Web to Print in The Netherlands: A Beginning of Something Big?

Web-to-Print - a remote publishing service or print e-commerce has risen to stardom in no time and is now a booming business almost all over the globe. The Netherlands is one among such countries where web-to-print is in demand, and today, in this blog, we will get into the details of how web-to-print is growing and what the future holds for it in the Netherlands. 

The Netherlands

Known for a flat landscape of canals, tulip fields, windmills, and cycling routes, the Netherlands - a country in northwestern Europe, is on the rise in terms of economy in the past few years. The industrial sector in the Netherlands is flourishing, and people are adapting to new technologies and the latest methods to stay in the global market. Like any other nation, the Netherlands is also blessed with myriad industries, and it is known to be one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural and food products. Other than that, the Netherlands has everything from electronics, chemicals, tourism, banking, service, energy, and the one that is in talks right now - the print industry. 

The Print Sector & Its Revolution 

The Dutch have been in the printing business since forever. Over time, the Netherlands too began experiencing a significant change in the print sector when new technologies entered the market and when digital printing came into action, there was no stopping for the people of the Netherlands. Print is a daily and basic necessity for both commercial and individual purposes for the Dutch, and so, began the revolution of the print industry when the Dutch were introduced to the latest print technology - Web2Print. Today, the print industry in the Netherlands is valued at €3.3bn and is ranked 6th in Europe in 2021 (of 26 total EU countries) that may become threefold in the coming years. 

The printing needs for the Dutch have been increasing ever since they were introduced to digital printing. From the demand for printers, consumables such as inks, make-ups, and cleaning solutions, to printed products such as t-shirts, banners, signboards, business cards, etc., the print segment in the Netherlands is on the pathway to constant growth which has given a significant boost to their economy as well. In fact, the 3D printing technique has been adopted by various major industries in the Netherlands such as agri-food, logistics, and life sciences. 

Rise of eCommerce in the Netherlands 

E-commerce in the Netherlands has been experiencing a sharp rise in terms of sales with the change in people's behavior as they started finding online shopping more convenient and easier than offline ones, due to which, the Netherlands was able to achieve the fifth position among other countries in Europe in terms of using online retail in 2019 and the Dutch e-commerce industry was valued at 26.6 billion euros in 2020 with almost 335 million online orders or purchases.

How Web-to-Print Impacted the Netherlands Print Industry and its People?

Not just the businesses, people of Netherlands are in need of printed products every now and then to achieve a wide range of marketing goals be it for their home business, invitation, promotion, announcement, etc. Since with web-to-print services it became easier for anyone to take their marketing far beyond their local geographic area, from the general public to giant business players, each and every individual began taking interest in the web-to-print services that led to the sudden boom of the print industry in the Netherlands. 

You might be wondering why the Dutch have begun to use printing services so much all of a sudden. Well, it is not so sudden because printing needs were already high in the Netherlands but with web-to-print services when the cost of owning and maintaining printing hardware got cut off, the time and energy spent on creating different prints got saved, both people and businesses began to adopt to web-to-print technology in no time. 

And after all, who doesn’t love personalization? The Dutch are still very much into culture and tradition and hence exchange personalized gifts during festivities and occasions and so the demand for personalized printed products has never seen a decline in the Netherlands which is the reason why W2P is a success over there. 

The Future of Web-to-Print Business in the Netherlands 

When the present print industry in the Netherlands is already a success, it is evident that the future too is going to be even brighter because of the ease, convenience, and benefits the web-to-print service is providing to its users. 

The marketing needs are never ending, and with digitalization all over the globe, it has become a necessity to adapt to the latest technologies in order to survive the competitive world and hence, the Dutch are taking a pretty serious interest in marketing, and so, the need for business cards, brochures, printed stationery, sign boards, posters, greeting cards, etc., are much higher than before. Therefore, for anyone thinking to establish a web-to-print service in the Netherlands for commercial printing, wide-format printing, photo products, custom products, etc., it is definitely a fruitful period to invest. 

How Can Design’N’Buy Help? 

Print software by Design’N’Buy is used by online printing shops in over 80+ countries and the Netherlands is one of them. Powered by the latest technologies, the design tools of Design'N'Buy are built with HTML5 and JavaScript (NO FLASH) and fully web and mobile responsive. Not only that, we are open to customization and hence even tailor our solutions to meet our clients’ business needs. So, whether you want to scale your existing business without switching your solution or start small and add new modules as your business grows, our dedicated support team at [email protected] is happy to help you with anything you want.