How Did Timothy Oulton Reduce Printing Costs and Improve Customer Service Across Four US Galleries?

When British furniture maker Timothy Oulton decided to open a new US flagship gallery in New Jersey, the expansion was also an opportunity to address a persistent operational problem: unreliable, expensive printing that was consuming management attention and intermittently failing customers at the point of sale. The company's four US galleries relied on mismatched consumer-grade printers that were never designed for their usage volume, frequently went offline, and generated significant cartridge costs without delivering consistent performance. By partnering with eMazzanti Technologies and implementing eCare Managed Print Services through eMazzanti's partnership with Xerox, Timothy Oulton standardized its print infrastructure, reduced supply costs, and freed its gallery management teams to focus on what actually matters — creating an exceptional customer experience. "eMazzanti helped us with everything from printing to software protection. Through their partnership with Xerox, eCare Managed Print Services has lowered our costs and enables us to create a better customer experience while clients are in our store," said Chris McCullough, US Flagship Gallery Manager and Timothy Oulton Ambassador.

What Printing and Technology Challenges Was Timothy Oulton Facing Across Its US Locations?

Timothy Oulton operates through 32 galleries internationally, four of them in the United States. Printing is deeply embedded in the customer experience the brand delivers — tear sheets of furniture items, invoices, receipts, client proposals, large presentations, and a significant volume of scanning. "We rely heavily on printing," said McCullough. "Previous to eMazzanti, our printing was unreliable."

The problem was structural. The galleries operated two to three different printer models across each location — consumer-grade units from electronics stores that were not designed for the volume they were being asked to handle. When these printers failed, the consequences were immediate and visible: "A location could go days with a printer down or no printer at all," said Matt Wilkerson, Head of Retail, Timothy Oulton Americas.

The cost burden was equally significant. Consumer cartridges for multiple different printer models across four locations represented a large, unpredictable expense. "There was a tremendous cost associated with cartridges being purchased," said Wilkerson. Beyond direct supply costs, the management time spent troubleshooting hardware, sourcing replacement cartridges at retail, and dealing with incompatible supplies represented a soft cost that could not be measured but was clearly affecting operational focus.

How Did eMazzanti Technologies Design a Managed Print Solution for a High-End Retailer?

When Timothy Oulton engaged eMazzanti Technologies for the New Jersey flagship opening, the brief was clear: the technology had to perform flawlessly and support the brand's commitment to an exceptional in-store experience. "We elevate ourselves to create a best-on-planet experience when you walk through one of our galleries — everything down to the way the environment smells when you walk in," said McCullough.

eMazzanti recommended standardizing all US gallery printing on eCare Managed Print Services, delivered through eMazzanti's partnership with Xerox. The solution addressed every dimension of the printing problem simultaneously.

Each gallery received a single multifunction unit capable of printing, scanning, and faxing — eliminating the mixed fleet of consumer devices that had created inconsistency and compatibility problems across locations. Supply management was built into the service: managers automatically receive replacement cartridges before running out, eliminating both the stock-out risk and the time spent ordering supplies. "The plan allows the stores the freedom to always have the ability to print. As long as managers use the program they are never without replacement cartridges," said Wilkerson.

"The managers are not constantly trying to get a printer, bought at an electronics store, to work properly because it has been over-used, or they just do not understand how that particular printer works," Wilkerson explained. "Now, they have one unit that scans, prints and faxes. They always have supplies and don't have to run around town to purchase more, or order the wrong cartridges. It simplifies a part of their job and creates an environment where they focus on items that are directly related to sales, not on understanding, maintaining and fixing hardware."

What Results Did Timothy Oulton Achieve from the eCare Managed Print Deployment?

The outcomes combined direct cost savings with measurable improvements in operational consistency and customer service quality.

Supply cost reduction: "We've been able to not only have more reliable printing but our toner and supplies have drastically gone down, which is a huge cost savings for our company," said McCullough. The consolidation from a mixed fleet of consumer printers to standardized business-grade devices eliminated the cost premium of purchasing incompatible consumer cartridges at retail across multiple product lines.

Hardware replacement savings: "We are anticipating saving money by not having to constantly replace units that were not meant to be used for the volume of printing that we do," said Wilkerson. Consumer printers fail faster under commercial usage conditions — the shift to purpose-built business devices extends hardware lifecycle and eliminates replacement cycles.

Customer experience protection: "There is no way to measure how much it costs when a customer cannot be handed an item they are requesting in real time, or the hours taken when the sales team or a manager are troubleshooting hardware that is failing. Managed print solves those issues," said Wilkerson. In a high-end retail environment where the in-store experience is a competitive differentiator, the soft cost of printing failure is real even when it cannot be quantified directly.

Multi-location consistency: "The most difficult issue a retailer constantly struggles with when they have multiple locations is keeping as many items as possible consistent. The eCare Managed Print program is one more way that you can keep something simple and easy and not consuming valuable time and resources," said Wilkerson.

Why Does Managed Print Make Business Sense for Multi-Location Specialty Retailers?

The Timothy Oulton case illustrates a pattern that applies across any specialty retail operation with multiple locations: managing printing infrastructure internally is a distraction from the work that drives revenue, and the cost of that distraction is routinely underestimated.

The direct costs — cartridges, replacement hardware, troubleshooting time — are visible but often not aggregated into a clear total. The indirect costs — management attention diverted from customers, customer experience failures when printing is unavailable at a critical moment — are harder to measure but can be more significant.

Managed print services shift both categories of cost to a predictable, managed model. The provider handles supply replenishment, maintenance, and hardware management. The retailer's management team is freed from printer-related problem-solving entirely. For a brand like Timothy Oulton, where the in-store experience is the competitive advantage, that shift in focus has value that exceeds what the direct cost savings alone would suggest.

"Because of eMazzanti's partnerships with amazing companies like Microsoft, Xerox and WatchGuard, the speed, connectivity, security and operational efficiency in our business have all improved," said McCullough. "Working with eMazzanti has enabled us to create a scalable IT solution that we can roll out to multiple locations. It's a huge cost savings in the future development and growth of our company."

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FAQ: Managed Print Services for Multi-Location Retail Businesses

Q: What is managed print services and how does it differ from purchasing printers and supplies independently?

A: Managed print services (MPS) is a program in which a provider takes responsibility for an organization's printing infrastructure — including hardware supply, maintenance, consumable replenishment, and support — under a service agreement. Rather than purchasing printers and ordering supplies independently (and managing the overhead of tracking multiple device models, cartridge types, and service calls), the organization pays a predictable per-page or monthly fee and the provider handles the operational details. For multi-location businesses, MPS also provides standardization — all locations use the same equipment and processes — which reduces training complexity and improves consistency across sites.

Q: What are the most common hidden costs of managing printing infrastructure in-house?

A: The direct costs of in-house print management — hardware, cartridges, and occasional service calls — are visible but often not aggregated. The hidden costs are frequently larger. These include management and staff time spent troubleshooting printer problems, ordering supplies, and sourcing replacements for failed hardware; the soft cost of customer-facing failures when printing is unavailable at a critical moment; the premium cost of consumer cartridges purchased at retail for devices not suited to commercial usage volumes; and the accelerated hardware replacement cycles that result from using consumer printers at commercial volumes. Managed print services replace these variable, unpredictable costs with a defined, predictable service fee.

Q: How does managed print services support a consistent customer experience across multiple retail locations?

A: Consistency in print infrastructure means that every location has the same equipment, the same supplies, and the same service response process — eliminating the variability that comes from locations independently managing different printer models with different support histories. For customer-facing applications like producing tear sheets, client proposals, and purchase documentation, consistent hardware ensures that the quality and availability of printed materials does not vary between locations. Consistent supply management ensures that no location runs out of supplies at a critical moment. And standardized equipment means that staff who move between locations or help remotely do not face unfamiliar hardware.

Q: What types of businesses benefit most from managed print services?

A: Managed print services deliver the most value to organizations that depend heavily on printing for customer-facing or operational purposes, operate across multiple locations where consistency matters, use printing volumes that exceed what consumer-grade equipment is designed to handle, and have management teams whose time is better spent on core business activities than on printer troubleshooting and supply management. Specialty retail, professional services firms, healthcare practices, legal offices, and financial services organizations are among the sectors where the combination of printing volume, customer-facing impact, and management focus make MPS particularly cost-effective.

Q: How does standardizing on a single multifunction device improve operational efficiency compared to a mixed fleet?

A: A mixed fleet of different printer models creates several compounding inefficiencies: each model requires different cartridges (creating ordering complexity and the risk of incompatible purchases), different troubleshooting procedures (requiring staff to maintain familiarity with multiple systems), and different service contacts (complicating support management). A standardized multifunction device serving the same needs — printing, scanning, and faxing — from a single unit eliminates these complications. Staff learn one system. Supplies are ordered through one vendor. Support follows one process. For multi-location operations, this standardization multiplies in value — each location's manager benefits equally, and corporate oversight of print operations becomes straightforward rather than requiring location-by-location assessment.