How 7-Eleven Cut Print Costs by 30% and Streamlined Training Across Five Teams with Mimeo

CHALLENGE

Dave Lyman is a Learning Program Manager at 7-Eleven where he oversees print materials for the company’s learning and development team. Today, 7-Eleven works with Mimeo across Mimeo Print and Mimeo Marketplace, with five internal teams ordering materials directly.

Before Mimeo, getting anything printed meant emailing a vendor rep and waiting days for a response, then negotiating any changes to paper, color, or binding one email at a time.

“We were struggling with having to email a rep, wait to get it back, and then squeeze out alternatives,” Dave said. “What if we went with lighter paper? What if we changed the binding? That back and forth would go on for multiple days.”

On top of the slow turnaround, color consistency and pricing were unpredictable from one job to the next.

HOW MIMEO HELPED

7-Eleven now builds and orders print materials directly through Mimeo's online builder, setting binding, paper stock, and other specs and getting a real-time quote before placing an order. The builder has also become a planning tool, letting the team price out a new project before committing to it instead of waiting a week for a quote that might come back far higher than expected.

As more teams at 7-Eleven needed print support, they were set up with their own Mimeo access instead of someone ordering on their behalf, including a Mimeo Marketplace that lets area leaders order materials for their stores directly. Onboarding new teams to Mimeo Marketplace has been simple, according to Dave. "If you can online shop, you can pretty much do it."

The difference showed up most clearly under pressure. Ahead of an annual conference with 3,000 to 6,000 attendees, 7-Eleven asked Mimeo how much lead time they'd need to print 3,000 to 5,000 books. The answer was seven business days. Compared to their old print vendor that needed up to six weeks, the team suddenly had far more flexibility to plan around tight deadlines instead of building their timeline around a print schedule.

THE RESULT

Mimeo replaced a slow, back and forth print process with one the team manages themselves, and gave other teams across 7-Eleven that same self-service ability. Five internal teams now order print materials and manage their own Marketplaces, and more than 10,000 documents have been ordered through Mimeo through Q3.

The switch cut 7-Eleven's overall print costs by roughly 30%, with some individual projects reaching close to 40%, and delivered more than $100,000 in savings within the first six months alone. The cost savings from bringing Mimeo on board were significant enough to earn a company award. Just as important, rush orders that once took weeks of back and forth now ship in as few as seven business days.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mimeo removed the inconsistent pricing and administrative bottleneck that came with every print job, freeing 7-Eleven's teams to say yes to last-minute requests with confidence instead of scrambling. When timelines get tight, 7-Eleven knows it can deliver.

Key Takeaways

Switching to Mimeo cut 7-Eleven's overall print costs by roughly 30%, with some projects saving closer to 40%
The first six months alone delivered more than $100,000 in savings
The cost savings from bringing Mimeo on board were significant enough to earn a company award
Mimeo's online builder gives teams real-time quotes, so they can price out a project before committing to it
Mimeo Marketplaces now let 5 different teams, including area leaders ordering by credit card, manage their own print needs
Rush print requests that once took six weeks now ship in as few as seven business days
More than 10,000 documents have been ordered through Mimeo through Q3

7-Eleven is a global convenience retail chain, with corporate, franchise, and in-store teams that rely on printed training and operational materials to support thousands of locations.

Visit 7-eleven.com