SilkLetter Cut Order Management Time by 70% With Web-to-Print. Here Is How.
SilkLetter had been selling custom promotional products for years. Their team was doing the design work their customers should have been doing themselves — and every order was slower for it.
70%
Faster order management
The back-and-forth between customers and the SilkLetter team — proofs, revisions, approvals — was replaced by a self-service design flow
10+ Years
Partnership with DesignNBuy
SilkLetter implemented DesignNBuy in 2011 and has continued building and growing the platform through two Magento generations
INC 500
2013 recognition
SilkLetter was named one of the fastest growing companies in America while the web-to-print platform was already in operation
Vector
Output on every order
The design tool produces a vector file directly. No rasterised upload to redraw, no manual file preparation before production
Before DesignNBuy, Every Order Needed a Designer. Now the Customer Does It.
Their Team Was Doing the Work the Platform Should Have Been Doing
SilkLetter was founded in New York in 2008 to sell personalised promotional products in bulk — branded apparel, drinkware, bags, accessories — with a focus on service and competitive pricing that set them apart in a crowded market.
A few years in, a gap became clear. Customers placing orders for custom products could not see what they were going to get until SilkLetter's team created a proof and sent it to them. That proof then went back and forth — revisions, approvals, more revisions — before an order was confirmed and production could begin.
The cost of that process was absorbed on every single order. The SilkLetter team was spending significant time creating proofs and managing communication that the customer should have been able to do themselves. The approval cycle was slowing everything down, and it was not obvious how much time was being lost until the numbers were in front of them.
There was also a second problem at the file level. When customers did supply artwork, they typically uploaded rasterised images. Before that file could go to production, someone at SilkLetter had to redraw it as a print-ready vector. That step happened on every affected order — time and cost that added up at volume.
SilkLetter needed a way for customers to design their products in real time, on the storefront, and receive output that could go directly to production. The goal was not just a better customer experience. It was removing the manual layer that was sitting between every order and the press.
Three Changes. One Automated Order Flow.
Real-Time Design on the Storefront
DesignNBuy integrated a design studio directly into SilkLetter's Magento storefront. Customers could now select a product, upload their logo, adjust colours and text, and see an accurate preview of the finished item — all in the browser, before placing an order.
The customer-facing impact was immediate. Customers no longer needed to wait for a proof to understand what they were getting. They could see it in real time, make changes themselves, and order with confidence. That experience kept them on the SilkLetter site rather than looking elsewhere.
Products now available for real-time online personalisation:
Custom Apparel
Branded t-shirts, polos, jackets, and team wear — configured with client logos, colours, and text directly on the storefront before ordering.
Branded Drinkware
Water bottles, tumblers, and mugs personalised online with client artwork and seen in an accurate preview before the order is placed.
Promotional Accessories
Bags, pens, tech accessories, and branded merchandise — customised in the browser and ordered without a proof cycle.
Self-Service That Replaced the Proof Cycle
The bigger impact was operational.
When customers could see their design in real time and place a confirmed order, the proof cycle — the back-and-forth that had been absorbing time on every job — was largely eliminated. Customers arrived at checkout having already seen and approved what they were ordering. The SilkLetter team no longer needed to create individual proofs per client for standard jobs, and the volume of revision communication dropped with it.
Hanwey Shieh, Founder and President of SilkLetter, described the scale of the change: the order management workflow sped up by 70 percent. "It reduced back and forth communication," he noted, "which I didn't know it takes that much time until I actually integrated the design solution."
Vector Output Direct to Production
The file-level problem was solved at the same time.
The design studio produces output as a vector file. When a customer completes their design and places an order, the file that arrives for production is already structured to print specifications — no redrawing, no manual conversion, no preparation step between the customer's submission and the press.
For SilkLetter, this removed a cost that had been present on every rasterised-file order. The team's time shifted away from file correction and toward production.
A Platform Built Across Two Magento Generations
SilkLetter first implemented DesignNBuy in 2011. Over a decade later, the partnership continues.
When the time came to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2, DesignNBuy managed the transition — keeping the design studio, the product catalogue, and the order workflow intact across the platform change. The business did not need to start over. The system moved with it.
Hanwey described the relationship in the webinar: "We've been working with the DesignNBuy solution for over eight years now... I'm sure our dev team really hates me emailing them almost every week on a constant basis, but I appreciate their hard work and support for all this time."
That continuity — a partner who knows the platform across its history — is part of what made the original implementation compound in value over time.
If Your Team Is Creating Proofs That Your Customers Could Be Approving Themselves, the Tool Is Not Finished.
A proof cycle that runs through email is not a process. It is a delay on every order. The question is whether the platform lets the customer see what they are getting before they order — or whether that job still falls to your team.
Your team is spending time on work the customer should do
When customers cannot see their design in real time, someone on your team has to show it to them. Creating proofs, managing revisions, chasing approvals — none of that adds margin. It absorbs it. A self-service design tool moves that work to the customer, where it belongs.
The approval cycle is hiding how much time it costs
Back-and-forth communication on orders feels like normal business. It is only when it stops that the cost becomes visible. Hanwey Shieh did not know how much time the approval process was absorbing until the design tool removed it — and the order management workflow became 70% faster.
Rasterised uploads are a hidden production cost
If your customers are uploading JPEGs and your team is redrawing them as print-ready vectors before every job, that cost is present on every order. A design tool that outputs vector files natively removes the step entirely — from intake to press without manual intervention.
Web-to-Print Is Not Just a Customer Experience Feature. It Is an Operational One.
The design tool changes what your team does all day
The visible benefit of a real-time design tool is what the customer sees. The operational benefit is what your team stops doing — creating proofs, managing revisions, converting files. When customers self-serve, your team's time moves toward production rather than pre-production.
Site stickiness is a commercial outcome, not just a metric
A customer who can design their promotional product on your site, in real time, has less reason to look elsewhere. The design tool is also the retention mechanism — it keeps the customer engaged, invested in what they have configured, and more likely to complete the order.
First-mover advantage in a digitising market matters
SilkLetter recognised early that online design tools were becoming expected in the promotional products industry. Implementing before it became standard gave them a capability advantage during the period when most competitors were still running manual proof workflows. By the time the market caught up, SilkLetter had years of operational efficiency compounding.
A long-term partner means the platform grows with the business
SilkLetter has been building on the same platform since 2011 — through a Magento 1 implementation, growth to INC 500 recognition, and a full Magento 2 migration. A partner who understands the full history of the implementation does not need to be briefed from scratch when requirements change. They already know the system.
"It sped up our order management workflow by about 70 percent. It reduced back and forth communication — which I didn't know it takes that much time until I actually integrated the design solution. The output file is a vector file, so that reduced our cost and time for our team to redraw. Now our customers upload the file or make customisations on the storefront itself."
Hanwey Shieh, Founder and President
SilkLetter
Frequently Asked Questions
SilkLetter's team was creating proofs manually for customers who could not preview their designs before ordering. Every job required back-and-forth communication — proof, revision, approval — before production could begin. In addition, customers typically uploaded rasterised image files that had to be redrawn as print-ready vectors before going to press. Both problems were costing time and resource on every order.
Customers could now design their promotional products in real time — selecting products, uploading logos, adjusting text and colours, and seeing an accurate preview before placing the order. This removed the need for the SilkLetter team to create individual proofs for standard jobs and significantly reduced the revision communication that had been absorbing time across the operation.
It refers to the time saved across the order management workflow — from intake through to production — by removing the proof cycle. When customers arrive at checkout having already seen and approved their design, the back-and-forth that previously ran between every order and production start is eliminated. The 70% figure came directly from Hanwey Shieh, Founder and President of SilkLetter.
The design studio produces output as a vector file. Previously, customers uploading rasterised images required SilkLetter's team to redraw those files as print-ready vectors before production could begin — a step that was present on every affected order. With vector output from the design tool, that step is removed. The file that comes out of the customer's session is the file that goes to production.
SilkLetter first implemented DesignNBuy in 2011 and has continued developing the platform through two major Magento generations. When SilkLetter migrated from Magento 1 to Magento 2, DesignNBuy managed the transition — preserving the design studio integration, the product catalogue, and the order workflow. The relationship is a working partnership: Hanwey Shieh described emailing the dev team almost every week, and the platform has continued to grow and adapt with the business throughout.
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If Your Order Workflow Still Depends on Your Team, It Is Not Fully Automated.
DesignNBuy builds web-to-print platforms where customers self-serve, files arrive production-ready, and your team focuses on output — not on managing orders.
