The Photo Create Business Direct wholesale service (www.pcbusinessdirect.com.au) is a web-based service allowing creation of short-run orders of personalised products at volume-discount wholesale prices. It uses the Whitech Imagine platform, in common with most of the larger online ordering sites in Australia. It has been in operation since October.

The new website showcases the full menu of Photo Create personalised products - from calendars and photo books to a range of 200 photo gifts - with specific suggestions to each of the target markets.

Turnaround of 2 – 3 working days is offered, with a flat rate delivery fee.

The new service is not targetted at photo retailers as it promotes wholesale prices, explained Peter Barr, sales and marketing manager, Commercial Markets, Photo Create. However, photo retailers taking a short run order for say, 20 mugs, could register and use the service.

Barr said that businesses had been particularly happy to be able to place small orders affordably.

'We do thousands of orders of ones - a large order for us would be 10!'

Photo Create is now running seven Indigo digital presses (three of which are the high capacity 7000 series models) and two Xerox iGen printers. Targetting business markets is a way to smooth out the seasonal peaks and troughs associated with consumer photo services.

Barr said that initially pro photographers, who have been made aware of this kind of service from Photo Create at the two most recent PMA shows, were the largest group of customers. He said there had been no issues with professional photographers around the quality of the products produced, which had been an initial concern.

Business Direct was also attracting fund-raisers, producing, for example a large order for calendars for the Cancer Council, and small businesses looking for promotional gifts for staff and clients.