Looking to Tap into the European Print Market? Know Where the Competition Really Is
Traditional printers across Europe face stiff competition from cheaper online print service providers—and not just for commodity print products anymore. U.S. printers hoping to enter the European market also face this daunting competition.
The printing industry in Europe is, of course, as diverse as any other market in the world. But with considerable differences in labor costs from country to country, decreasing demand for print, and thousands of small, family-owned printing companies, Europe is changing. Bernd Zipper from Beyond Print said, at the Benelux Online Print Event 18 in Brussels, that the current number of printing companies in Europe (primarily Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) is 34,000, with an expected decline to 17,000 over the next seven or eight years. You can imagine how that will affect families, employees, and business owners.
Despite the decreasing demand for print, smaller and medium sized print buyers are fully satisfied with the products that are delivered by the many online printers in Europe, and although online print gets a lot of attention from both the media and the industry, in general, these companies still account for only a relatively small percentage of the total market. However, online printers are growing and have a huge appetite to grow even more. Many traditional printing companies have for years been delivering stationery, leaflets, and brochures to local businesses, and this commodity market has been the core business for many of these traditional printers. Today, though, online printers can produce these commodity products at much lower prices, which dramatically affects the market.
Since online printers, in general, are very good at marketing, prices seem to be in free fall. The Danish printer Lasertryk has a slogan that says, “Never has print been so cheap”—and “cheap” is the word that is emphasized.
Consumers benefit from low prices, and now they’re helped by new sites like www.druckpreis.de, which offer print cost comparison services similar to the travel comparison sites most of us use. With druckpreis.de, customers can easily find and compare prices from several online printing companies, which will likely work to continue to drive down prices.
If this were only an issue for commodity products, the impact could perhaps be managed. However, what printers should bear in mind is that online printers are also looking at the more specialized print market, and now offer products like books, letterpress, and even direct mail and more complex work. So the smaller printers must start re-inventing themselves to withstand the competition and sustain a healthy business.
As I touched upon in my first feature on WhatTheyThink, "Breaking into the European Print Market" (http://whattheythink.com/r/90187), the European market can’t be seen as one big, undifferentiated market. Therefore, American printing companies thinking of getting established in Europe must take the current market into consideration.
I believe there is still a huge market for specialized products and niches; but also, that printing companies seeking to establish themselves as a supplier of commodity products should have a robust bank account to take on the competition in Europe. From what I have seen in my travels in the U.S., prices in Europe are considerably lower, and the competitive situation is tougher.
All these trends are based in a market where supply is greater than demand. This has led to a new breed of “printing” company—but what should they be called when they sell print but don’t actually produce it themselves? For now, let’s call them printers. “Hello Print” is a Dutch player whose mission is to generate high revenues within a short time period. They still have a ways to go, but they’re growing and spreading their activities to many countries in Europe. Another player is Gelato, based in Scandinavia. which already has a global reach, and with their acclaimed platform and focus on quality, even global brands are now looking into their services. As a result, Gelato’s growth has been in double digits.
These companies, regardless of whether they’re printers or facilitators, are taking advantage of a market situation which, in my opinion, boils down to the fact that traditional printers simply don’t market their services, and to some extent seem to have lost their willingness to believe in the future.
Low prices and vigorous entrepreneurship are just two of the competitive challenges Americans should consider before entering the European market—but if you have ideas on how we can expand the market, you are more than welcome!
