High-Value Printing Small and Medium Businesses Account for Half of the Print Opportunities in China
SINGAPORE-(Business Wire)-September 24, 2009 - High-value printing customers (HVPCs) among China SMBs account for over half of all printing spending even though they comprise less than a quarter of all China SMBs (companies with less than 1,000 employees).
HVPCs are typically larger SMBs that tend to have more marketing-related printing needs. They also generally work more with large enterprises and the government sector beyond their local geographical area. China government investment activities are increasing with the implementation of stimulus packages that include spending to upgrade infrastructure, easing of monetary policies and tax cuts. HVPCs look - to be the largest beneficiaries due to their close and trusted - relationships with large businesses and status within government circles.
Print vendors that target HVPCs will maximize marketing efforts by increasing their share of these key contributors to printing spending and thereby garner a higher return on their marketing dollars.
“Increasingly, print vendors also seek market intelligence that is geared towards understanding and prioritizing challenges within the SMB landscape. Printer vendors want to be able to identify SMB pain points and focus on key target segments, such as HVPCs, to capitalize on printing-related opportunities,” says Cindy Tan, Singapore based Research & Consulting Manager at AMI-Partners.
Print vendors need to react quickly to SMBs’ cost-cutting measures, such as the reduction of office supplies and printing costs. Understanding operational challenges such as productivity and limited cash flow issues will enable these vendors to better address HVPCs’ needs. Printing workflow is another key area that vendors are studying to identify customer pain points to offer applications and solutions to help ease - operational challenges facing SMBs across the spectrum of printing activity.
Print vendors should encourage SMBs – and in particular HVPCs — that currently outsource, to bring key printing functions in-house to differentiate themselves from the competition. Printing in-house allows for better customization of marketing materials and lower print volume by printing on an “as-needed” basis. This will allow SMBs to tailor marketing materials to retain or attract customers and reduce printing costs, simultaneously.
“China SMBs – including HVPCs — prefer to purchase printing solutions through retail and value-added resellers. Those vendors that can penetrate these channel segments more effectively will strengthen their working relationships, and ultimately win the battle for overall SMB print dollars,” Ms. Tan adds.
Related Study
AMI-Partners' 2009 China Small and Medium Business – Printing During the Downturn: How the Recession Has Created A Significant Printing Opportunity report focuses on the impact the current economic downturn has made on the SMB printing opportunity. The report includes strategies and guidance for printing and copier vendors to help maximize their opportunity. Specific actions are recommended to ensure vendors capitalize on critical changes in the printing market that can radically improve their return on marketing investments (ROMI).
AMI-Partners’ Technology Sector studies highlight major trends in the context of current/planned IT, Internet and communications usage and spending. Products and services covered include established and emerging hardware, software, applications and business process solutions. The sector reports are based on AMI-Partners’ annual SMB market surveys, “Q-Pulse” quarterly tracking studies and Global Forecast Model database.
Based on proprietary surveys of partners in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, AMI-Partners' technology sector reports are presented in a highly actionable, graphical format with go-to-market insights and analysis
For more information about this study, AMI-Partners, or our global SMB research, call 212-944-5100, e-mail ask_ami@ami-partners.com or visit www.ami-partners.com.
About Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.
AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence — with a strong focus on global small and medium businesses (SMBs), and extending into large enterprises and home-based businesses. The AMI-Partners mission is to empower clients for success with the highest quality data, business strategy perspectives and “go-to-market” solutions. Led by Andy Bose, the firm has built a world-class management team with deep experience cutting across IT, telecommunications and business services sectors in established and emerging markets.
AMI-Partners has helped shape the go-to-market SMB strategies of more than 150 leading IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services companies. The firm is well known for its IT and Internet adoption-based segmentation of the SMB markets; its annual retainership services based on global SMB tracking surveys in more than 25 countries; and its proprietary database of SMBs and SMB channel partners in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The firm invests significantly in collecting survey-based information from several thousand SMBs annually, and is considered the premier source for global SMB trends and analysis.
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