Despite a softening economy, the retail market keeps moving along.
What goes up must come down. It's a law of gravity—and economics. But even in a sluggish economy some markets manage to stay afloat and help buoy sinking consumer confidence, and one of the best is the retail market.
Scott Mollahan, sales executive, Applied Graphics, San Rafael, Calif., has been designing retail print work for the wine industry for seven years. Although he admitted that business slipped a little bit last year, over the long haul, he said, it's remained pretty solid.
"One of the great things about the retail market is that it really doesn't have a slow period," said Mollahan. "The business world may slow down from time to time, but consumers still buy things."
Chip Grayson, president, SBF, Savannah, Ga., has been in the printing business since 1970, and though he admitted the ultra-competitive retail business can be a real bear at times, he also said it can be extremely rewarding.
"If you read the stock reports, the retail business is one of the few that's still clicking along right now," said Grayson. "It's tough work and it can be mentally draining, but financially, it's really rewarding."
And there's a perfectly good reason for that.
In addition to the retail market's extreme buoyancy, retail accounts have the added bonus of offering the opportunity to expand one account into hundreds. Because many retail stores have numerous locations, printing a mail piece for one store could turn into printing everything from forms to annual reports for the entire chain.
Of course, Mollahan cautioned, in order to land those accounts, you'll need to be able to provide start-to-finish service on a wide-variety of projects.
"Often, because the customer doesn't have a lot of time to find someone to take on the entire project, they'll go with the first person who can," warned Mollahan. "You have to be able to handle a project from design through delivery, otherwise you're not going to win the job."
Naturally, before you can think about how to handle the printing aspect, you've got to get a foot in the door.
After more than 30 years of working with retailers, Grayson said landing the account nearly always comes down to one question: Can you be creative enough and come in under budget?
"With retail people it's black and white," explained Grayson. "What have you got? That's what they want to know. They don't have a lot of time to fool around."
Tight deadlines and demanding customers are all part of the daily routine in the fast-paced world of retail printing, but despite the challenges, it's not impossible.
Mark Dillon, director of marketing, Meyers Display, Minneapolis, said the most important qualities retailers look for in a print services provider are creativity, expertise and timeliness. "You have to be able to see the customer's vision, advise them on how to get there and deliver it all on time," he said.
Dillon also pointed out that as retailers increasingly turn to more sophisticated in-store advertising and displays, distributors with a background in either fine commercial printing or advertising and marketing will be especially well disposed to harvest the retail market for new accounts.
"Retailers and brand marketers are realizing the value of great POP displays," explained Dillon. "One of the reasons we've done so well with this is because we come from a background in fine commercial printing."
Like Mollahan, Dillon also stressed the importance of being able to handle projects from start to finish. By offering numerous services you increase the value and professionalism of your operation, he said.
Still, if you're thinking of expanding the breadth of your services in just one area, forms management is the way to go. Not only does offering forms management services make it easier to secure new customers, it also provides distributors with the ability to go after bigger business.
"Without forms management and direct mail and color printing, it would be much more difficult to achieve our goals," confessed Grayson. "If you don't have the ability to offer your customers those services, you're just destined to have a bunch of small accounts."
Mollahan agreed. By putting together company stores for clients, Applied Graphics has been able to add a vital and lucrative service to its operations and attract larger clients.
"The first thing clients ask is, 'What do you have in the way of warehousing capabilities?' " said Mollahan. "They're all looking for companies that can handle everything these days. If you can't, they'll go somewhere else."
By Allan Martin Kemler
- Companies:
- Applied Graphics
- SBF
- People:
- Dillon
- Grayson
- Scott Mollahan