Good E-views
The e-commerce arena has proved favorable for package printing suppliers, but their routes to success may surprise you.
by Susan Friedman, Editor
Postcards back from the trenches of e-commerce imply that the same e-business plan won't ensure online profits for every package printing supplier, but several overriding concepts should hold true for any Web-based sales initiative. Here, several suppliers share the common threads their varied e-ventures have shown.
The Explorers:
Adhesives Research, a splicing tapes manufacturer; Avery Dennison's Fasson Roll North America Div., a label materials manufacturer; Copac, an offset and rotary letterpress package printer; and Wilson Manufacturing, a rotary die manufacturer
Finding #1: Start early, start simple, and add interactive features in stages.
Based on the experiences of the companies featured here, it's safe to say that a solid online sales initiative doesn't materialize overnight. The development of soundly functional interactive features is typically spread out over months, or even several years, and holds a better chance for success if it proceeds according to customer feedback.
Avery Dennison's Fasson Roll North America Division first appeared on the Web in 1997, offering straightforward brochure-ware and product data, as well as its Fasson Outlet Store, which offers master roll offcuts at a discount. In 1999, it rolled out real-time data services such as order tracking, purchase order history, and price quotes, as well as Mix-n-Match service, in which a customer enters a facestock-adhesive-liner combination to determine if Fasson can produce it.
Package printer Copac began its Web venture in 1998 by posting marketing materials on its site, and then added embedded customer access portions in 1999. Purchase order status, order searches, and shipping status are now accessible online, and customers can log replacement orders. Currently the site's most popular feature is its finished goods inventory posting.
For Adhesives Research, repeated requests from pulp and paper industry customers were the driving impetus behind the set-up of online ordering for its high-performance splicing products. The site consolidates purchase orders to simplify record-keeping, shows customers complete part numbers rosters, and provides shipping notification. A key achievement of the site, relates marketing communications director Melinda Hopp, is that part numbers have been standardized to appear just as they do in customer records.
Wilson Manufacturing's e-business began over four years ago with a typical billboard site. Soon after, an interactive "log-on" feature was added that allowed customers to place die orders and confirm die shipments. More recent additions include a 24-hour order quoting function, which stores quotes by quote number for retrieval later, and e-mailed shipment updates, which Sales Manager Wade Fouts says provide a huge makeready benefit. Operators who arrive at work at 6:30 am and see, via e-mail, that their dies have been shipped and will arrive that day, can begin preparing the press for a run right away, he relates.
Finding #2: Success doesn't lie in 100% usage.
It's practically a given that online ordering won't appeal to every single customer—but that fact shouldn't put a damper on Web development efforts.
E-business Manager Tiger Buford refers to Avery Dennison's Web site as "the fourth channel" for sales, used as a complement to phone, fax, and EDI orders. The Web-based Fasson Outlet Store is now a core service, bringing in several million dollars in offcut material sales this year. Online ordering from the Outlet (and from the site as a whole) is scheduled to launch in March 2001, but Fasson is already seeing increasing volume from its online beta customers. Buford predicts 5 percent of customers will be ordering online by the end of 2000. By the end of 2001, he projects 30 percent will turn to the site for purchases.
At Copac, where usage stands at about 5 percent of customers, "We see the site as an extension of our customer services, not a replacement for them," says Carole Gowan, director of product and process development.
Fouts estimates 40 percent of Wilson customers currently use online ordering at some level, and gauges 50 percent of Wilson's product line as applicable for sale on the Web—"though some customers love [online ordering] so much they hate not to use it for everything," he says. In a few cases, Wilson has received online die orders with custom file attachments.
Large paper mills have been "the biggest takers" on Adhesives Research's site, relates Hopp. She estimates a fraction of one percent of all Splicing Business Unit customers have taken online action—but the division's diverse customer base almost assures a diverse response. Hopp hasn't seen any online activity among custom-developed products customers—some of whom Adhesives Research works with for years to develop products.
The bottom line for the site, Hopp emphasizes, is that it has met customer requirements. "If it's kept the business of a particular customer, then it's an overwhelming success," she says.
Finding #3: E-commerce initiatives can't survive without the personal touch.
For a technology that can potentially remove the person-to-person dynamics of a sale, it's striking to consider the level of customer attention that is needed to keep online sales tools on the right track.
Avery Dennison conducts focus groups every three months to get feedback on new Web features. "You really have to stay focused on the customer to develop the site effectively," Buford emphasizes. Additional personal touches on the horizon resulting from customer input include online Certificates of Analysis, printable on demand.
"Usage ultimately depends on how comfortable the person is on the other side of the keyboard," advises Copac's Gowan. To smooth over any potential user nerves, Copac initially provides customer user names and passwords for online ordering to its salespeople, so that they can, in turn, train their customers on using the site.
E-commerce may alter familiar day-to-day customer contact patterns, but the pay-off may lie in increased long-term loyalty. Despite his initial concerns about losing the personal touch, Fouts confirms Wilson's e-initiative has solidified customer relationships.
