2019 was the year for digital label and packaging printing at print shops, print service providers and converters. Konica Minolta has identified four trends that print shops should keep an eye on in 2020.
Digital packaging printing becomes mainstream
Product manufacturers are addressing increasingly specific groups of buyers with ever more customised labels and cardboard packaging. The ability of their packaging service providers to deliver digital colour printing is simply taken for granted. Studies by Finat Radar show that almost three quarters of print buyers consciously opt for digital labels - These represent the best solution for the respective application.
As a result, manufacturers are increasingly gaining experience in digital printing processes and the sale of customised labels. Other important market drivers are More targeted marketing, lean manufacturing, sustainability and variable data printing. All of this will further accelerate the trend towards ever smaller print runs in the coming year.
Packaging is gaining in importance
While many print shops and converters have so far used their printing systems for digital label production, 2020 will see the production of Folding cartons and flexible packaging are increasingly coming into focus. Brand manufacturers are further enhancing their products with tactile and haptic elements on packaging materials and creatively designed outer packaging.
Analyses by the consulting and market research company Keypoint Intelligence - InfoTrends support this statement. They assume that the Global sales of digital colour labels and packaging printing to reach almost USD 800 million by 2021 will increase. This corresponds to an increase of more than 65 per cent since 2016, with the value of print products in the „print by application“ segment rising by 175 per cent in the same period.
Refinement creates added value
Digitally enhanced packaging or labels, which in addition to the 4c tactile printing over lacquered elements have been upgraded, have been proven to stimulate consumers to buy them. A study by the Foil and Specialty Effects Association shows that the time it takes to identify finished products is 45 per cent shorter than for products that are not finished. In addition, finished products attract attention 18 per cent longer than pure print products.
Print service providers are increasingly capitalising on this effect and offering their customers eye-catching packaging solutions. This trend will continue to grow in 2020. The growing availability of entry-level solutions for print finishing is enabling smaller companies in particular to enter this profitable business segment. Konica Minolta, for example, has developed such a solution with the MGI JETVARNISH 3D One. Model for UV spot coating was launched on the market.
Digitalisation enables new business models
New digital technologies offer innovative print service providers an increasingly broad range of revenue opportunities. For example Augmented Reality (AR)The interlocking of printed packaging with digital content such as videos or animations, which can be AR app The time it takes for a potential buyer to familiarise themselves with a product is extended by the number of times it is called up.
Konica Minolta offers with genARate has had such an AR solution since last year. In addition to the Increasing the incentive to buy above all, it opens up the possibility of, Advertising campaigns interesting and measurable. Packaging printers will increasingly support their customers in this field in the future. In 2020, print shops will therefore also increasingly find their contacts in the marketing departments of their customers, as the packaging of a product is increasingly becoming an instrument of brand management.
Visitors can get a first impression of this potential at the in-house exhibition „Print Experience“ by Konica Minolta (21-22 January, Langenhagen and 11 February, Stuttgart) and at the drupa: Hall 8b, Stand A63-1 - A63-6.
Source: Konica Minolta Business Solutions Deutschland GmbH
