INSIGHT
Short-Run
Packaging
Is A Huge Opportunity
For Commercial Printers
BY BYTES DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS
For many people, the mention of packaging print brings up visions of specialised carton presses
and fl exo printing. Traditionally, packaging print has been viewed as a long-run process, best
suited to specialised manufacturers.
However, although there is still a place for this style of manufacture, the
packaging world is changing. •
•
The long tail model/theory was made popular by Chris Anderson who has
written two books on the subject. In most sales situations, people follow the
Pareto model. This argues that 80% of business comes from 20% of your
customers. However, Anderson argues that, in many situations, this weighting
is changing. The future of many businesses is of selling less of more. Let’s see how this trend affects the chocolate industry. Traditionally we bought
chocolate from a few big manufacturers. They had a few standard offerings that
always had the same packaging.
For instance, Amazon bases their business model on selling virtually anything
that is available. If you want some incredibly obscure book, Amazon will offer it
to you. They make more money from selling this choice rather than focusing on
the most popular items, as traditional retailers do.
As more companies follow this line of thinking, companies are increasing their
range of offerings. Special editions, re-releases and products aimed at a more
niche audience are now commonplace. This is great news for the printing
industry.
There is now a massive number of small volume packaging opportunities. This
sort of packaging is not suited to the traditional packaging manufacturers. It is
better handled by commercial companies. Digital presses can keep runs low.
They allow their customers to be incredibly fl exible in the products that they
offer.
Here are some of the opportunities that are available for printing companies to
offer their customers:
• Helping new businesses launch when they are not sure of volumes.
• Launching trial products.
• Trying new types of packaging.
• Launching promotional products.
• Producing regional variations.
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AFRICA PRINT JOURNAL
Creating collector’s editions.
Producing just-in-time packaging for e-commerce companies.
Recently, there has been an explosion in artisan chocolatiers. Most of these
businesses are small. But most also offer an extensive range of products. They
need a wide range of small run packaging for their products. The price of their
chocolate is also much higher than mass-produced standard chocolate. The
packaging needs to be of a quality that refl ects the luxury positioning of their
brands.
There is a massive opportunity for commercial printers here. Most chocolatiers
do not know anything about packaging. They are willing to be guided. They
probably also need design services, fl yers and possibly signage. This is just one
small segment of business. There are many other businesses that work on the
same model. How do you make the most of this opportunity?
Here are three action points to start your packaging journey:
• Firstly, make sure that you are aware of what you are capable of producing.
Your press might be more capable of producing packaging than you realise.
• Next, talk to your current customers. Do they have packaging requirements
that you were not aware of? Could you increase your business with these
customers by offering packaging?
• Finally, think about what businesses you could focus on that could benefi t
from packaging offerings. Create a campaign to reach out to them.
Bytes Document Solutions (+27 11) 928 9111
[email protected]
www.bytesdocumentsolutions.co.za
www.AfricaPrint.com