Vistaprint 2008 Annual Report Download - page 18

volume, offset, professional quality printing presses. Products produced in smaller quantities or using
special materials, such as holiday cards, invitations, return address labels, and magnets, are typically
produced on digital equipment, although we may print as few as 50 of a given product on offset
presses. In most cases, individual orders from multiple customers are aggregated to create larger jobs,
allowing multiple orders to be simultaneously produced.
Our proprietary Viper software and sophisticated automation and software from our suppliers
combine to integrate and automate the printing process. This includes:
‰the pre-press process, during which digital files are transferred directly from our computer
servers to the print plate creation system at the appropriate printing facility, or, in the case of
digital production, directly to the printing press;
‰automatic plate loading systems that eliminate all manual steps other than a quick ‘toaster like’
insertion and removal of plates;
‰automatic ink key setting whereby ink fountain keys, which control color application, are set
automatically from an analysis of the pixelized data used to image plates; and
‰automated color management, which adjusts digital images prior to printing, assuring that
colors match when processed across different printing presses and substrates.
Once printed, individual paper product orders are separated using computerized cutting systems,
assembled, packaged, addressed using VistaPrint’s proprietary Viper software, and shipped to the
customer. Viper processes then communicate electronically with shipping carriers, assuring smooth
tracking and information flow to the customer until final confirmation of delivery.
Requiring as little as 60 seconds of pre-press, printing and cutting labor for a typical order of 250
business cards, versus an hour or more for traditional printers, this process enables us to print many
high quality customized orders using a fraction of the labor of typical traditional printers. Our quality
control systems are designed around the principles of world class manufacturing to ensure that we
consistently deliver premium, high quality products.
We utilize raw materials in the manufacturing process for certain of our products. These raw
materials consist primarily of various types of paper stock, printing plates, T-shirts, hats, pens, rubber
stamp casings and packing boxes.
Sales and Marketing
We employ sophisticated direct marketing technologies and management practices to acquire our
customers using the Internet, e-mail, and traditional direct marketing mailings. Through channels such
as our own permission-based outbound emails and direct URL type-in, we are able to secure orders at
low costs. In addition, many of the products that we offer our customers contain the VistaPrint logo and
reference our website. Our products, by their nature, are purchased by our customers for the purpose
of being further distributed to business or personal contacts. As such, the appearance of our brand on
the products yields broad and ongoing distribution and visibility of our brand and presents the
opportunity for beneficial viral and word-of-mouth advertising.
We have developed tools and techniques for measuring the result of each provider of direct
marketing services and of each marketing message or product or service offer. In addition, our
customer split-run testing technology allows us to divide prospective or returning customers visiting our
websites into sub-groups that are presented with different product and service selections, prices and/or
marketing messages. This allows us to test or introduce new products and services on a limited basis,
test various price points on products and services or test different marketing messages related to
product or service offerings.
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