Thorntons undertook a promotion whereby customers could personalise chocolate boxes using images and photographs, as well as text via the website, which provided a five-fold seasonal increase in sales over a number of weeks leading up to Valentines Day.

The promotion created an extra £90,000 in revenues and the personalised option is now chosen by nine in ten of Thorntons customers for those particular products.

The boxes were printed by Derby-based Irongate Digital and chief executive Adam Noble will outline how this was done at the event in Las Vegas.

He said that it took several years just to sell the idea to Thorntons, but that it had now proved its mettle. "It is not just about the print — it’s about adding value. The opportunity and its value proposition must be clearly defined and backed by a solid, robust solution.

"Our key partnerships with Xerox and XMPie enabled Irongate to offer our clients creative and effective ways to communicate with their customers and prospects and achieve maximum returns on their investments."