Photo trends shift; focus turns to cards, books

As photo processing continues to evolve, retailers are finding new ways to make the department profitable. Bing Liem, VP sales for Fujifilm North America, said retailers need to re-evaluate their existing on-site photo business.


“It’s critical to maximize the use of existing assets,” he said. New product offerings, such as posters, folded cards, calendars and books, help maximize the value of the category, Liem said.


Photo printing through retail and online sources remained flat in 2010, according to the Photo Marketing Association, with total print volume (both standard photo film and digital prints) sales dipping 7% over the previous year.


Gary Pageau, a spokesman for PMA, said higher margin photo publishing products, such as photo books and calendars, offer opportunity, as do cards and stationery. “Retailers have to adapt their business. That can mean anything from offering storage to offering online scrapbooks,” he said.


A new opportunity may be 3-D photography. “It’s making a resurgence, so retailers have an opportunity to get into that niche,” Pageau said. “The future is in a number of niche businesses rather than the old model of one product accounting for 90% of the market.”

The article above is part of the DSN Category Review Series. For the complete Photo Buy-In Report, including extensive charts, data and more analysis, click here.