Printawallpaper.com announces its arrival in the interior decor market

On 10 April, the company added web-to-print services to its offering by launching printawallpaper.com. The website, which has over 17 categories and over 700 sorted and tagged images, helps customers not only to visualise textured walls but also get it printed according to their wishes.

Asked about the response of the market, Arjun Nanda, managing director, Eye Candy Visuals said, "Within days of the launch, the company has already converted five jobs. I feel it's commendable as online portals take at least a month or two to gain popularity. While we were told that this model is highly effective when incorporated eyeing the B2B or corporate clients, I feel that it's the B2C market that will create ripples for us. Corporate clients will always bring in a secured flow of cash but would also pay lesser compared to a B2C customer." Nanda also added that his portal would offer B2C customers to design their wallpapers for as less as Rs 125 per sqm.

Eye Candy Visuals has three wide-format printers and a staff of 14 people who support the operations. To prove its mettle in the business, the company has already printed over 3.5 lakh sqm on its HP latex printer.

In stark contrast to several similar websites in European countries, the most fascinating part of printawallpaper.com is its shear simplicity of design and navigation. Amit Shroff, CEO of 72interactive,  the company that designed the website, said, "It took us three months to finalise the design, prepare a backend and launch the beta website. From the beginning we were sure that we wanted to create a website that offers ease of use and not a clutters environment to the users. This website is by far the most easy to navigate that we have seen in this genre."

www.printawallpaper.com offers not only to print the wallpapers but also deliver the print across Delhi NCR for free. "We are planning to increase our delivery and installation reach to other parts of the country but will only progress gradually with the plan," Nanda added. Nanda is now working on developing a digital, social and print advertising and marketing strategy for the portal. In addition, he is also in talks with several leading chain of retail stores for a tie-up.

Interior decor has emerged as a huge market for digital printing companies, and digital players like HP have been trying to penetrate the market betting on its latex printing technology. In March 2012, HP had announced its grand entry to the interior decor space with an HP supported beta portal: createyourwalls.com. However, the website today is offline due to some technical reasons.

When asked about the feasibility of the a web-to-print model for the interior decor market in India, Puneet Chadha, director – graphics solutions business, HP Imaging and Printing Group India said, “The graphics business in India has a great future and has gained wide acceptance in indoor and outdoor applications, including soft signage. We are very bullish about the interior decor market moving towards digital printing. According to a study by Global Industry Analysts, the global market for wall coverings is forecasted to reach US$26 billion by the year 2015. In terms of most promising growth potential, Asia-Pacific, led by India is the clear winner."