The Ways Print Exists in Stores

Print products can take a few forms in your programs. Each with their own benefits and drawbacks.

Pre-Printed Inventory: This is the most straightforward method for including print products in your program. Pre-printed items are produced in bulk and stored for later release by your fulfillment team, managed like any other promotional or apparel item.



Printing in large quantities typically results in the lowest price per piece. These items can be released in small quantities and quickly received by customers when needed urgently. Suitable products for inventory include presentation folders, posters, or any high-usage items with stable artwork.


While easy to introduce, pre-printed inventory has drawbacks. It requires upfront costs, may need to be discarded if there are design changes or rebranding, and requires storage, which can add additional costs.

Static Print-on-Demand: Here the term 'static' refers to the artwork of a printed item that does not include areas of customization. This can include almost any printed product – sales sheets, posters, door hangers, table tents, etc. By 'Print-on-Demand' we simply mean the item is not on the shelf and ready to ship, but rather, upon ordering, the product is produced, often with a minimum order quantity requirement.




Customers may prefer print-on-demand because it does not require upfront costs or storage, reducing the risk of wasted inventory. This method allows you to offer a broader product catalog without the need to stock every item. However, customers must meet MOQ requirements and pay more for smaller quantities. They will also experience longer wait times as items are printed and shipped. Additionally, you will need efficient back-office processes to manage and account for these orders.

Variable Data Print-on-Demand (VDP): These customizable items (e.g., business cards) are printed on demand, providing value through personalization. The pros and cons are similar to static print-on-demand but require an e-commerce platform capable of handling customization.

Liftoff allows you to set up vendors at the account (store) level or the subscriber level. This means the vendor is available either exclusively to the account you set it up under or globally, to all accounts. Which you set up is largely up to you and can be based on how your company and operations are structured. That said, whether you set up an account vendor or subscriber vendor, the process is largely the same. For this example, we'll set up an account-level vendor by navigating to our account and then Products > Vendors and clicking on the blue Add Vendor button.

This provides you with a brief form to fill out. Again, how you use Liftoff and operate your company will determine how much of this form you fill out. But at the very least, you must provide the vendor name and Address. What name you provide the vendor is up to you, but I like to include the vendor's name and then an indication of what account the vendor is servicing. Here's how I'd set up a BCSI integration for an account called Pilot Playground.

When you click the Save button, the page will reload with a number of new tabs. We won't go through each of these, but if you're curious, the Liftoff documentation is a helpful reference.

We will concern ourselves with the Locations tab, though. If you click it, you will find that the address you provided in the previous step has been used to create the vendor's first location. You can think of these locations as the vendor's distribution centers. Click the blue Edit button next to the location that has been set up already.

You will now see a new tab called Integration. It's important to remember that each location has its own discreet integration so if you're ever setting up a vendor with multiple locations, you should keep that in mind. For now, select cXML as your integration method. The page will populate with a bunch of new fields. Not all of these are required but Endpoint is particularly important. The endpoint is a supplier web address where the order information will be sent to when a product, configured with this vendor, is placed. At this point, you'll want to work with your BCSI rep to confirm the details for filling this form out, but you should expect to receive a URL for the Endpoint field at the very least.

By now, we're almost done with our initial setup. The last task is to set up a fulfillment workflow. Each product in Liftoff is assigned a fulfillment workflow. This workflow instructs Liftoff on how to handle the product once an order is placed for it. We want to create a workflow that, upon order, will send the order and product data to BCSI through our newly configured integration. Do this by navigating to Products > Fulfillment Workflows. Then click the green Add Workflow button. You are then asked to provide a name for your workflow. I like to name this in such a way that team members coming behind me can intuit what the workflow is for, in this case, printed items from BCSI. 

The Workflow Code, used in future batch jobs, is defined for you. Select your new vendor as the default and click the blue Create Workflow button. Congratulations! Doing so will take you to a page where you can configure some additional options. For now, though, you can leave these at their defaults. You now have everything in place to start configuring products to send to BCSI for fulfillment.

Product Setup

Now that your vendor and fulfillment workflow is created, it's time to configure your sales sheets product. We won't go through the entire product setup, only the parts important to your integration. First, in your product's Fulfillment tab, select the BCSI fulfillment workflow that you created as your default fulfillment workflow.

The next and final step to integrating this product with BCSI depends on what type of print product it is. If the product is a VDP product like a business card, you'll need a Pageflex template developed. We'll talk more about Pageflex in another post, but assuming a template has already been created and uploaded to Liftoff, you'll select it on the product's Specs tab. By assigning a Pageflex template to this product, when the design is customized by the end-buyer, along with the product data, BCSI will receive the print file that Pageflex generates for the order.

On the other hand, if your product has a static design, then you can simply upload your print-ready artwork file to the product's Product Files on the same Specs tab. This file will be sent to BCSI when an order is placed for this product and is what will be printed. Setting up a product in this manner can be convenient for items who occasionally have their design changed. For example, if your client provides you with new artwork for this sales sheet, all you need to do is upload the new print file here and update the product's images to reflect the new design. No need to develop a new Pageflex template in this case.

Good news! Your vendor integration with BCSI and product configuration is complete. As you add additional print items to your account, you'll only need to set the fulfillment workflow and either upload a product file or set the product template. Before you make your new product available for purchase,, work with your BCSI rep to set up the product on their end and put a test order through.

By following these steps, you can efficiently integrate BCSI with Liftoff, enhancing your online company store programs with valuable print products. 

Want to know more about BCSI and their products? Inquire about becoming a distributor. Not familiar with Liftoff? Schedule a demo.

Print's not dead. In fact, Smithers expects that "Over the five years to 2028, the global value of all print and printed packaging is forecast to grow from $889.4 billion to $1.16 trillion." Holy smokes! Savvy marketers know that print is a valuable way to market to their audiences. Industry research shows that the response rate to direct-mail is 37% higher than email. 

As a promo distributor, you can expand your business by offering "ink on paper" products to both current and new clients. Becoming the one-stop-shop for clients, stabilizing revenue, and reducing risk during promo and apparel sales slumps.

The Benefits of Selling Print 

• Wider Product Range: Offering items like business cards, brochures, and sales literature can attract a broader client base. I once worked in a program that, for every dollar in promo/apparel sales, there was a dollar in print sales. Imagine how much revenue potential there is with your existing clients.
• Increased Client Retention: Provide more solutions to existing clients, encouraging them to consolidate their purchasing. Having a reliable print expert can create buyer loyalty amidst the complexities of buying and selling print.
• Higher Order Values: Adding items like custom stationery or folders can increase the average order size, especially for e-commerce programs.
• Cross-Selling Opportunities: Use occasions like rebranding or product launches to promote printed materials alongside promo and apparel.
• Healthy Margins: The idea that selling print is a low-margin activity is a myth. On average, my own print sales have had better margins than promo. An important factor to remember is that print management in a program brings great value beyond just the printed product. Brand compliance, online ordering, approval workflows, and other enterprise services tend to exist alongside these products. Those services are valuable to your buyers.

Are you up to the challenge? 

Selling printed products can be challenging for sales pros used to selling promo and apparel. What is it about selling print that can throw sales people for a loop?

• High level of customization: The level of customization that can go into a single business card is wild. When working with your client and pricing with your trade printer (supplier), you need to consider paper stock, print method, coatings, die cuts, bleeds, etc. Rarely can you or your customer point to a product, find the right column price, and then write up your order.
• Complex art requirements: If you think getting a hold of vector art from your client is difficult, wait until your printer tells you that your customer's file not only includes low-res elements, but also the ink saturation is too high in the blacks, there are no bleeds, cut lines are required, the gutter isn't wide enough, etc. While you don't need to be a professional graphic designer to sell print, it's helpful to know how to navigate these issues with your client or, at the very least, have a graphic designer nearby to lend a hand. Which, of course you will bill for – I hope.
• Mysterious pricing: Promo and apparel pricing is almost always coded. This is helpful because it helps you to understand what the going price is for a specific product. Price codes are not something you will often see in the print world and many trade printers will hesitate to tell you what you should sell their products for. Fortunately, some will display a list price on their client-friendly websites. Other direct to consumer printers publish their pricing, which can help you ensure you're in the ballpark. However, you'll find with those printers selling direct that they obfuscate or hide entirely important info like paper stock leaving you to make some guesses.
• Variable data printing: The world of variable data printing is worth an article or two itself. Users use VDP to customize print items like business cards. For example, your customer may be ordering business cards for their department. VDP is how all those names and phone numbers get onto the design template. Stay tuned to PromoPilot for some specific content around this concept. For now, just know that there are service providers in the industry who can help you with this.

Navigating the above complexities is well worth the effort. By investing the time in understanding these concepts, you are investing in a whole new world of sales opportunities. Luckily, there are resources aplenty to help you get started.

Next Steps for Promo Distributors   

Connect with Trade Printers

Trade Printers (your print suppliers) are eager to help you begin your print journey! Lean on them for sample packs, swatch books, and basic print education to get you started. Find your rep and invite them to join you on client calls to help determine specs or explain capabilities for a project. If you're unsure of where to look for such supplier partners, I can enthusiastically recommend BCSI and Navitor.

Industry Membership

Consider joining an organization like the Printing United Alliance. Like PPAI and ASI, the Alliance is a source for finding suppliers, educational resources, industry designations, and more. If the Alliance sounds familiar, you might have seen this very exciting announcement from them and ASI.

I sincerely hope that you've found this article inspiring and helpful. Encouraging a salesperson to try print excites me immensely for their distributorship and personal growth! If you're not subscribed to PromoPilot's blog or socials, please consider doing so. I plan on posting more about print and how to operate successful programs soon!