The Canon ME 2020 Print Trade Market Examine revealed that the print {industry} is at a turning level, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the necessity for print service suppliers to remodel their objectives and working mannequin and search new methods to diversify their choices. .
Canon Center East (CME) revealed the outcomes of the examine throughout a latest webinar. The examine acknowledges the various views between firms and print service suppliers on the evolution of the {industry}, significantly with regard to sustainable printing options, and goals to ascertain a more in-depth dialogue on this subject between each teams. It additionally supplies an in-depth take a look at the alternatives, challenges and newest market developments within the area throughout COVID-19, particularly within the GCC international locations.
The industry-first examine additionally helps print service suppliers seeking to implement an knowledgeable and sustainable enterprise technique based mostly on the calls for of their prospects in a post-COVID world.
Shadi Bakhour, B2B Enterprise Unit Director, Canon Center East, mentioned: “With the onset of the pandemic and the lockdown, we knew there can be an influence on print. There was already change in movement with the pure development led to by digital developments and new print sectors rising, however we imagine that change was accelerated by COVID-19 and set the {industry} on a path the place transformation was now a should . Our goal is to assist the printing {industry} within the area, and conducting the Canon ME Printing Trade 2020 market examine early permits corporations and stakeholders within the sector to make sound strategic selections and capitalize on the alternatives that are actually out there based mostly on these new insights. .”
The examine was carried out between June 2020 and the primary week of July 2020 with print service suppliers in addition to corporates within the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the Levant.
Among the many international locations surveyed, there was a consensus amongst {industry} stakeholders that enterprise alternatives will predominantly grow to be out there in KSA and the UAE as the highest two progress markets because the area progresses by means of the restoration section. 
The examine additionally highlighted the opposing views between print corporations and firms on sustainability. Whereas 53% of corporations are transitioning to sustainable printing options within the coming months, 40% of printing corporations imagine that value is a serious concern and haven’t but invested in sustainable merchandise to satisfy the rising demand.
With environmental rules being enacted globally, and the pandemic rising stress on governments and companies to observe sustainable enterprise practices, print service suppliers will finally have to put money into sustainable expertise if they’re to stay aggressive within the market. This attitude presents a possibility to bridge the hole between printing corporations and their prospects within the fast future.
Among the challenges cited by print service suppliers embrace minimal financing choices or unstable provide and demand developments. Nonetheless, solely 21% see digitization as a serious problem, indicating that the {industry} has already embraced this development, with most print service suppliers agreeing that cloud-enabled digital workflow companies have been already including worth to the workflow their common work.
This details about declining print volumes and the transition to digital options is matched by the numerous variety of print service suppliers (64%) indicating that they plan to diversify their print enterprise into new print areas – with 30% planning to put money into U.S. digital machines within the close to future to realize this aim and meet buyer calls for for shorter runs.
From a print perspective, the examine highlights that firms are seeing a decline in workplace printing, significantly with the rise of residence working schemes, with 35% seeing a shift to digital as inevitable. A majority, 69 %, additionally agree that print will proceed for use for vital firm or product bulletins.
That is additionally true of offline media, the place 52 % noticed that conventional print advertising and marketing materials, whereas nonetheless related, shall be optimized and used on a case-by-case foundation, with advertising and marketing {dollars} shifting to on-line and extra targeted on the brief time period on demand. print. One other spotlight of the examine is that the packaging and label sectors have seen a rise in demand as a result of enhance in e-commerce exercise. Then again, large format graphics, business printing, in addition to digital sheetfed printing are different areas that may bounce again fairly rapidly after COVID-19.
“There are various takeaways from the 2020 Canon ME Printing Trade Market Examine; nonetheless, I believe the primary level is that whereas the amount and quantity of print is lowering, the brand new position of print will grow to be extra targeted and used extra intelligently. With the transition to digital applied sciences and the demand for extra sturdy merchandise, print service suppliers are at some extent the place they should adapt their enterprise to handle these market developments and guarantee enterprise continuity,” mentioned Bakhour.
