Small business marketing services provider Vistaprint announced today that it was acquiring Webs, a company that specializes in providing web-based marketing tools. With this acquisition, which cost $117.5 million, Vistaprint positions itself as a well-rounded provider of both print and web-based marketing tools for small businesses.
Utilizing the ever-popular “first hit is free” strategy of marketing, Vistaprint has made a name for itself by drawing in customers with the offer of 200 free quality business cards (the customer only pays for shipping). In addition to the free business cards, Vistaprint offers a host of other affordable print/physical marketing options for small businesses. Products range from business cards to bumper stickers to pens to t-shirts to postcards and refrigerator magnets.
Webs, meanwhile, offers much the same kind of product as Vistaprint, except their focus is on web-based solutions. Webs’s customers have access to free website creation and free Facebook page creation services, with a host of premium services also available to those who need them. Services include domain names, varying storage options, and web store solutions, as well as mobile-optimized versions of every site.
Acquring Webs, then, allows Vistaprint to expand its services into web-based marketing without having to start from scratch, and should allow customers an array of solidly integrated web and print marketing solutions.