Printful opens fulfilment center in the UK

Printful, a printing and fulfilment service from Latvia, is opening a fulfilment center in the United Kingdom. The branch will be operational by the end of this year. The company also has plans for a new facility in Poland, amounting to a total of five European branches.

Printful, which launched in 2013, is known for its custom printed products and fulfilment services. The dropshipping supplier does most of the legwork for merchants, from printing to storage and delivery. Printful offers integrations with the biggest ecommerce software brands, such as Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce and Wix.

British launch

The Latvian company is already active in the United States, Canada and Europe. Three of Printful’s branches are currently in Europe: two locations in Latvia and one in Barcelona, Spain. Now the United Kingdom can be added to that list, as well as a new branch in Poland in the near future.

‘We chose the UK because it’s the largest ecommerce market in Europe.’

Why did Printful choose the United Kingdom as their next European market? Market Manager Davis Vasilevskis: “We chose the United Kingdom as our next location because it’s the largest ecommerce market in Europe.” Additionally, the company wants to serve their growing British customer base, the manager says: “Printful has a loyal and growing base of customers in the United Kingdom who have anticipated our expansion for a while and we’re thrilled to finally do it.”

The manager has high hopes for the British market: “We predict that the United Kingdom will become the second largest market for Printful in the long run.”

Faster shipping

Printful’s entry into the United Kingdom allows the company faster shipping: delivery within the country will now take up to 2 business days. Previously, the delivery time in the United Kingdom was around 6 business days – a significant improvement.

Delivery within the country will now take up to 2 days.

Brexit was not a reason to hold off on their launch, according to manager Vasilevskis: “Brexit imposes duties and customs for international shipments to the United Kingdom. Having an in-house facility actually helps with this.” Besides, adds the manager, the potential for the country to be their second biggest market would have outweighed any other grievances.

90,000 square feet for 50 employees

The new British fulfilment center is located in Wolverhampton and will take up approximately 90,000 square feet. It will create 50 jobs during its first year, according to Printful. The company invested around 3 million euros in the new facility.

Printful invested around 3 million euros in the new facility.

Initially the new fulfilment location will mostly provide services like direct-to-garment, embroidery and printing home and living items. But that is only for the early stages of operation, says the Market Manager: “The fulfilment center will offer the same products as elsewhere, so people can add and sell the same products across the world.”

Over 170 million euros revenue in 2020

In 2020 Printful generated over 170 million euros in revenue, and the platform counts more than 375 active customers. Every month the dropshipper fulfills over 1 million items. Printful is also known as the first Latvian startup to reach unicorn status. The company was valued at over 870 million euros earlier this year.