LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, March 8, 2007 – Taking pictures has gone beyond point, shoot, and print. The output options for digital images are endless, but there are still many digital camera users who aren’t taking full advantage of them, according to a new report by The NPD Group.
Digital camera sales saw an explosive holiday season which helped boost an already robust 2006. According to The NPD Group’s consumer tracking service, digital camera sales for 2006 reached $6.9 billion, selling 30.9 million units, a 9.1 percent increase in revenue and a 22.3 percent increase in unit sales over 2005.
“We saw stronger digital camera growth than expected in 2006 thanks to some really aggressive pricing,” said Liz Cutting, senior imaging analyst, The NPD Group. “Digital cameras are now simple enough for beginners to take pictures on their own, but when it comes to printing and storing images there is work to be done and opportunity to be had at retail.”
According to the Digital Image Printing: Plenty of Printing Venues report, 26 percent of first-time digital camera buyers who purchased a digital camera in the six months ending November 2006 said they were not printing their images. The number drops by nearly half for repeat buyers to 14 percent. With over 40 percent of first-time buyers purchasing their digital cameras in low-touch environments, such as mass merchant, warehouse, or drugstore outlets in 2006, these late adopters may not be getting the coaching they need to output their images with ease and clarity.
Moms are a key audience for printing and sharing pictures. While 66 percent of moms surveyed said they were printing snapshots at home, online printing is growing in popularity.
Eighteen percent of moms surveyed were ordering their photos online and picking them up in a store, 14 percent were having them delivered to their homes, and seven percent were doing both at various times.
Moms are doing more image output than most digital camera owners surveyed. Twenty-two percent of moms claim to have created hard copy scrapbooks and 20 percent were making greeting cards, compared to just 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively, for digital camera owners at large. But only seven percent of moms indicated that they were making personalized hard copy photo books. This is one area where good marketing by retailers could really help drive sales. While photo books may appear to be a more expensive printing option versus today’s 12 cents a print for a 4”x6” snapshot, moms need to realize the convenience, personalization, and organization that will result from taking advantage of this all-in-one photo memory solution. Complete with book, templates, picture organization software, and captions, Moms can say proudly “I did this myself” in far less time then they used to take to create a traditional do-it-yourself album.
While increasing in incidence, printing outside the home seemed to come up against some barriers. Enjoyment of the “do-it-yourself” printing experience, price, location, time, and quality of prints were some of the key reasons consumers said they were not printing outside the home. Eleven percent of digital camera users who weren’t using online printing services said they don’t know how to order prints through this method, and 10 percent of those not using a kiosk said they don’t know how.
“Word of mouth and inviting store displays are great marketing methods at retail,” said Cutting. “For online printers, advertising and coupons are good motivators, and both online and retail need great customer service. Not all consumers are ‘do-it-yourselfers’ and will be happily surprised by the multitude of creative printing options. Coupled with simple storage options, new mediums, such as video on digital cameras, and new booming accessories, such as digital photo frames, all retailers have a great opportunity to encourage consumers to be creative and safe with their images in a way never before experienced.”
For more information about the Digital Image Printing: Plenty of Printing Venues report, contact NPD at +1-866-444-1411 or contactnpd@npd.com.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, visit www.npd.com.