2023 Top 100 Print Buyers Report Shows Top Vertical Markets for Printing, Leading Print Buyers

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) continues to make headlines for its ongoing rate increases and slowing delivery standards but, according to our “2023 Printing Impressions Top 100 Print Buyers” report, the USPS is also the largest print buyer in the U.S.

Longtime printing industry forecaster Vincent Mallardi predicts that the USPS will purchase $2.15 billion worth of printing in the coming year, a 6% increase. Of course, this includes stamps, but also envelopes, mail-packs, stationery, business forms, and more. What some print providers may not know: not all print procurement is centralized. “Every postmaster can make purchases up to $10,000 per item for discretionary local cause and event contribution,” Mallardi explains.

The Postal Service is also the sector leader when it comes to Logistics/Freight, largely due to its growing emphasis on package delivery, shipping, and priority mail services. He predicts that priority mail, small packages, and international mail and shipping services will excel within the USPS in the next two years as its primary competitors (FedEx and UPS) morph into complementary arrangements with the USPS.

Nevertheless, FedEx will spend $880 million on printing, an 11% increase, and United Parcel Service (UPS) will purchase $400 million, a 15% decline. FedEx Office, the Dallas, Texas based copy-and-ship retailer with more than 2,200 outlets, outsources approximately one-fourth of conventional ink-on-paper products and services to third-party print providers. Conversely, according to Mallardi, “Big-Brown” is fading when it comes to revenues, market share, and public reputation — especially among the owners and customers of its franchised UPS Stores.

Second Largest Top 100 Print Buyers Category

The second largest proportions of print buys among the 2023 Printing Impressions Top 100 Print Buyers are in Foods/Beverages (18.7%). “When cross-tabbed by printing product type, this sector accounts for more than one-fifth of labels and packaging, and more than one-tenth of point-of-sale/out-of-home printing. Of the 39 entities in this market/product cluster, six are billion-dollar-plus print demanders,” he contends.

No. 2 ranked print buyer Pepsico Inc. — a diversified marketer of beverages and snack foods — will purchase $1.98 billion worth of printing, a 13% increase, comprising flexible packaging, metal decoration, and retail POS. This compares with No. 39 ranked Coca-Cola Combined, which will spend approximately $585 million on print, a 33% increase.

Combined, the top 25 print buying entities will account for nearly 37% of the Printing Impressions Top 100 Print Buyers demand (down from one-half); and 13% of total print (down from one-sixth).

As your printing business continues to analyze profitable vertical markets and major print buying organizations for potential growth, be sure to download this free special report (click here) to help fine-tune your sales and prospecting planning activities for 2023 and beyond.