Unveiled on 12 September, the new site is the product of £100,000 investment and a full year of development to completely revamp the service.
As well as improved visualisation and usability for both desktop and mobile users, the website comes with the launch of a new range of wedding products and a same-day fulfilment service that sees orders made before 11am dispatched that day.
Managing director Gary White said: “This feels unbelievable – it is a great relief after a year’s work since we made our initial decision. There was nothing wrong with our old website, but we want to stay ahead of the pack and be innovative.
“I really think we are at the forefront, using our online service to serve a variety of customers from micro-businesses upwards. We are growing remarkably, and we wanted to put this new website together to really cement our position.
“One of the main features of the new ordering system is that someone ordering a booklet, for instance, can select the size they want and then our site will generate the recommended specifications. They can be accepted or edited as desired, which means the service is more accessible to those perhaps outside the industry who are unfamiliar with print buying.”
A number of new options have also been added to the site’s existing portfolio of products – with a recent “boom” in requests for US-spec comic book paper leading White to add the option.
Belfast-based Northside, the PrintWeek Awards 2017’s SME of the Year, enjoyed a slew of award wins at the latter end of last year and has spent most of 2018 priming its new website for launch.
White said that the investment in the site was a “safe bet” to keep the business growing, though no further investment plans would be made until the government’s Brexit plans had become clear – as Northside conducts trade across the border into the Republic of Ireland.
Northside Graphics now employs 53 members of staff on 1,350sqm premises and is anticipating a £1m boost in turnover to £5.5m for the end of the year. It is once again shortlisted for SME of the Year at next month’s PrintWeek Awards 2018.
