The print industry has been hit hard by the recent pandemic. Businesses that have closed their doors temporarily will no longer need print services. While many printers are optimistic about their future recovery, other business owners are thinking of closing their own doors for good. Learn more about how the print industry is dealing with the ongoing pandemic.
Declines in Orders
For safety purposes, many companies and organizations have stopped sending out orders to print companies altogether. These include schools that print end-of-the-year diplomas and clothing brands that print catalogs. Many companies have had to shut down their facilities due to COVID-19 concerns, so they have no workers there to process their orders.
No Changes in Sales
While some companies struggle to remain active during a pandemic, other companies continue to have steady sales. At the start of the pandemic, many businesses have had to close their doors and terminate their staff. A few months later, people were allowed to go back to work and return to shopping. Today, these printers have the same average number of customers that they had before the pandemic began. Businesses that have remained prosperous throughout the pandemic, such as banks and hospitals, still need printers to mail letters to their clients and send out direct mail advertisements.
Declining Sales
Various business magazines have surveyed commercial printers to determine the impact of COVID-19 on their sales. As predicted, most companies have reported declines up to 28% from January to April. Many printing businesses have closed their doors for good while other businesses have remained open and witnessed severely declining revenues from 21% to 49%. However, less than half of those companies have seen more than 50% in declines. This sets the average rate of declining revenue at 30%.
Limited Operations
Currently, there are many printing companies that are far from operating at their normal capacities. Only 46% are open during normal business hours with regular staff members. More of them are open at reduced capacity.
There are no easy predictions about when the economy will fully recover. Nearly half of all printing businesses in the survey are predicting a V-shaped recovery. However, the majority of them are not optimistic about a full recovery until 2021. Due to this uncertainty, only 18% of these businesses are buying new printing equipment or planning to invest in future technology.
Increasing Sales
Not surprisingly, as many as 60% of printers are taking orders for pandemic-related signage. The demand for signs about personal protective equipment has increased from 16% to 27%. Sales for floor signs are expected to rise. Most of their clients were from the healthcare, education, food and retail industries.
The 2020 pandemic has changed the face of the print industry forever. It’s too early to predict if the impact seen now will continue well into 2021 or remain permanent. While consumers are staying at home, many of them are buying advanced office printers and using digital software to create their prints. Digital technology has become more accessible to everyday computer users. Even so, professional printing services will continue to be needed by all types of businesses.
