Many national retail businesses operate individual print environments at the store level, which leaves them without a detailed picture of their total print costs. When print support, supply and maintenance are handled independently by each store, what needs to get done gets done, but at what cost?

You see, with this method of retail print environment management, collecting data is near impossible. Headquarters is left with a stack of service and supply invoices from individual stores without any way to know if they were accurate, necessary or complete. Instead, these invoices represent costs already incurred that just need to be paid.

You’re left with inadequate data, meaning print costs are an unknown expense. But print costs don’t need to be a blind spot in your business plan. There’s a way to develop a clear picture of what’s going on in each and every individual retail print environment.

A Transparent Print Environment Matters to Retailers

When retail print environments are managed independently at the store level, there’s a lack of cumulative data to use in decision-making. This makes keeping a handle of usage and costs both as a whole and at the store level unlikely. An undermanaged retail print environment also leaves headquarters reacting only when stores are raising their hands and saying there’s a problem. Meaning actions are reactive, instead of proactive.

With a transparent print environment, retail business managment is provided with the visibility and metrics to make informed decisions. Understanding what’s going on at the store level is key for developing strategies. Whether your goal is to improve efficiency, cut waste, better understand workflow at the store level or better understand costs, a transparent retail print environment can get you there. Because the print costs outlined in individual invoices is only the beginning of understanding the true cost of retail printing. Without a full understanding of all costs, it’s hard to put control mechanisms in place. 

The Level of Transparency Managed Print Services Brings

With managed print services (MPS), we’re now able to show what the true cost of printing is for national retailers. MPS takes initial assessments on-site to capture information used to identify issues with efficiency, support and resourcing. MPS assess the number of devices on your network, how the devices are connected and what their usage statistics are.

The data collection is so comprehensive that we’re able to clearly state a business’s average monthly spend and monthly usage, by network, environment and location. Even assessing how print costs compare from location to location becomes possible, as well maintaining individual print budgets for each location. With managed print services for retail, you’ll have the visibility and resources to make informed decisions and the data to support them.