The new year is finally here, and it brings a lot of new opportunities and challenges for photo businesses to watch out for and stay focused on. The pandemic has indeed left its tremendous effects on the photo product market in the last two years, however, there are a lot of exciting trends for the photo product industry to look up to in the upcoming month.
The following article will give photo product business owners, marketing and e-commerce professionals a better view on the changes and challenges in the online photo product business for the new year: we have provided findings on how the lockdown affected customer behavior and taste, as well as providing possible post-pandemic tendencies that will impact photo product sales in 2022.
Numerous local photo service providers had to close their doors during the pandemic for extended periods of time due to lockdowns enacted throughout the world. Many businesses had yet to shift to delivering their services via e-commerce, and until they did, the professional photography sector had come to a halt. Those changes have called for an urgent adaptivity for photo businesses to expand their service and have underlined the necessity to have an online presence to continue doing business. Competition in photo commerce has therefore increased significantly, and marketing your online photo business has become mandatory for every photo retailer.
The photo product sector was no exception to last year's ongoing digital change. Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, the worldwide photo products and merchandising market was predicted to develop at a CAGR of 8,3 percent from 2020 to 2027, beginning in 2018, with a market size of US $22.60 billion.
However, as the pandemic stroke, not everything went according to plan. Companies now have new challenges to face and trends to adapt their business to. There have been a few findings, based on the user purchases and the tendencies consumers shift their attention to.
In 2022, advertising spend is shifting into new territories, including online. Global photo print markets are transforming, with electronic copies of many publishing items overtaking previously physical editions. However, various photo products such as mugs, T-shirts, phone cases, etc. keep their importance for the buyers as they are a much-needed memorable gift for any occasion. The unfortunate situation with the pandemic has indeed decreased the overall volume of purchased items, but on the good side, whenever customers order something, they tend to focus on more good quality products regardless of the higher price. All of this makes it safe to say that photo products will keep being relevant, and this further emphasizes on the significance of product variety any retailer could offer to their customers.
The majority of e-commerce sites began to use artificial intelligence technology to provide their customers with a personalized shopping experience and relevant product recommendations. Predictive analytics solutions such as behavioral analytics, image identification, inventory management, and automation are most frequently used by businesses. Previously, manual suggestions were prone to errors, but today automatic smart AI leverages information such as customers' gender, search history, purchasing history, and demographics to propose suitable items and services. Those tendencies are set to only increase in 2022 as well. Apart from AI in marketing, AI-technologies have found their way into photo product creation by now, and it will not take long until we see AI-enhanced editors for photo product creation all around.
The rise in mobile shopping has led to the challenge of keeping up with very high criteria and demand also in the photo product industry. In this regard, two aspects must be addressed: responsive web design (RWD) and dedicated mobile apps. The use of Responsive Web Design (RWD) and configuring the site for mobile devices is keeping its holy grail position. When a user moves from a laptop to a tablet or smartphone, any website should adjust to fit the resolution, picture size, and scripting capabilities of the new device. Applications are the second component of mobile presence. They should be very effective, with well-designed purchase pathways and functions tailored to make the app experience easier for users. Mobile e-commerce is on the rise and ready for additional expansion. In 2019, the mobile channel accounted for 63.5 percent of all online sales, with an increase to about 72.9 percent in 2021, and this year it will increase even more rapidly. While a generic app might not be the right fit for every business, photo commerce retailers are increasingly looking for a way to implement photo products into their ready-built solutions in 2022.
At a time when people are becoming more careful of what they buy and use, the world has reached the era of celebrating individuality in its many forms and possibilities. This is why companies all over the world start responding to those specific market needs. It is of great importance to broaden the spectrum of the customization abilities of the consumers. Photo product businesses let their shoppers make revisions and alterations to their purchases online, allow them to work on their own patterns, colors, designs while creating the wanted photo product and this is what makes the whole process so personal which leads to user satisfaction. On the other hand, photo product companies may also employ product-related surveys, quizzes, and online interactive sessions to provide items that meet the demands of their customers and to generally understand their requirements of what makes a successful photo product.
Photo books were the items that dominated in terms of sales in the previous year, and they keep increasing in 2022. They accounted for more than 60% of all photo products sold on average, and they were only surpassed by photo calendars in December. Wall decor was the second most popular product among buyers, reaching for 13% of all purchases. Prints came in third place in the picture product sales figures, with a high in November and a 17 percent share of overall sales.
According to recent market research by Smithers, the worldwide photo product industry is expected to reach $821 billion by 2022, led by digital rather than analogue printing.
One thing will always be relevant and of utmost value: no matter what kind of adaptivity times call for, using the most advanced technology and media to create high-quality products will always be at the core for consumer satisfaction.
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