Why this study?

It's been four years since we conducted our last photo print product survey. Given how dramatically the world of photo taking, enhancing and sharing has changed since, we decided to measure today's consumers' behavior and opinions regarding buying photo print products, resulting in The 2018 Photo Print Buying Survey study.

What are the dramatic changes that could very well have changed consumers' photo print product buying behavior? 

• Not only are consumers taking more photos than ever before with their smartphones and digital cameras, other categories of "Long Tail" image capture devices are on the rise as well;

• Increased consumer sharing of (digital) photos through social media and messaging apps also entails a noticeable shift towards messaging apps and semi-ephemeral Stories;

• In-camera AI functionality has drastically improved the quality of smartphones cameras. In conjunction with advances in resolution, depth perception, and low light performance, today's cameras are enabling consumers to take truly high-quality pictures.

• Retro instant camera printers have made an amazing comeback;

• Photo print product apps have gotten easier and easier to use thanks to AI-powered photo organizing, curation, and layout functionality;

• Photo output APIs are proliferating among general purpose apps in the form of "print product buttons" that offer these apps the opportunity to (further) monetize their user base through partner-supplied print products;

• A new generation of kiosks is coming to market that are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of smartphone users.

Questions being addressed?

• How do these substantial changes impact today's photographers' photo print product buying behavior?

• Do they still even order print products?

• If so, what types of products?

• What methods do they use to create and order these products?

• If they haven't recently (or ever) ordered photo print products, what needs to change in order for them to purchase photo print products (again)?

• And what are the differences between males vs. females, and parents vs. those without children?

How many respondents?

We conducted our online survey among 1055 North American respondents who take at least 5 photos a month, and weighted the answers for gender and age. Where possible we analyzed the answers for differences between gender and parenthood.

The 2018 Photo Print Buying Survey study is a 26-page slide presentation, containing the following sections:

• Intro & Methodology

• Executive Summary

• Ordering photo products – overal occurrence

• Currently active photo product buyers – ordering behavior

• Scenarios that could trigger consumers to order more photo print products

• Appendix – Segmentation Analysis

• About us

Publication date:
Updated June 2018