In October 2021, Big Picture Magazine and Keypoint Intelligence fielded a survey of US printing establishments to examine the digital printing opportunity in the interior décor market. The types of establishments surveyed included primarily signage, commercial print, and interior décor-specific print service providers (PSPs). The survey found that the décor market presents a growing opportunity for a broad range of product applications.
Among printing establishments that currently produce décor products using digital printing technology, 54% plan on purchasing new digital equipment within the next 18 months. Companies in the market for new digital printers are typically looking at dye sublimation, pigment inks and UV curable inks to meet their printing requirements. The fact that so many companies are looking to invest highlights the growing opportunity that interior décor applications represent. Adding further emphasis to this point is the fact that this demand is evident at a time when the economy continues to face challenges caused by the pandemic, such as supply chain constraints, rising prices, and the difficulty in finding skilled labor.
The top three most frequently offered décor applications that are digitally printed include vinyl wall coverings, vinyl wall coverings with removable adhesive backing, and canvas prints. However, the printing establishments that were surveyed do in fact offer a broad array of digitally printed décor product types that go well beyond these three. When asked what are the applications that are growing the most, the top five product types selected by respondents included:
As the data illustrates, wall coverings of different types are frequently applications offered and they tend to rank higher in terms of demand.
The printing establishments participating in this survey indicated that digitally printed interior décor applications currently make up 41% of their company’s revenue. This suggests that most companies who invested in digital printing for interior décor have successfully developed this opportunity. Most of the printing establishments are likely to have a strong return on investment (ROI). Although 26% of those survey noted they have little demand today for these types of products, it is partly related to the fact that their companies are in early stages of developing the interior décor opportunity. Moreover, 50% total are seeing either growing demand (29%) or strongly growing demand (21%.) This provides another indication that the interior décor segment is an attractive market opportunity that is worth investigating.
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