PMA 2009: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Diversify

What do consumers value? According to the folks at InfoTrends, this recession has made the answer to that question very clear; they value sharing their memories with friends and families. And they want to capture and share their memories in an easy, convenient, and affordable manner.

"When reality bites," says InfoTrends' Ed Lee, "bite back, and help consumers realize the value of their photos." Now, when your competitors are weak, adds Lee, is also the time to move forward. Those with financial resources should spend and begin building better relationships with their customers.

What should you spend your money on? Consider investing in products that help consumers connect to others; products that, again, help them share their memories. Photo books, which not only can be sold as an alternative album—but also as a way to archive photos—have helped numerous vendors significantly boost profits. Because the majority of the population still hasn’t made a photo book, this category is expected to continue to have strong growth in the coming years. For those that have, 80 percent said they'd make more books. Besides displaying plenty of book samples, InfoTrends suggest retailers make one as a gift for their customers, and include a coupon for another book. Who could resist?

Belinda Bosell, Brooke International, adds, "People have a lot more time now to sit at home and work on projects on their computers as opposed to going out and spending money. [Books are] an economical, inexpensive way for them to salvage memories and still leave something as a legacy for their family. They also have time to digitize all their boxes of pictures." For those who think the tough economy is going to hurt business, Bosell says the trick to surviving is to diversify and have more product offerings and product variety to give consumers. "That's what Brooke International has come up with. We have solutions for [consumers] to do more things with their pictures, and we have more ways for them to salvage their memories, such as scanning old photos and turning them into creative picture stories."

The show also showcased a few innovative pieces of equipment such as Noritsu's new double-sided printer—the D502 Duplex Inkjet Photo Printer—which prints on both sides, enabling retailers to create a complete range of photo products including calendars, signs, scrapbooks, photo books, greeting cards, posters and yes, even 4"x6" prints. Had to cut your staff thanks to the economic downturn? Then the Noritsu CT-RS kiosk, which is optimized for self-service use, can help. According to the company, the unit has a media reader that can handle a wide range of input media, and prints up to three times faster than previous models. It's available in a counter-top configuration or as s stand-alone system that supports multiple internal photo printers.