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Sponsored feature: Roland
Printing during Covid-19:
Is now the time to diversify?
Covid-19 has had a profound impact on every sector and every society. The print industry is no exception. The industry’s reliance on some of the sectors that have been worse hit economically, retail and leisure in particular, has
meetings and events that drive so much printing demand with conference and livestreaming technologies has also had a negative impact.
It is no surprise that the BPIF’s latest Outlook report revealed that 74%
of printers in the UK were adversely affected by a decline in output in Q2 2020. The picture is similar right across the European region.
With a second full lockdown a subject of daily speculation, print shops know that battening down the hatches and waiting for the storm to pass is no longer an option. As a result, a number of them are starting to explore ways to diversify their core offering and repurpose their technol- ogy and workflows to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in a dramatically altered post-Covid marketplace.
Social distancing signage
A recent Roland DG survey of 2,500 shoppers in Europe found that 82 percent of them are more likely to visit shops with clear social distancing signage and 46 percent have stopped visiting shops with unclear signage altogether. Signs are also in the spotlight more than ever before, with an overwhelming majority of shoppers (79 percent) saying they are more aware of in- store signage than before the pandemic.
These statistics have demonstrated to retailers that signage is having a tangible and decisive impact on retail footfall, and is vital for safety, building consumer trust, and kick- starting the economy. Moreover, with official guidance on social distancing changing on
a daily basis, retailers are relying on printing companies to help them swiftly swap out and replace existing signs with new, updated ones.
In response, some print businesses
have started marketing and selling social distancing signage and floor stickers. Lewis Pearce at CMYK Design, Copy and Print is one of these business owners. Prior to Cov-
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