Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/637632
12 • WRAPS • 2 0 1 6 a very positive business outlook, with more than 73 percent reporting signifi- cant increases in sales over last year; and 60 percent saying they expect sales from wraps to increase in the next year for both full and partial wraps. Challenges—Respondents say that the biggest challenges facing wrap shops are in the areas of pricing, encroach- ing competition and an inability to find skilled/experienced installers. One shop owner summed it up this way: "The big- gest challenge is fly-by-night competitors that undercut and destroy the area pric- ing, and then they go out of business— leaving pricing expectations dirt cheap." Ordering Habits— Most shops (59%) say they order wrap film more than 10 times a year, but busier shops say they order multiple times a week. Nearly 25 percent of shops say they are likely to try a new wrap media immediately, but more shops (27%) say they like to wait until the media has been on the market for a year. About 63 percent of shops say they often take advantage of free trial rolls offered by manufacturers. Many shops (about 30%) say they order 25 percent of their supplies online while 19 percent say they never order online. Dealer Preferences— When buying media from suppliers, shops say they most value suppliers that offer competi- tive pricing (70%), in-stock availability (60%) and good customer service (53%). About 35 percent of shops value sup- plier location, reasonable shipping costs, freshness of stock and supplier loyalty. Revenues from Wraps When it comes to revenues from wraps, most shops say that the lions share comes from full graphics and partial wrap jobs, with non-vehicle wrap work for commercial businesses and custom graphics following closely behind; and about a third say this work generated more than $50,000 or more from these jobs last year. Fleet work, motorcycles, marine, busses and trailers, racing and street art make up the bulk of the rest. Business is good, with more than 63 percent of shops saying they revenues from wraps increased over last year Continuing education for installers is coming from multiple sources, including industry trade magazines such as WRAPS, YouTube videos, online training resources, trade shows and apprenticeships. What other resources do your installers use to continue their training and education for Wraps? Over 50% 0% - the business has been flat 1-10% The business lost revenues 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% In the past year, how much of an increase in revenues have you seen in your wraps business? between 10 percent and 30 percent. And of the 60 percent of shops who expect sales to increase over the coming year, most agree that increases will come from full and partial coverage wraps, as well as from cut vinyl applications. Work Done Although we did not ask for a total number of jobs turned around in our survey, we thought it would be helpful to learn the volumes done for various categories in 2015. Volumes of Jobs—Job volume num- bers seemed to be grouped in either 1-10 or "more than 25" with relatively few in between in most categories. The highest volume of jobs (more than 25) was cen- tered around work for commercial busi- nesses, custom graphics and fleet work. Shops reporting 0-5 jobs were mainly concentrated in the areas of pro racing, street art, busses & trailers, personal use, motorcycles and marine. Quote-to-Finish Times—Turnaround times, from job quote to finish, averaged about 6-10 days, with the next most com- mon time of 0-5 days. However, a sur- prising number of shops (10%) reported average turnaround times of 15-20 days, or more than 20 days. In-house vs . Outsource—Most shops (90%) do in-house design and installa- tions, while fewer (83%) do their own in-house printing. Roughly 80 percent of shops also do in-house wrap remov- als and repairs. While most shops do all work in-house (58%), some (20%) say they outsource a portion of their printing and installations. Fewer (12%) outsource design work. Materials Installed—For shops doing in-house installations, most (92%) say they install cut-vinyl graphics, and more than 80 percent say they install printed film, laminating film and perforated window film, while 52 percent say they install chrome/metallic films and 47 per- cent say they install color-change films. Approximately 35 percent say they also install paint protection films, and 49 per- cent of shops say that in addition to wrap installations, they also offer printable 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 57.9% Industry Trade Magazines 54.6% Online Training 52.2% YouTube 38.8% Trade Shows 24.3% Apprenticeships BUSINESS & SALES