To stay ahead of today’s ever-evolving technological advancements, Agfa has developed StoreFront version 4.0, its cloud-based web-to-print solution.
The product enables print buyers to place orders online 24/7 and the new StoreFront 4.0 now features responsive stores for optimal ease of use, a ‘save for quote’ functionality for convenient pricing information and advanced packaging algorithms for cost-effective shipping.
E-commerce keeps on booming. Customers love, and often expect, products to be just a few clicks or ‘touches’ away. Print buyers are no exception, and that’s where StoreFront’s responsive web-to-print stores come in. Fully optimised to be viewed on both smaller screens (e.g. mobile devices) and large desktop monitors, store pages automatically adapt to any device for easy reading and ordering.
‘StoreFront’s responsive design minimises scrolling and zooming, and maximises the print buyer’s comfort,’ explained Andy Grant, global head of software, Agfa Graphics. ‘Even in the B2B market, we’re seeing a marked increase in the number of visitors accessing private stores using a phone or tablet. A responsive store design is not only important for increasing the conversion rate, it has also become a go/no-go criteria for business customers.’
Another addition to StoreFront 4.0 is the ‘save for quote’ functionality. It allows resellers and agencies to get instant pricing information for an entire product bundle (including shipping costs), offering more efficiency and ease of use in preparing quotes for customers.
‘Let’s say a print buyer needs a quote for priority shipping a large quantity of posters for a concert, or several different products for a promotional campaign, StoreFront swiftly displays the total cost for the entire project,’ said Grant. ‘White label shipping is a growing market in which such a feature allows printers to compete more efficiently.’
Shipping is a key part of e-commerce. In StoreFront 4.0 the shipping module is completely reworked with new packaging algorithms for the grouping of order items and for calculating the optimal number of boxes needed for shipping. A new packaging type has also been introduced for posters, banners and alike types of signage; these products can now be combined on a single packaging roll.
‘The result of these optimisations are minimal shipping costs and maximum efficiency for the print seller,’ added Grant. ‘In the competitive print market, auxiliary costs like shipping can be a deciding factor for buyers. Optimised packaging helps print service providers get an edge over the competition.’
‘StoreFront 4.0 is designed to be versatile and relies on industry standard file formats like PDF and JDF,’ Grant concluded. ‘Because support for open standards and easy integration remain key for Agfa Graphics.’
Although it was developed to work seamlessly when combined with Agfa Graphics’ Apogee Prepress v10 and Asanti v3 workflow software solutions, it is compatible with virtually any print production tool.
AGFA GRAPHICS www.agfa.com
