Web-to-Print Portal User Experience and Why Printers Should Care

Printers and other service providers are increasingly recognizing the significance of advanced web portal technology in meeting the demands of tech-savvy clients. The discussion often revolves around crucial factors such as data accessibility, brand consistency, and workflow efficiency when assessing what constitutes a superior client web portal platform.

While the benefits of client web-to-print portals are evident in the financial gains, time efficiency, and brand uniformity they offer to corporations, brands, and enterprises, it’s critical not to overlook the perspective and experience of the end users who interact with these portals daily.

In today’s hyper-connected digital landscape, a seamless user experience within customer web-to-print portals is essential for businesses aiming to outpace competitors, foster positive customer engagement, and expand their customer base.

The individuals within organizations utilizing these web portals – whether they are marketers, sales professionals, HR representatives, or managers – play a pivotal role in determining the success or failure of any service provider’s implementation of web-to-print and marketing asset management solutions.

Therefore, let’s delve into the critical factors that shape the user experience of B2B web portals, elucidating what service providers should prioritize when implementing or enhancing their utilization of web portal solutions.

Three Pillars of Web Portal User Experience:

• Convenience
• Familiarity
• Empowerment

Convenience – Web-to-print Portals Should Save Time

Web-to-print revolutionizes traditional print procurement methods by offering unparalleled convenience. These portals facilitate round-the-clock ordering, unrestricted by business hours, and are accessible from anywhere with internet connectivity. By minimizing manual touchpoints in the ordering process, web portals significantly enhance workflow efficiency.

This is all true of web-to-print as a category. However, the power of modern web portal solutions lies in their ability to further augment convenience. The important thing to understand about the people who seek marketing solutions is that there is no such thing as too much time saved or too many steps eliminated. So, for marketing solution providers, this means the more advanced your solution is, the happier your customers and the more you’ll improve customer retention.

Examples of features that go beyond the expected in terms of convenience: 

• Smart data utilization that will pull information from a user’s profile to auto-populate the input fields of personalized products.
• The ability to browse a personal library of previous orders to quickly re-order.
• Tagging and custom filters to speed up the browsing and searching process.
• Single Sign-On (SSO) integration so employees can easily jump into the portal from their company’s system without remembering another login. 

Familiarity – Web-to-print Portals Should Be Intuitive

In tandem with convenience, familiarity is paramount in ensuring a frictionless user experience within web portals. Users expect an interface that aligns with the conventions and standards of e-commerce platforms, facilitating effortless navigation and interaction.

The driving philosophy here is that shopping online has become so commonplace by now, so people expect certain conventions and standards when they encounter an e-commerce-like experience. 

Intuitive design principles, akin to those prevalent in B2C online shopping, are indispensable for increasing user engagement rates, and by extension, order volumes. Engaging, informative, and entertaining interfaces resonate with users, fostering a sense of ease and familiarity.

In other words, B2C online shopping is ubiquitous and people now expect B2B e-commerce to fall in line with what online shopping is like anywhere else on the web. Customers today want to log in and enjoy a simple and good quality experience.

Examples of features that bring the B2B web portal experience more in line with modern B2C platforms:

• A product rating system
• Integration with social media platforms
• Sharing functionalities 
• Personalized favorites and product list systems
• Cross-selling and recommendation features

Empowerment – Web-to-print Portals Should Center Self-Service

A great web portal experience empowers the user to personalize, customize, and do things on their own schedule, in their own way. This is an often under looked aspect of the potential benefits for companies who implement a great web portal platform. One reason for this might be that, unlike with things like waste reduction, labor hours saved, and increased brand consistency, employee empowerment through self-service tools is harder to measure with numbers and metrics. 

By enabling users to personalize and customize their experiences, web portals foster a sense of ownership and agency among employees. Whether it’s personalizing marketing materials, customizing business cards, or selecting apparel options, self-service tools empower users while optimizing staff utilization.

The self-service aspects of modern web portals help to increase engagement and facilitate a sense of investment and agency in employees. This leads to greater usage rates, better customer retention, and strengthened customer relationships. 

Conclusion – User Experience is Key for Web Portal Success

In selecting software for customer web portals, prioritize functionalities that enhance the end-user experience. Each business has unique goals and requirements, necessitating tailored solutions that align with specific customer needs.

While features such as advanced search functions, multi-language support, and varying security hierarchies are essential considerations, the overarching goal should be to cultivate a gratifying user experience that nurtures long-term relationships.

Ultimately, a customizable web portal that caters to the exact needs of customers is instrumental in fostering ongoing success for organizations. By prioritizing user experience and embracing innovative solutions, printers and service providers can solidify their position in an increasingly competitive landscape.