Margins in print are razor-thin. Primarily because invisible inefficiencies are quietly eroding your profit. Order by order, hour by hour. Every email. Every phone call.
A single reprint, a delayed approval, or even a manual process can cost you more than you think.
That’s where web-to-print comes in.
It’s not just about putting your services online; it’s about plugging those profit leaks now. Here are five hidden drains on your bottom line… and exactly how web-to-print not only plugs them but gets revenue flowing back into your print business.
1. Manual Proofing: A Silent Margin Killer
Manual approval workflows are productivity black holes. In a competitive market, each minute lost on the presses is money lost to the business and client trust eroded. Data reveals that many print shops lose between 30-60 minutes of production per press, per shift, due to inefficient processes.
In a competitive market, each minute lost on the presses is money lost to the business and client trust eroded.
Web-to-print solution: A digital proofing system centralizes comments, automates version control, and offers one-click approval. That means approvals happen in minutes, not days.
Fewer errors and chains in the approval process mean faster workflows and real return on investment.
2. Pre-Press Fixes Are Bleeding Profit
Inconsistent file formats, low-res artwork, and misaligned bleeds are common headaches that routinely sideline teams for unnecessary fixes.
Obviously, some jobs require more admin than others, but if you could eliminate an average of 15 minutes of checks for every job you receive, how much time would that give your team members a month to spend on more valuable tasks?
Web-to-print solution: Web-to-print platforms guide clients with branded, press-ready templates, ensuring files arrive flawless. This cuts pre-press workload significantly, so you spend more time actually printing and less time fixing.
3. Repeat Orders Still Drag You Down
It’s astonishing how repeat jobs (often the easiest wins) can require full admin effort: fresh emails, fresh proofs, fresh setups. Industry data suggests that printers lose 10–20% of annual revenue due to these inefficient workflows.
These low-margin jobs shouldn’t feel laborious—but they often are.
Web-to-print solution: A self-service reorder portal preserves specs, store favourites, and simplifies the reorder process to a few clicks. Admin hours vanish, turnaround speeds soar, and your clients notice; building loyalty and repeat business.
4. Lack of Job Visibility Wastes Time and Trust
In print, lack of transparency breeds frequent “where’s my order?” queries. Every call or email forces your team off tasks and introduces downtime. And since your profit margins are so thin, any disruption can swing the needle.
Web-to-print solution: Live dashboards update customers and your team at every stage—from submission to dispatch. That means fewer interruptions, smoother operations, and clients who trust your process. Transparency becomes your competitive advantage.
5. Asset Chaos Costs More Than You Realize
Digging through shared drives, dusty email threads, or outdated folders for logos and guidelines isn’t just tedious—it’s costly. From inconsistent branding to inappropriate and outdated information, badly managed assets can lead to costly mistakes, lost time, frustrated clients, and ruined relationships.
Web-to-print solution: A cloud-based asset library keeps client materials organized, versioned, and easy to find. Instant access ensures quality control and consistency—no more guesswork, no delays, and no risk of using the wrong assets.
Why This Matters—Urgency and ROI
It’s estimated inefficiencies in print workflows can result in 10–20% of lost revenue a year. In a sector where margins already hover around 1–3%, that’s devastating. Even a 10% improvement via automation, fewer reprints, faster approvals, and better asset management can mean a dramatic boost to your bottom line.
Companies working to improve print management have seen up to 30% reductions in costs and waste.
That kind of ROI isn’t theoretical—it’s transformative.
Stop Losing Money on Print Jobs
Manual bottlenecks, admin-heavy reorders, poor visibility, and asset chaos are quietly draining your profits. Web-to-print isn’t just a timesaver—it’s your margin saver.
Ready to regain control and improve your margins?
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To learn how Infigo could transform your workflows, download our guide Workflow Bottlenecks: The Hidden Cost in Print Operations and How to Fix Them now.
