Technology, differentiation fuel Gogoprint’s steady growth

By Anushia Kandasivam December 19, 2017

Proprietary algorithmic software maximises efficiency and cost
Focus on customer experience and expansion to more markets

Technology, differentiation fuel Gogoprint’s steady growth

ONLINE printing company Gogoprint aims to solve one of the printing industry’s biggest pain points - high fixed costs and requisite order volumes, which particularly affect budget-conscious SMEs and startups.

Now one of Southeast Asia’s leading online printing companies, Gogoprint previously told Digital News Asia that it achieves this aim with its proprietary algorithmic software that manages and pools together multiple orders, and distributes the cost of printing. Parameters such as paper type, quantity, and delivery times are taken into account and aggregated into a batch of prints. This maximises the space on individual sheets.

This means that Gogoprint can process orders in a single day compared to the seven to 10 days taken by traditional printing houses. Further, it is looking to further optimise the process of preparing the artwork files that customers send for printing, to automate the correction of frequent printing mistakes.

According to co-founder and managing director Laurent De Candido, Gogoprint’s algorithm and software development is based on the concept of continuous incremental improvements.

“That’s why our algorithm today looks completely different from a year back. It is the fruit of hard work, strong collaboration between teams, and optimization-focused ingenuity. Our artwork, production, and operations teams are working closely together with our development team to continuously optimise our processes,” he says.

De Candido declined to reveal how the algorithm was built, saying that Gogoprint prefers to keep that a secret as it is one of the company’s main differentiators from its competition. He did, however, reveal that the constant refinement and optimisation of operational processes has meant that Gogoprint now consistently sustains more than 95% of in-time and early deliveries while simultaneously decimating the occurrence of printing mistakes.

This means the company is able to offer premium printing services at competitive rates, enabling SMEs and startups to print their products, such as business cards, digital/offset booklets, flyers, posters, postcards and stickers more cost-effectively.

Over the last year, Gogoprint has further developed its algorithm and processes, enabling it to raise its production efficiency, reduce wastage, and share these benefits with customers through price reductions. The company is also striving to continuously expand its product portfolio – there is an upcoming launch of banners and buntings.

De Candido says these features have fuelled Gogoprint’s success despite a general slowdown in the Malaysian printing industry.

“We are experiencing strong and steady growth in all of our markets. This highlights our successful differentiation from traditional printers in the industry. It shows that customers are valuing our high transparency, convenience and speed and that we are perceived as a strong and reliable partner for a huge variety of businesses when it comes to their printing needs,” he says.

Gogoprint’s operations have been largely differentiated from their competitors from the start with the company focusing on leveraging technology to inject its business model with customer-centric values and approaches, emphasising convenience, transparency and speed for the customer.

Malaysia’s printing market is relatively saturated with limited market share and a higher volume of competitive prices offered by players, both big and small, says De Candido. Entering this industry would traditionally be considered a significant risk, but Gogoprint managed to stave off the competition by targeting key sectors that required its services – the SME and startup sectors.

“We recognise that SMEs and startups in Malaysia require a great deal of reliability, consistency, and transparency to facilitate their operations. This knowledge has enabled us to adapt our business strategies to a market where consumers operate on a fine line between managing operational cost and ensuring business profitability,” says De Candido.

“With such great competition present in the market, we recognise the need for constant innovation. Hence, the innovative solutions that we offer have allowed us to experience a considerable amount of success since our launch in Malaysia a year ago.”

Growth has exceeded expectations, he says, with an 800% customer increase and 600% increase in headcount between launching in November last year and November this year. De Candido was unable to disclose any information surrounding profitability and revenues but did share that due to the high customer acquisition rate, Gogoprint is witnessing a strong boost in orders, which is reflected in generated revenues, which increased by 1000% during this same time period.

“Our success in Malaysia is a testament to how regional expansion success can be derived from a comprehensive market understanding and strategic product positioning,” he says.

Gogoprint is also active in Thailand and Singapore and will enter the Indonesian market, which suffers from the ailments that characterise printing in Southeast Asia. De Candido revealed that the goal is to launch the website and service early next quarter using a similar, locally-based operations model as in Malaysia.

“The Indonesian market Since the company’s strong performance and fast regional expansion reflect very positive customer feedback, Gogoprint’s mission to provide affordable and convenient printing to everyone resonates stronger than ever,” says De Candido.