says means customers do not have to tie up funds and use precious warehouse space to store a wide range of large-format products. However, support from trade printers does not end with the delivery of printed work; with Corcoran saying it goes much further than this, explaining Very also helps ▲ Solopress counts large-format print among its widereaching service offering A trade supplier should be trusted, and consistent with their products, materials, and pricing 84 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk September / October 2024 - Issue 350 Solopress has been active in the industry since 1999 1999 TRADE PRINTERS
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