Market research firm announces new study aiming to gain insight into wide-format customers.
The study, Who Buys Wide-Format Printing?, will be conducted by InfoTrends to “uncover key market trends driving demand for digital wide-format printing, application growth, and technology investment in Western Europe and the US”; and will consist of surveys and interviews with purchasers of wide-format graphics as well as providers of digital wide-format printing and services.
InfoTrends stated that by understanding key trends and demands in wide-format buyer and provider markets, it will help in developing innovative products and services using wide-format printing devices; noting that “sign and display graphics are an integral part of the communication mix and represent a major opportunity for print service providers and digital wide-format equipment and product suppliers”.
As buyers of wide-format graphics cover a range of vertical industries with differing needs, InfoTrends explained that the study will “evaluate trends and opportunities in five vertical industries”. It will also “assess key demands of wide-format providers, including commercial printers, sign shops, in-house printing operations, screen printers, reprographic shops, and copy shops”.
In terms of what the study’s aims to achieve, the main objectives will be to identify market forces driving demand for wide-format graphic applications; wide format pricing trends, wide-format buyers’ criteria for selecting providers; the impact of online ordering on wide-format applications; top purchasing criteria for purchasing devices and selecting wide-format providers, such as turnaround times, run lengths, applications, sizes, substrates; the role of wide-format graphics in a cross-media world and the implications of digital signage; and products and services that providers require from equipment and supplies manufacturers in order to grow their wide-format businesses.
InfoTrends stated that it is hoped the study “will provide manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors of wide-format equipment and technologies, as well as providers of wide-format graphics, with critical strategic insights for developing go-to-market strategies”.