By Eef de Ridder, Vice President, Graphic Communications Group, Ricoh Europe
I was asked recently how desirable I thought inkjet was. It will surprise no one that my response was a heartfelt ‘Very!’
Of course, it would be easy to simply put this down to the fact Ricoh recently previewed our first B2 colour sheetfed inkjet press – the Ricoh Pro™ Z75. Or that this technology will be joining our flagship colour continuous feed inkjet press, the remarkable Ricoh Pro™ VC70000.
While we do have a stake in inkjet’s desirability, it is impossible to ignore how its print production capabilities are increasingly aligning with today’s changing market demands.
They are:
Shorter run lengths
Budgetary consideration, greater use of versioning and more highly targeted communication are among the reasons run lengths are falling. This is not new but it does open doors for fast and responsive digital inkjet print that offers flexibility and speed at relatively low cost. It also supports increased personalisation for an added level of consumer engagement. Research by industry market intelligence specialist NAPCO reported that highly personalised campaigns increased response rates as much as 17%. This is something the pandemicis acceleratingas brands look to connect in a more meaningful way. In Great Britain Royal Mail MarketReach reported that, during the initial lockdown, a record 96% of all mail was engaged with. The frequency of exposure to mail was at its highest ever recorded by JICMAIL and mail-driven online behaviour increased by 70%.
Omnichannel Marketing
Inkjet supports highly flexible integration of hybrid multimedia marketing campaigns. By combining digital print and online, creative campaigns can reach the recipients with more impact and generate more meaningful conversations. Personalised printed content can signpost online communications and offerings that develop relationships in an engaging way.
Ecommerce
Commercial printers are realising there is a strong need for an online presence and ecommerce capabilities. Those that are already established have enjoyed accelerated interest in certain applications over the last year such as photobooks and personalised greetings cards and gifts. Inkjet has helped enable the flexible and agile high quality production of these applications.
Stock reduction
Operations want to cut their costs and this can be achieved by reducing stock – something made easy with digital inkjet technology. It manages the cost effective production of only what is needed. This also has the sustainable benefit of reducing waste.
These trends are driving the analogue to digital transition. Inkjet makes up more than half the digital print volume and is growing. Caslon figures estimate offset print volume will decrease annually by more than 2% between now and 2030. Digital printing is predicted to grow more than 4% annually and it could reach just under 10% by 2030.
Also encouraging customer adoption is the delivery of increased quality, something our inkjet research and development has been highly focused on. As the owner developer of our inkjet printheads and ink we are able to push the boundaries and help our clients explore what is possible.
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