Label Purchase Volumes Tipped for Strong Performance Throughout 2021
Posted by : Mercury Labels Ltd on Monday, May 17, 2021 in Choosing Your Labels.
Over the past 12 months, the vast majority of supply chain activities at home and abroad have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. New data however, suggests that overall label purchase volumes in 2021 will either stay at the same level or even increase across all formats, despite the complications of three consecutive national lockdowns.
That is according to figures from the latest FINAT RADAR survey, which indicates that almost 85% of business owners are predicting a strong year ahead for the label printing and supply sector.
When polled fewer than 75% of businesses said that they expect label purchase volumes to increase over the course of the coming months; an optimistic outlook and an impressive projection, when considering the 46% of companies who stated that they experienced major disruptions in supply since the start of the pandemic.
A Predominantly Positive Outlook
According to FINAT the adverse effects of the pandemic have not been enough to dampen the immediate outlook for the narrow web market in Europe. The latest FINAT RADAR survey found that 38% of companies are planning to step up their procurement of labels by an average of 4% to 6% throughout the course of this year, while 7% forecasted an increase in procurement volumes by as much as 15%.
Meanwhile, the same survey brought to light some interesting findings regarding the adjusted priorities of businesses in the wake of the pandemic; One of which was the prioritisation of ensuring suppliers and supply chain activities in general can be counted on to deliver in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
In 2020, 7% of the participants who took part in the survey said that a vendor having more than one label production facility is a priority for them, whereas in the latest survey, this had increased to 25% of participants - indicating a more risk adverse attitude since the breakout of COVID-19.
This trend was also reflected in a major surge in interest in digital label printing indicated in the results of the survey. When the UK was plunged into total lockdown last year, only around 7% of businesses reduced their total spent on digital labels.
In 2021 a third of all businesses have stated that the events of last year have motivated them to step up their procurement of digitally printed labels. This is due to the fact that digital printing processes typically translate to minimised lead times and a reduced risk of supply chain slowdowns or outages, if and when the unexpected occurs as it did
throughout 2020.
Further Motivations Driving Change
However, the results of the survey made it clear that the unfortunate events of last year were not the only factor motivating businesses to make the switch to digital. Many respondents also spoke of other factors driving major alterations to their procurement processes, such as generally faster turnaround times and the ability to digitally print small run sizes much cheaper.
Meanwhile, more businesses than ever before are demonstrating a major interest in maintaining environmental credentials, which is becoming a priority for small and large businesses alike. According to the results of the survey, 75% of businesses believe that environmental certification is either “important” (49%) or “critical” (26%) to doing business, particularly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, health & beauty and food & beverage.
