The Changing Face of Print Buyers
At PRINTING United Expo in Las Vegas Sept 23-25, a group of experts came together to discuss some of the biggest trends, truths, and takeaways the print industry is facing right now. The packed panel, moderated by Ashley Roberts, content director of Printing Impressions, covered everything from economics, to OSHA, to HR — and beyond.
Lisa Cross, the principal analyst for Alliance Insights, explained that print buyer expectations are changing — and printers need to change with them. Today’s buyers are often responsible for far more than print alone, and, she noted, they want providers who are responsive, easy to work with, and are able to offer services that go beyond the printed page.
“Your buyer today is not just buying print; they're buying a whole bunch of other things as well,” she noted. “They're responsible for marketing and technology and budgets and vendor decisions and many other areas in their organization. They're very busy and not focused solely on print anymore — that means they're looking for you to help make their lives easier.”
There has also been a generational shift, with Cross detailing that recent research has shown about 60% of print buyers are now Millennials. They also “like print. They value print,” she stressed. “I know there was a time when people thought, ‘oh, you know, next generation, everything's going to be about digital and not print.’ But what we see in our research is a lot of these buyers tell us the digital fatigue has set in, and they are looking to print because their customers have pretty much tuned out digital.”
In terms of demand, Cross noted that buyers today are very interested in enhancements and embellishments that get a printed piece noticed. They are also looking at providers that also offer fulfillment services for items such as mail, apparel, or promotional items. Print buyers, she said, now more than ever, are looking for that one-stop shop partner to do business with.
Finally, in what should be no surprise to anyone, AI plays a major role in what Cross is seeing in terms of trends impacting the print space. The latest AI research report is out now, and Cross had a few interesting tidbits to share on the trends she is seeing emerge, in particular that implementing AI isn’t just about plugging in a piece of software and walking away.
“One of the most important things we found is that the barriers to more advanced AI often aren't really AI problems,” Cross said. “They're process data and systems problems that already existed. So when you get into AI, if you're really going to leverage it, you're going to have to look at your data, and it might be pretty ugly and it might be difficult. But certainly, doing that might be worth it to your organization.”
To read insights from the rest of the panel, check out the series below:
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- Business Management - Industry Trends
Toni McQuilken is the senior editor for the printing and packaging group.
