The first results of the ‘Drupa Global Insights’ report on ‘The Impact of the Internet on Print – the digital flood’ are now available and illustrate how many Internet-enabled tools such as Web-to-print, variable data printing, interactive print such as augmented reality and QR codes and smart technologies such as printed electronics, will impact on most areas of the printing industry. The full study will be available in October.
This spring 2014, around 1,100 executives from the printing industry took part in online survey. Werner Dornscheidt, president and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, said of the subsequent report: “With its detailed analysis of the global markets and the overview of current trends, this is an important contribution to strategic decisions that need to be taken by printers and suppliers alike.
First indications are that ecommerce is growing in most global regions at rapid rates and printers are having to play catch-up, for whilst 51% of the survey panel had Web-to-print services, only 14% reported it transacted more than 25% of their orders.
The customised large-scale production of digital print articles is catching on however. 72% of all questioned commercial printers worldwide offer variable data printing services; in the US its proportion is even higher (87%).
While the proportion of variable pages remains small, 56% of participants reported moderate or fast growth. Increasing numbers of commercial printers offer a wide range of print products that can be both sold on the Web and personalised.
Interactivity is the watchword as print customers are realising the power of communicating via the Internet and mobile technologies directly with their target audiences on a 1-2-1 basis. Cross-media campaigns, with data acquisition/analysis and the use of several channels (e.g. PURLs, Email, SMS) are increasingly demanded by customers. The range of applied technologies includes QR codes, other smart-print options, augmented reality and near-field communication. One third of the Drupa panel of experts already offers interactive print of one form or another, i.e. interactive response elements in publications, business communications, advertisements, packaging and outdoor advertisements.
As was to be expected, there are major regional differences: in the US 44% of printing companies which took part in the survey offer interactive printing, but only 3% of providers in the Middle East. A substantial proportion of Drupa panel members from the packaging sector also use Internet-based tools. 50% use QR codes, 43% use variable content, and 41% of all packaging printers that took part in the survey offer personalised print.
This first Drupa Global Insight report is based on a very detailed survey covering a wide range of topics assessing the impact of the Internet on print. The survey dealt with many other issues such as CRM, Digital Asset Management and ‘Big Data’, as well as the automation of workflows, and the need for companies to have better IT skills.
It investigated how the increasing digitisation of communications is affecting the demand for conventional print and the demand for different print substrates (paper, board, film, metal or glass)?