Sandeep Behl is the Co-founder and CEO of online webtoprint startup Printland.in; He has previously served as - Global Head - Customer Service, Enterprise Services and Board Member - Airtel Enterprise Business at Bharti Airtel Limited and Business Head - Enterprise Support, Global Delivery at Hewlett-Packard.
In an exclusive interaction with India Digital Review, Sandeep talks about the recent funding round raised by his company, the transforming digital printing market in the country and its future plans.
What are the services offered by Printland to small businesses / entrepreneurs and how affordable are these services?
Printland.in provides business printing solutions to SME businesses and Corporate which include business cards, documents, letterheads, envelops, flyers, pamphlets etc. It also specializes in corporate merchandising, corporate gifts and customized gifts. We have identified a huge gap in India: Lack of a printing company which can offer affordable, high-quality products for small and micro businesses all across the country, many of whom live in their tier of 3 and 4 cities where such customizable products and services are not available. Most of these, more than 10 million SME (small and medium size) and micro businesses spread across India have to spend disproportionate time, energy and money to get various types of printing products. Additionally, they have to approach set of design firms to get their files designed.
The printing business in India is still an ‘old-economy’ business with 250,000 printing presses/ shops, most of which are family run businesses with no focus on Customer needs, Marketing needs and Retail requirements. None of these printing presses is a customer facing organization or a recognizable brand or offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ experience.
Printland, through its business innovations and smart integration of various technologies, primarily web-2-print, is making ordering business printing and merchandise a delight for SME, retail and corporate customers which not only saves them precious time but reduces costs as well.
What is the USP of your offerings?
We believe that our USP is the online studio and readymade templates where customers can easily design / edit and order products. Thus, they save time and money that they would pay to the designers.
You have just raised Rs 5 cr from SIDBI, how do you plan to utilize the funds?
The funds raised will be used for expansion in global markets and acquiring specialized equipments of international standards.
How many orders are you clocking monthly?
We are clocking about 10,000 orders monthly.
What is the average transaction size at Printland?
It is confidential as of now.
What are the challenges you have faced while reaching to new age SME's
Reaching new age SMEs is not a problem. It’s the traditional SME based in tier 3 / 4 cities where awareness is limited and more product trials are needed.
What is the guarantee that the order generated through the platform will reach to the user on time and what is the procedure of tracking the order?
The production and delivery times are mentioned on the product pages. The shipments are couriered with best logistics companies in India and customers can track it using online POD numbers. The number of complaints in this regard is insignificant.
When so you see the venture breaking-even?
It is already break-even.
Out of the bouquet of services you offer, which is the most popular?
The Business printing is the largest business segment of Printland followed by corporate merchandise in revenue terms. We have launched a huge variety of Customized Products that caters to both the social as well as corporate gifting segment. Greeting Cards, Photo Mugs, Posters, Collages, Photo Prints, Picture Puzzles, Photo Rocks, Sippers, phone covers, laptops skins, Laptop sleeves, Canvas Printing and many more to explore.
To add to this for the SME’s, Retailers and the Corporate Customers there is a wide range of promotional products and business stationery products as well. Business Card Holders, Key Chains, Pens, Ceramic Plates, Wall Clocks, Organizers, Letterheads, Envelopes, Certificates, Invitation Cards, ID Cards etc.
How many clients do you have?
Currently, we have 30,000 clients, which includes corporate and SME customers.
Who do you consider as your strongest competitor and how do you plan to overtake them?
The market size is huge ($20 billion) and has the capacity to absorb at least 10 companies of each with revenues of 500 crores+. The web2print market in USA is already at 30% of local $ 1 trillion, while India is still in nascent stage. The stage of competing is yet to come as all players will continue to create this market for next 4 -5 years through their unique business models.
Please share with us your future plans.
We aim to grow aggressively, expand margins by going overseas and create best technology for the customer.
