Break It Down

“Adapt or go home.” “Regroup and reevaluate your business strategy.” “Explore new technology.” After years of touting the benefits of change, we decided to follow our own advice.

In September, Print Professional became Print+Promo, a name that stays true to our printing roots while creating room for new topics to be covered. To continue on this path, we made some tweaks to our 2012 top suppliers list. The most notable difference is in size: The “Top 100” is now the “Top 50.” This decision led to a more condensed look.

So what changes and surprises manifested from this year’s list? Were suppliers able to escape the “see-saw effect” of unstable sales? The answers are never that black-and-white.

While many suppliers reported an increase in overall sales compared to 2011, the remainder experienced a modest decline. To get a better idea of the entire picture, total annual revenue from all participants (beyond the top 50) took a small hit from last year’s $2.53 billion, coming in at $2.27 billion. But looks can be deceiving, because this number excludes sales from Champion Industries, which was unable to submit information before deadline. To provide some perspective, last year, the company ranked number-two on the list, with annual sales totaling $129.9 million.

In addition to Champion Industries, other suppliers (particularly major players) opted not to participate this time around. While their reasons remain unclear, it would be fair to assume they were hesitant to reveal any recessionary shortcomings in sales. Or, they are privately owned companies that never disclose financial information.

The individual product sectors proved to be a mixed bag. In line with past trends, printed forms put forth the highest showing at $513.3 million. Unfortunately, this is down from last year’s $566.4 million.

Other products also saw a drop in numbers. Commercial print averaged $267.4 million (2011: $331.5 million); promotional products accounted for $265.2 million (2011: $303.8 million); and e-commerce only reached $44.2 million (2011: $52.2 million).