Faced with a depressed economic climate, the commercial printing sector is increasingly looking to reinvent itself by diversifying its activities. The last several years, printers have suffered a drop in demand at professional and individual level and by consequence, a heightened competition. As a result, printers must diversify from traditional printing to expand their markets by imagining new strategic directions to develop their business.

Printing large format

The visual communication market is in a period of significant expansion and represents an axis of diversification from printing. Thanks to digital printing, the large-format is accessible to printers by means of the acquisition of less expensive equipment. To conquer these new markets, printers must also develop delivery services (as in the event sector), label applicators (notably for distribution) and even connected screens.

Client interface web-to-print

With the aid of web2print, printers can set up an internet site which offers customers the possibility of ordering printed documents online (B2C), or for professionals to conduct a collaborative management of their prints (B2B). Web-to-print solutions enable printers to renew customer relations and win over a new clientele attracted by printing in an expanding customer catchment area. This improves the communication flow between printer and customer, and simplifies the buying act as well as optimising the utilisation of the production tool.

The creation of internet sites

The growth of web sites, at the centre of a customer loyalty strategy, represents a complementary service for printers. Promoting customer satisfaction, the printer therefore proposes a global communication solution: from graphic creation, to printing and to the web, by way of guidance. By offering a large range of services, this positioning offers the opportunity of strengthening the client relationship, while also increasing orders.

The adhesive

With the development of the digital rotary press, the adhesive sector has become available for traditional printeries wishing to diversify their activities. Undergoing a period of significant growth, the adhesive label market, is a perfect complement to print, and has proven itself to be quickly profitable despite necessary investments. Predicted a flourishing future, adhesives have become accessible due to technological innovations brought about by digital rotaries, which enable them to increase their productivity.

Electronic printing

Printing on industrial supports, such as NFC or RFID tags, OLED lighting, biomedical sensors, batteries, printing circuits, represents an implied diversification, to the extent where it imagines the management of the customer’s own workshop. Nonetheless, proposing printing and a segment of intelligent paper (or communicating paper) opens genuine market growth opportunities with significant value added; and all of this is linked to electronic printing’s changing technologies.

The advent of digital usage has, on the one hand, fragilised the printing sector by creating competition. Paradoxically, however, this has also assured a higher quality product, thereby stimulating productivity and competitivity, as well as diversifying the range of products. Hence, printeries, faced with their profession’s financial crisis, dispose of real opportunities to bounce back, conquer new markets and reassert the value of printing.

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