Photo finish for growth in cards, calendars and canvas prints

Sales of custom merchandise incorporating digital photos growing strongly

Resellers looking for simple products with consumer appeal to add to their portfolio could do worse than consider photography merchandise such as calendars, cards and the like.

According to a small study by Futuresource Consulting, the photo-merch market has been growing rapidly – especially in the UK.

"The UK photo merchandise market saw the fastest overall growth in 2011, up 22 per cent from 2010 to reach €86m (£67m), and remains the second-largest market in western Europe after Germany," said Joanna Wright, senior market analyst at Futuresource.

"Photo-cards and canvas prints are the two key drivers of growth in the UK market, accounting for 60 per cent of the market value in 2011, with the UK photo-card market being the largest in Europe."

She added that single-image gifts and calendars also grew well in the UK in 2011, although aggressive marketing and promotions on calendars saw average prices fall seven per cent, affecting overall earnings. Also, the traditional photo-print market remains in decline.

Across western Europe as a whole, the photo-merchandise market expanded 11 per cent to €478m in 2011. Photo greeting cards are expected to witness the strongest growth up to 2016, driven by mobile applications and services, according to Futuresource.

Most orders originate online, however, with consumers creating their products at home, mostly via PC. Mobile apps may stimulate growth in printing from mobile handsets or smartphones in future, the analyst added.

Futuresource says it interviewed about 70 key decision makers within leading producers, commercial print houses, retailers and online service providers across Europe for the survey.