PMA: Online Print Ordering Grows Sharply

By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 1/3/2008

Jackson, Mich. — Online photo print ordering continued to mark strong gains, growing 62 percent in the 12 months ending October, according to the Photo Marketing Association (PMA).

The overall volume of digital camera prints jumped 25 percent for the year ending October. All printing methods saw gains: prints made at retail mini labs grew 24 percent, at kiosks 31 percent, and on home printers 8 percent.

According to PMA, 49 percent of all prints were made at retail including 14.7 percent on a kiosk, 23.5 percent on a mini lab, and 11 percent were ordered online and picked up in-store. Fourteen percent of consumers ordered prints online and had them mailed back.

On the capture side, digital camera sales continued to show unit and dollar gains through October as well. According to the NPD Group, unit sales of digital cameras were up 15.6 percent in October, though dollars were up only three percent, indicating continued price erosion.

Consumers continued to crave higher resolution cameras, with over 90 percent of units sold in October packing six or more megapixels. Cameras at the 7-megapixel mark accounted for 48 percent of all unit sales in October.