According to “The Future of Digital Print for Packaging to 2022,” a new report by Smithers Pira (smitherspira.com), digitally printed labels and packaging is worth $13.4 billion in 2017. While the label sector has been the early adopter and is mature in some regions there is very strong growth in corrugated, carton, flexibles and direct-to-shape, with developments in metal printing. By 2022, the rapidly expanding digital (inkjet and toner) packaging market will grow by almost 13 percent annually to exceed $22.0 billion.
The market for digital print is expanding at over 15% for all formats—except labels where it is already well-established. Digital print platforms are opening up a whole world of possibilities for boosting emotional engagement with a consumer, and creating new revenue streams. This is allowing brands, design agencies and retailers to become more creative, with many launching innovative campaigns to enhance approval ratings; while other businesses across the value chain can evolve new, lucrative business models.