VISTAPRINT IS BUYING A SECOND DUTCH printer, People & Print, to add to Albumprinter it bought three years ago. While that acquisition took the rapidly expanding internet print company into photo books, Print & People is aimed at taking the business stationery printer into higher value bespoke products.
Print & People already operates through six online websites, targeting business to business markets in the Netherlands and Belgium and specialising in digital and large format work. It handles 1,600 orders a day, from a 600m2 factory in Deventer where there are 200 employees. The company places huge emphasis on customer service, an area that Vistaprint has been looking to improve.
INITIALLY VISTAPRINT WILL RETAIN the People & print brand as distinct from the core business and will support plans to expand its footprint across Europe. People & Print has for example been looking for country managers in the UK, Spain and Germany. Over what Vistaprint calls “a multi year period” there will be some mingling of the product lines to enable both to offer an expanded range of products.
Robert Keane, president and CEO of Vistaprint says: “People & Print Group has built a model that focuses primarily on small businesses, but through a higher touch approach that addresses customers with more sophisticated marketing and design needs. The small business market is large and fragmented. Different customer segments have varied needs, and we view the addition of People & Print Group to our portfolio of companies as a way for Vistaprint to enhance its ability to serve customers outside of Vistaprint’s target customers.”
IN SHORT WHILE VISTAPRINT, and most others like it, has focused on micro businesses and direct to consumer print until now, it is looking to expand into the heartland of the commercial print market.
People & Print was founded in 2005 by CEO Marco Aarnink and a fellow student as part of a project, growing to become the largest internet printer in Holland. The deal will enable its rapid growth to continue. He says: “This combination should enable us to even better serve a growing group of satisfied customers, as we believe Vistaprint’s scale, financial strength, technology and manufacturing expertise will help People & Print Group take our offering to the next level.”
THE FIGURES BEHIND VISTAPRINT remain eye watering. In the second quarter of its financial year, it generated sales of $370.8 million, with a gross margin of 67.4% and directing $24.6 million to capital expenditure. However, growth rates in Europe, accounting for more than a third of sales, have remained lower than those in the US which drives 60% of revenue.
