NEW PROFIT CENTRE

UK PERSONALISED GIFTS MARKET TO REACH £1 BILLION

The UK personalised gift market is anticipated to reach £1 billion over the next 12 months, according to the findings of a European study of 5,000+ shoppers from Roland DG.

The research also found that UK shoppers are set to spend over £750 million on personalised gifts over the coming festive period, with buyers of personalised gifts expected to fork out more than £40 each on unique gifts for their loved ones.

According to the data, the average UK shopper is prepared to spend an extra seven percent on gifts that have an element of personalisation, such as adding a name, personal message or image. The most popular categories for those who anticipate purchasing personalised gifts are books (29 percent), clothing and babywear (24 percent) and calendars (also 24 percent).

The number one driving force behind purchases is how shoppers consider personalised gifts to be more thoughtful (chosen by 21 percent of respondents), closely followed by the fact that they are unique and can’t be bought straight off the shelf (chosen by 20 percent of respondents).

With many brands and consumers pivoting to eCommerce since the start of the pandemic, online retailers including Notonthehighstreet and Etsy are by far and away the most popular places to buy personalised gifts, and is the most likely place for nearly a quarter of respondents (24 percent). High street businesses with in-store personalisation offers were a likely place for nearly a tenth of respondents (eight percent).

Younger shoppers are far more willing to spend more on personalised gifts than their older counterparts. On average, 18-34 year olds will be willing to fork out an extra £30 compared to shoppers over 55 over the next 12 months.

Stephen Davis, EMEA Marketing Director at Roland DG UK, said: “These might be turbulent times, but the British public does not intend to let the pandemic interfere with their appetite for personalised gifts. Our desire to treat each other in difficult times may well be a factor in the huge projected spend over the festive period. But make no mistake: the market for gift personalisation is vast, and only set to grow as it becomes easier and faster to source gifts with that personal touch. It represents a lucrative source of revenue for manufacturers and retailers.”

“Retailers who are willing to add customisation options to their products, diversify the options they currently offer, and integrate these services online using tools like PersBiz, are sitting on a golden opportunity. The even better news is it’s easy and inexpensive to add personalisation options, from the most simple to the most complex. There are products for every budget to tap into this burgeoning market,” Davis continued.

www.rolanddg.co.uk

SNAP PRODUCTS AND THE PEN WAREHOUSE NEW TRENDZ

Snap Products and The Pen Warehouse

introduce trendz.® Edition II, an all in one solution to market and sell promotional merchandise. Offering print and digital catalogues, end user website and unrivalled marketing support to the trendz community of distributors.

Catalogues — A selection of printed and digital catalogues showcasing best selling promotional product ranges in one place. Available with standard, customised or bespoke covers.

Guest Suppliers — The catalogues include handpicked guest suppliers from popular product categories including umbrellas, headwear, leather goods, drink ware, crystal and toys.

Digital Marketing Support — Comprehensive in-house marketing support and membership to the trendz community, giving distributors a digital pass to exclusive webinars, personalised and ready to go marketing assets, special offers and access to digital catalogues over a range of product categories including eco-friendly, new, writing instruments, PPE and hygiene — all available personalised.

Bespoke End User Website — Dedicated website platform with customisable content areas for your company logo, colours, contact details and product categories.

Helen Dyl, Operations Director at The Pen Warehouse and Snap Products, commented, “We have had the most unprecedented year to date as an industry, however our plans for 2021 remains the same and we’re so excited to launch trendz edition II.

She added, “Keep your eyes peeled for more information landing in your inboxes this week. trendz is very much about collaboration and support, and giving our distributors all the tools they need to sell promotional merchandise.”

For information email: marketing@pens.co.uk

THE BIG DISPLAY COMPANY EYES INTERIOR GRAPHICS

While Covid-19 caused huge disruption right across the industry, The Big Display Company took the opportunity to invest in multiple HP devices to help see it through the pandemic and build for the future.

The Slough based company was born out of Bullseye, a business founded in 1978 to supply trophies and printed garments to a range of sports clubs, local businesses and blue chip companies across the UK. Established 12 years ago, The Big Display Company is a true family operation and focuses on wide format print applications for its range of trade customers. Vince Murphy is the Managing Director and his three sons all work within the company.

The emergence of Covid-19 in the UK in early 2020 led to a sudden change in direction and demand from customers of The Big Display Company, as clients rushed to secure floor stickers to promote social distancing and one way systems in various environments.

The Big Display Company had been running HP printers for several years and had a number of HP devices in place before the pandemic, including two HP Scitex Industrial Printers and three HP Latex 570 machines. An additional HP Latex 570 was installed in June 2020 shortly after the Covid-19 crisis took off.

Jack Murphy, Marketing Director at The Big Display Company, said that demand for floor graphics skyrocketed at the time, and such was the pressure on the existing machines to produce these graphics, the business decided to invest in additional printers.

“We spoke with Papergraphics and they recommended an HP Latex 3600 that had barely been used,” Murphy said. “We did the maths and discovered that the HP Latex 3600 would give us higher output and speed with reduced running costs.”

Since installing the HP Latex 3600, The Big Display Company has taken on jobs they ‘couldn’t have imagined possible’. “When the machine was first installed, we printed over 6,000sq m in the first week for a time critical job, which just wouldn’t have been possible with our previous equipment,” says Murphy.

Aside from floor graphics, another major trend to come out of 2020 was face coverings. The Big Display Company also saw a massive increase in demand for these products and invested in another new HP machine.

DURHAM BOX’S DIGITAL PRINT EFFICIENCY

By offering a combined packaging and POS solution on their Nozomi digital press, corrugated manufacturers, Durham Box, is providing cable management company, D-Line, with cost savings of 35-40% on their packaging and display requirements.

Used by the trade and consumers to hide and protect cables, D-Line is a UK company with a global reputation for innovative cable management products. Based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and supplying its products across the UK, Europe and the US, the company has grown significantly over the last two - three years.

Durham Box first started working with D-Line in 2017, producing conventional kraft printed transit and shelf ready packaging. More recently and based on changing customer demands, D-Line needed Durham

Box to create new eye catching premium primary packaging for emerging new product lines.

Following their investment in a Nozomi C-18000 single pass inkjet in May 2019, Durham Box has been able to drive capacity through the machine by providing customers with packaging and POS in one streamlined, innovative

Working with RA Smart, The Big Display Company purchased an HP Stitch S500 dye sublimation printer which was installed in November 2020. Murphy said the main reason for opting for HP again was the team’s familiarity with the technology.

“The Stitch has bedded in so well; it runs all day, every day,” he said. “It can operate unattended and has boosted output. It’s cost effective and straight forward to run. The investment was a no brainer for us.”

While work related to Covid-19 was the main focus for The Big Display Company in 2020, the business is keen to plan for additional work they can take on when demand for face coverings and floor stickers slows down.

“The HP Latex 3600 does double sided print unbelievably well,” continues Murphy. “Previously we were outsourcing double sided print over 1,500mm to a company in Europe. Since bringing that work in-house we have reduced turnaround times for this type of print massively. And that’s even more beneficial when you consider the potential for further delays with regards to ports, and possible issues with tax.”

As for the HP Stitch, Murphy says this will continue with much of the usual work that The Big Display Company traditionally has outside of Covid-19 times, including display products such as flags and backdrops

“Installing these two pieces of HP machinery has massively increased our print capacity,” Murphy said. “We always have so many positive things to say about the HP engineers that we deal with - they consistently go above and beyond with the level of support, and practical expertise they can bring to an issue.

www.thebigdisplaycompany.co.uk • www.hp.com

and efficient process. The ability to print and manufacture secondary corrugated packaging - SRPs, trays or outers - by using the same method to print POS/FSDUs, provides continuity of finish, colour and quality across all promotional opportunities. As the first UK Nozomi user with a white ink capability, Durham Box can also match a broader range of brand and Pantone colours on brown kraft corrugated board, as well as produce higher quality halftone images on that type of material.

Using this combined approach, Durham Box converted and ran D-Line’s inner primary packaging on the digital press, in addition to their display packaging, both of which resulted in a perfect finish and a cost reduction. “There is complete flexibility in production with Durham Box, together with incredible cost savings compared to our previous supplier, said D-Line’s Leigh Bestford. “The print quality on their Nozomi is superb - I especially like the gloss that the printing process gives on the display units - it helps them stand out in store. We are confident that when we give them a project to design, they will come back with the best and most cost effective solution for our needs. Prototyping is rapid and usually only requires minor tweaks to get to the final product.”

Durham Box currently produces FSDU units ranging from 10 to 2000 units and retail packs, in two sizes, with quantities up to 30k, split over four - six print variants.

www.durhambox.co.uk