The future of print buying: how Hudson Printing gives customers instant quotes with AI Estimator

For Hudson Printing, a US-based commercial printer known for quality, the challenge wasn’t print production — it was speed to market.

Customers increasingly expected instant answers. Yet quoting remained slow, manual, and frustrating. CEO Paul knew something had to change.

Traditionally, Hudson’s quotes could take hours to prepare. For buyers used to ecommerce experiences, that felt like an eternity.

• Prospects often sent specs to multiple PSPs.

• By the time Hudson replied, a competitor had already won the order.

• Sales teams felt trapped in admin rather than focused on growth.

The bottleneck was damaging both customer experience and conversion rates.

Hudson Printing adopted Gelato’s AI Estimator to bring quoting into the modern age.

• Internally, the team slashed quoting time from hours to minutes.

• Externally, Hudson embedded Estimator directly on its website. Now, buyers could describe their jobs and receive instant, validated quotes 24/7.

• Sales staff were freed to focus on complex and high-value accounts.

• 65% reduction in human quoting effort — freeing teams to focus on growth.

• Quotes in <5 minutes instead of hours.

• Higher win rates by being the first to respond.

• Always-on quoting: Website became a 24/7 sales channel.

• Customer experience upgrade: Buyers described Hudson as more modern, responsive, and easier to work with.

Hudson Printing didn’t just make estimation faster — it transformed quoting into a growth engine. For Paul, AI Estimator is more than automation. It’s a way to give buyers what they want: speed, simplicity, and confidence.