Epicomm Forecasts Gradual Industry Growth

Epicomm’s State of the Industry Report, 13th edition, indicates a slight but positive growth for the printing industry. The survey of 174 printers, mailers, and marketing service providers (more than half of whom provide wide-format printing) reviewed sales data for the first half of 2015 and showed a 1.3 percent gain – a similar pace to the 2.4 percent growth seen in 2014. Thirty-eight percent of survey participants expect to grow at least 5 percent this year, however, and 39 percent expect to be more profitable than last year.

“We capture opportunity by developing an ‘adaptability advantage,’ the ability to adjust quickly and efficiently even to rapid, disruptive change such as our industry has been experiencing,” says Andrew Paparozzi, author of the report and senior VP and chief economist at Epicomm. “Nothing will be more important to success in this industry.”

Based on the data collected, Epicomm has forecasted sales growth of 1.5 to 2 percent for 2015, with the rate climbing to 2 to 3 percent in 2016. In addition, approximately half of participating companies indicated that marketing more effectively was their biggest opportunity for growth.