February 2008

Streamlining marketing collateral
Print manufacturer develops award-winning online
ordering process for gas retailer. By Owen Sagness

Bolder Graphics (BG), a 40 year-old print manufacturing firm based in Calgary, provides clients with a single source for the design, production and distribution of business documents. The firm employs over sixty people who serve more than 1,400 customers. Its products and services range from basic stationery, to more complicated loose-leaf solutions, to high-end traditional commercial print and large format high definition digital printing.

One of the firm’s client organizations needed a way to streamline the ordering process for static collateral material for its 50 gas stations throughout Canada. The retail operation sought to replace a cumbersome fax-based system, which required store managers to fax orders to an order coordinator, who in turn, would then contact the vendor to fulfill the order. In addition to being difficult to manage, the process also required a manual approval process. In all, the antiquated ordering process took five- to-seven business days from order submission to fulfillment.

Streamlining the process
To resolve its client’s challenges, BG used Pageflex Storefront software to develop a sophisticated online ordering system. This new solution replaced the old fax-based one, and provided the retail gas station managers a streamlined way to manage their orders online. Managers can place orders from their stores and have the orders approved through a workflow signoff and then shipped directly to them at their respective locations. In addition, the online system provides the retailer a means of tracking and reporting on all orders placed by the individual gas station managers.

Users simply log on to the straightforward Web site and are immediately presented with a welcome page from which they can navigate to find all the products they wish to order and the requisite links to help them manage their account.

The welcome page includes a navigation bar that lists all the categories of collateral that the store manager might need, including Main Store Interior Signage, Gas Bar Exterior Signage, Pump Signage, and Payment Signage. In all, there are over 40 different signs and collateral from which the user can choose.

The store manager selects a particular category and is presented with a thumbnail and list of all the collateral in that category. To order items, the user simply enters the quantity and clicks the “Add to Cart” button located at the bottom right of the screen. The user can see a larger thumbnail of the product by placing the mouse over the smaller version of it. Users can also a see PDF preview of the item by clicking on the title.

After the user selects the desired quantity, he or she is directed to the shopping cart section. From there, they can review their order quantity and see a PDF of their purchase. Thereafter, they can either keep shopping or move to the checkout option.

When users are ready to checkout, they can enter/change their shipping address (the address is automatically pre-populated), including their store number, and any comments pertaining to the order. They can then proceed to the check out step and place their order.

Back at the welcome page, users can manage their orders by clicking on the Orders menu. Here, managers have immediate and easy access to all of their orders, including, those that are pending review, in process, completed, and where approval has been declined.

Users can also access the My Profile menu to view (and if allowed), update their name, contact and store ID numbers and address.

Finally, the My Library section of the site provides users the ability to upload graphic content if they require Bolder Graphics to store and print the material for them.

An interactive Help button is available to users throughout the purchasing process. Clicking on an icon of a first aid box allows them to access contextual online help.

An online success
Since the system was launched in late August 2008, all of the individual store managers have placed over 300 orders. The system saves four days in the ordering process. In addition, the store managers report that they now can place orders whenever they want—even after business hours—and receive a confirmation e-mail, both when the order is placed and approved.
Kevin McCoy, owner and CEO of Bolder Graphics summarizes, “The system we created gives our client an automated way to fulfill the requests from their stores and streamlines the ordering process. The end result is a system that not only saves time, but has also generated thousands of dollars in savings. We are pleased that the client has been able to gain such efficiencies, and are proud of the work that our team has accomplished.”

Award winner
Bolder Graphics was recently honored with a Pageflex Customer Innovation Award for its work with this retailer. During the awards presentation, Anna Chagnon, president and CEO of Cambridge Massachusetts-based Bitstream, (the parent company of Pageflex) noted, “We developed the Pageflex Customer Innovation Awards to highlight the innovative ways in which our customers are using Pageflex to expand their offerings and meet their clients’ needs. The work done by Bolder Graphics demonstrates what is possible when you bring together great technology with innovative ideas.”

Bolder Graphics in Calgary AB, has been providing clients with packaging and display solutions for more than 40 years. Helping customers successfully present and sell their services in retail, business-to-business, outdoor and direct strategies has made Bolder a leader in the industry. For more information about BG, visit www.boldergraphics.com. For more information about Pageflex Storefront, visit www.bitstream.com.