Quocirca recently conducted a snapshot online survey between 31 March and 7 April 2020 to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the office print industry, has now been followed up by a second run of the survey, carried out between 8 April and 23 April 2020.
The research looked at the perceptions of a range of office print supplier organisations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses. The latest survey reveals that while the office print industry remains significantly impacted, most believe that the pandemic will be a catalyst for change through innovation of products and services.
Quocirca received 114 completed responses, 26% from OEMs, 54% from channel organisations and 18% from ISVs. The rest of the respondents fell into the ‘Other’ category. For the purposes of this report, where splits have been reported, they are focussed on OEMs, Channel partners and ISVs. Overall, 72% of respondents were from organisations with fewer than 1,000 employees (65% in the first survey). 52% of respondents were from European organisations (against 44%), 16% from the US (27%) and 32% from other regions (29%).
Key findings of the second survey were:
- Expectations of significant market disruption continue. 66% of print industry executives state that the crisis has had a significant impact on their business, with a further 4% indicating a critical impact. However, 15% see the crisis as holding opportunities for them. 84% agree that COVID-19 will cause significant ongoing market disruption.
- Office print volumes continue to fall, but demand has increased in the healthcare and government sectors. Overall, 68% are seeing/expect a significant decline in print volumes, with a further 27% seeing a marginal decline. However, 54% of respondents are seeing increased demand from the healthcare sector, while 63% are seeing a decline in demand from business and professional service customers (66% in the first survey).
- A catalyst for change. Office print industry players recognise that they need to rapidly adapt to survive and thrive. 66% state that they will need to change their operating model going forward (up from 57%). 58% (up from 47%) plan to introduce new products and/or services to market.
- The majority have not made permanent redundancies. Overall, 68% have not laid off any employees, with only 7% having laid off more than 50%. Maintaining employee numbers is weakest in the channel, where 8% have laid off more than 50% of their staff. However, many organisations will have furloughed staff, making use of government initiatives. Further redundancies could well follow later.
- Channel respondents are struggling and need more support from suppliers. 61% state that they now need financial support from suppliers, an increase from 39% in the first survey. The need for supply chain updates seems to be declining, with 45% stating this as an issue now, compared to 55% in the first survey.
- Most expect business recovery to be slow. The findings as to when respondents expect to get back to a normal working environment are strongly aligned between the two surveys. 21% of respondents are cautiously optimistic that business could return to normal in less than 3 months. However, 35% expect it to take 6 to 12 months. 23% expect it to take longer or do not believe that there will a ‘business as usual’.
- Cloud and collaboration opportunities abound. Both surveys indicate an increase in customer interest for collaboration and cloud-based digital workflow tools. However, 30% expect interest in MPS to decrease. Marked increases are evident for device as a service (DaaS) and secure printing solutions.
Quocirca plans to repeat the survey again, either in whole or in parts with additional questions, so changing sentiments can be tracked and priorities among print industry leaders better understood.
