MONTREAL—Commercial printer Accent Impression has partnered with Costco to launch a web-to-print business. Now, the retailer’s 3.9 million members who want to order business cards from the Costco website are directed to Accent Impression’s own site —veraprint.com—where their order is processed.
Tony Zara, president, said the idea came to him a couple of years ago while his wife was shopping online. He pitched Costco in 2007, spent the next two years customizing and expanding his web-to-print system, Printsys from Prisme Technologies in Montreal, and launched the service in October 2009. “Partnering with Costco gave us a ready made client base with a heightened sense of awareness of Costco, and it gave us instant credibility with that client base,” said Zara.
Since launching in October, business has grown steadily, says Zara, and the shop is processing about 25 orders a day. Most of them are for business cards, but he’s planning on adding new products as the business develops.
Zara has created a new department with four employees to deal with the new business, including a full-time customer service representative, a designer, and a technical liaison with Prisme Technologies to finesse the software as the business evolves. He also added an HP Indigo 5500 to complement his two 40” presses.
Look for the next issue of Graphic Monthly Canada, for more details on the operation.