Coronavirus and The Printing Industry – How Print Companies are Dealing With the Pandemic

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which was once expected to vanish just like the common flu, has wreaked havoc around the world. However, the overwhelming effects of this pandemic seem to have a different kind of influence on various industries.

While Amazon, one of the giants in the eCommerce industry, is reinventing its business model, the printing industry has received a mixed bag of responses.

When it comes to print companies, the majority of them have witnessed a plunge in their daily foot traffic. The 3D print businesses, on the other hand, have transitioned to producing gloves, masks, bio-suites, and other essential medical supplies.

There are more such transformations that have taken place in the print industry. But in this piece, we have mentioned the top 3 trends that are key during this period.

Online Transformation

As compared to online B2B marketing agencies, offline print companies have been witnessing a massive downfall in their everyday foot traffic. But that doesn’t mean they must completely shut their business and reopen only when things are back to normal.

Companies can leverage the digital space to keep receiving orders amid this lockdown.

For instance, if you’ve got a local warehouse, you can simply accept online orders from your local customers. This is because there is neither any strict restrictions for localised shipping nor any additional fees imposed by the government.

In order to leverage the potential of online space, you can integrate your product design tool with the website and enable your customers to personalise their products before placing an order. Mind you, this a great way to attract present and new customers while keeping them coming back for more.

Fundraiser Merchandising Campaign

In the wake of the pandemic, almost every print company has been compelled to lay off a lot of its workers.

Nonetheless, instead of shutting your business, you can start designing a fundraiser marketing campaign in order to not just appreciate the efforts of our healthcare and other frontline workers, but also raise funds to help them fight against this pandemic.

Perhaps you could start by giving away customised t-shirts that have a ‘Thank You’ message on it. But based on your customers demand and the locality, you can go for any merchandise.

Just make sure you have a live website as that will make it easier for you to receive online orders. Once the order is ready, you can get it delivered.

Another ongoing trend in the print industry is helping local businesses set up their online store. If you haven’t yet taken up this approach, then it’s high time that you do so!

Swift Adoption of Ongoing Changes

While the vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus is still being discovered, presently all that we need to keep ourselves protected from it is a mask. This is also because masks have been deemed to be the safest option for all of us.

That said, with gloves, ventilators, bio-suites, and masks being the need of the hour, it is the perfect time for the 3D printing industry to leverage this opportunity.

By using their potential in the production of 3D face shields and printed masks, the 3D printing business can easily reach out to a huge audience base. What’s more, since these masks and face shields have proved to be nearly 86% effective in curbing the spread of the virus, it’s a great way for print companies to stay afloat during these uncertain times.

Along with face shields, you can also produce ventilators and bio-suites since there has been a shortage of supply for these items.

Conclusion

The printing industry, in its essence, is more or less connected with various industries in the market.

For instance, the theatre business and restaurants that used to rely on print companies for personalised signages, custom printed beer mats, cards, stickies, etc. have taken a huge hit amid this chaos.

This has further had a massive impact on the printing industry, resulting in huge business losses.

However, during this COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for masks, gloves, and other merchandise has experienced a massive surge. This is why, now more than ever, it is important for you to be highly relevant and swiftly adapt to the changes to stay afloat in the market.