By Howie Fenton for RSA – As the new year begins, it is prudent to consider how the business may change and how to prepare for that change. One way to prepare is to stay up to date with market research from companies such as NAPCO, SGIA and Keypoint Intelligence|InfoTrends. Another way is to listen to the voice of your customers using focus groups or surveys.
Recent Research Findings
According to Andy Paparozzi, the Chief Economist at SGIA, 2019 will be a good year for companies in the printing and mailing industries. In the latest SGIA Critical Trends Reports: Commercial Printing, Winter 2019 report, Paparozzi predicts that sales in the commercial printing segment will grow between 1.5%-2.5% to $87 billion, which is an increase over the 1.7% growth in 2018. The is evidence that the applications that grow may are marketing pieces, direct mail or business cards postcards and signage.
One of the main findings of the SGIA research is that companies are diversifying their products and services. Only 34% describe themselves as a strictly a print provider. Over 47% describe themselves as offering a diverse portfolio of services and also define themselves as offering mailing services (42.6%), fulfillment services (28.2%) and marketing services (20.1%).
