The Changing Face of Quick Printing

THE QUICK printing market doesn’t bear a lot of resemblance to the little “mom and pop” shops that opened on the corner back in the 1960s. The small quick printer was typically identified with a franchise network and was doing work that was “down and dirty.”

Today’s market consists of a series of high-tech wizards, all striving for profitable business in the enterprise market. In-plants need to ask themselves, “Am I competing with quick printers for work that could otherwise be produced in the in-plant? Are there emerging sources of competition I haven’t thought about?”

THEN AND NOW

Ten years ago, the term “quick printer” referred to a small printing company that had a retail presence. These businesses typically provided short-run, quick-turnaround work for customers. Other key factors that used to be important were:

• Quick printers accepted walk-in customers through a storefront counter service

• Quick printers typically served a local market

• Quick printers typically used copying machines and small-format offset presses

The world has since changed. Today’s franchise networks are backed with high-tech Internet-connected technology hubs. Office superstores offer printing and copying services along with pens and pencils. Mail service providers are acquiring print service providers. And independent quick printers continue to battle for business.

TYPES OF QUICK PRINTERS

Today’s market is made up of a number of different types of quick printers: franchises, chains, mail services and independents.

Franchises

A franchise is a network of quick printers or copy shops in which each franchisee pays fees to join the network. In exchange, the franchisee benefits from the franchise’s national branding, advertising, marketing, training, support, collective buying power, and corporate infrastructure.

One of the most critical corporate infrastructure elements is the technology support provided by the franchisor. Organizations like Allegra, AlphaGraphics and Sir Speedy provide programs, resources and a toll-free help desk to support the franchisee in all areas of technology, including prepress, printing and bindery, equipment selection, supplies, pricing, variable data and more.

In addition, these organizations offer individual customizable Web sites, as well as an online ordering program for franchise members. The result is a franchise network that is rapidly becoming more digitally savvy. At the end of 2005, there were more than 2,667 franchise shops with sales of in excess of $1.6 billion. Average sales per shop were a little over $600,000.

Chains

Chains are a network of quick printers or copy shops where the individual sites are owned by the chain rather than the franchisee. Chains generally have a national presence and may even be active internationally. The chain is typically managed by the corporate parent.

Although FedEx Kinko’s is the only example of a chain where copying and digital printing is the primary focus, quick print locations in office superstores also fall into this classification. These chains tend to place a greater focus on copying and digital printing than offset printing.

One example of such a chain is OfficeMax’s recently announced ImPress Division. As the fresh new face of print and document services at OfficeMax, ImPress is focusing on turning a company’s business image into its biggest asset. With nearly 900 retail locations nationwide, skilled print reps and ImPress’s high-volume, closed-door, non-retail production facilities, clients can print and distribute business materials like training documents, benefit books, technical publications, newsletters and marketing materials. ImPress services include digital color printing, high-speed black-and-white printing, wide-format printing and binding.

Office Depot has its Design, Print and Ship Depot. This business promotes itself as offering professional, full-service printing, copying, binding and finishing whenever it’s needed. Users can upload documents, and Office Depot can get them ready for pickup at any of its more than 1,000 stores or deliver them directly to the customer’s home or office. The company communicates the following capabilities to customers:

• All major file types are accepted

• No job is too big—or too small

• Build and preview your order online

• Complete finishing capabilities including binding, stapling, folding, etc.

• Get a timely phone call from a live printing expert confirming the print job

• Presentations, brochures, flyers, books and more are done right and on time

In the January 18, 2007 edition of Fortune Magazine, FedEx acknowledged that the Kinko’s acquisition had been a disappointment. While the new entity was once perceived as a nemesis for the in-plant environment, FedEx’s new strategy indicates that the company will focus on three specific customer segments: small and medium-sized businesses, mobile professionals and convention centers and hotels.

The company also announced a plan to expand its number of locations with 200 additional stores this year, 300 next year and 400 the year after. The traditional FedEx Kinko’s was 6,000 square feet, but the new ones will be 2,000 square feet. The objective is to provide the same breadth of service, but a more intimate experience.

From the perspective of the in-plant, the superstores have a procurement relationship that they will continually leverage to extend into the in-plant realm by delivering not just office supplies to corporate and higher-education institutions, but a suite of print-on-demand capabilities. The superstore views print-on-demand as a logical adjacent market to its existing set of office supplies offerings.

Mail Services

Some businesses offer copying and printing as a secondary service. UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. and has since established a franchise network with 4,200 locations. UPS is focused on shipping, but complements those capabilities with an array of copying, finishing and document management services.

Independents

Independents are quick printers that do not belong to a franchise or chain. An example of an independent quick printer would be a local family-owned copy/print center. Among the top-ranked independents are $20 million-plus Balmar (Falls Church, Va.) and $17 million-plus Copy Craft Printers (Lubbock, Texas).

CRITICAL TRENDS IN THE QUICK PRINT MARKET

There are clearly some critical market shifts taking place among today’s quick printers.

While offset printing is still part of the mix, digital technology is dominant. In the 2006 Annual Franchise Review, by Quick Printing magazine, digital printing drove 37 percent of revenues, while offset was responsible for 30 percent. This includes digital color, digital black-and-white and wide-format. The quality of digital print technology continues to rise, and customers are having a difficult time differentiating between digital and offset printing.

The needs of today’s print buyer are closely aligned with quick printing. Run lengths have dropped, turnaround requirements are being reduced and print buyers no longer want to inventory large stocks of printed materials.

The Internet is helping the quick print market extend its geographic boundaries. Software as a Service (SaaS) or Application Service Provider (ASP) business models are helping quick printers expand service offerings for variable data, template-driven Web-to-print solutions and document management with a limited investment in IT. For franchise, chain and mail service companies, a single investment in IT infrastructure can support all remote storefront operations.

Only a small portion of quick print revenues are derived from walk-in retail businesses. These establishments are more focused on corporate work for their livelihood. This trend will continue as time goes on.

Implications for In-Plants

The quick print franchisees and independent quick printers are investing in new digital technologies and expanding service levels. Franchisors are making it easier to add new value-added services through improved IT infrastructure, education and training for member organizations.

While the digital capabilities of the franchise and independent printer have improved, the market focus is still on meeting the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. The franchisee or independent wants to provide Corporate America support levels to small businesses. In some instances, in-plants view quick printers as strong partners that can provide overflow support.

The biggest challenge that in-plants need to assess is the emergence of the “office superstore” chains and their focus on print-on-demand. These superstores typically have a relationship with the procurement organization. Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples all have an extensive network of stores that are linked via the Internet. Current corporate users are ordering supplies online through that Internet infrastructure. They offer the corporate end user the ability to order documentation online while they are placing a supplies order. The user can have the same document produced in several different print centers through simply choosing the recipients for the document, and the chain will track and deliver the materials.

The superstore operation can consolidate invoices for print services with the office supplies. The value proposition being communicated to procurement is, “For large business customers, the office superstore chain will streamline the document management process and improve tracking and control for greater cost savings.”

SO WHAT’S AN IN-PLANT TO DO?

Although this is a message you have all heard before, the in-plant needs to continue its focus to drive value-add to effectively compete, regardless of the competitor. That includes making your print shop more accessible via Internet interfaces, offering simple software tools and templates for the novice user, providing digital asset and content management services and establishing strong relationships with marketing for customer relationship management and variable data solutions.

You need to position your organization as a critical partner in the business communications value chain. You need to ensure that you have mutually beneficial relationships with your user base. The user perception needs to be that it is easier to communicate relevant business information quickly using your services. Building a differentiated business with a high-value services portfolio means improved loyalty and new sources of volume.