Declining demand for photo prints

Over the years, there has been a switch from ‘shoebox storage’ to the storage of photos on personal devices, and from sharing photos through the usage of photo albums to using social networking and cloud platforms. These platforms are seeing ever increasing numbers of users and photo uploads. This is underlined by the Futuresource survey of 500 participants located in Benelux, France, Britain, Germany and Italy. The age range was 16 years and upwards. Information about the annual income of the participants and the types of devices that they own was also captured.


"With 48% of respondents taking a photo with an app, and 42% sharing a photo via an app, there is a large number of people using apps in order to keep a memory for themselves, or to show their relatives or friends. If even a small percentage of this market saw an opportunity to continue this further and use an app to print a photo, it could be significant in helping the declining photo market" said Eilis Edmonds, Research Analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

"Currently, the existing market of those ordering photo products via an app is based around lower-cost products, such as photo prints. Respondents suggested that they are reluctant to make more expensive photobook and photo-merchandise purchases from a screen where they cannot check the overall resolution of the image and/or when more time and attention is required as part of the ordering process.”

"However, as a greater number of photo retailers enter the market of the provision of photo ordering apps, and there is greater trust of the service, as information is provided to the consumer, we expect to see an increase in the volume of photobooks and photo merchandise products being ordered via an app. This will be important to the photo market, as these products provide higher margins, and as a consequence will help to slow down the decline of the photo market."

The Futuresource Impact of Apps Consumer Research Report provides insight into how consumers currently interact with apps and photos. For more information, please contact Andy Watson at Futuresource Consulting, via andy.watson@futuresource-hq.com.