PRESS
RELEASES
NAGASA STUDY DOCUMENTS VIEWS
OF DEALERS AND RESELLERS
Washington DC, April 1997 - NAGASA - the North American Graphic Arts Suppliers Association - has announced the immediate availability of a comprehensive study of North American dealers and VARs and their relationships with the manufacturers they represent. The study - the sixth in an ongoing statistical series documenting the distribution channel - was completed in early 1997 by Mason Consulting Inc. The study contains detailed information regarding the sale of graphic arts products through dealers and includes data from 76 dealers across the US and Canada. Of these, 53 dealers had 1996 sales consisting primarily of consumable products such as film, plates and proofing material; 23 had 1996 sales of primarily equipment. The responding dealers represented some 48 percent of the NAGASA dealer membership at the time the survey was conducted. More than half of the questionnaires completed by the owner, chairman, president or CEO of the responding dealer.
The responding dealers reported 1996 sales in excess of $2 billion, of which 73 percent consisted of consumable items. Large consumables dealers -- defined as those with 1996 sales in excess of 410 million -- accounted for nearly 93 percent of the sales reported by the responding dealers. The dealers reported 4475 full time employees, or an average of 59 per dealership. More than half of the dealers responding reported doing business from only one outlet. Responding dealers indicated that they expect the number of dealer organizations to decline by more than 27 percent by the year 2000, and they expect the number of dealer outlets to decline by 12% during the same period.
The survey deals extensively with dealers' confidence in their ability to support digital technology, as well as the complexities of dealer-manufacturer relationships. Overall, dealers expressed the belief that printers and trade show shops would rather buy from dealers than from manufacturers directly. The report contains detailed responses to a series of questions, categorized according to the size and sales mix of the dealer, and includes verbatim narrative comments from the dealers.
In announcing the study, NAGASA president and CEO David J. Steinhardt commented: "This benchmark study complements a similar study exploring the channel from the manufacturers' viewpoint. In releasing these studies NAGASA expects to encourage dialogue between dealer and manufacturers, to the benefit of the entire industry." The study is available from NAGASA at 202-328-8441. The study is priced at $425 for members and $745 for nonmembers.
NAGASA - the North American Graphic Arts Suppliers Association - is the world's largest trade association of dealers, resellers, distributors, and manufacturers serving the graphic arts, imaging and publishing industries. NAGASA members sell more than $4 billion of equipment, supplies, systems, software, paper and service annually. NAGASA is dedicated to strengthening distribution channel alliances, streaming costs and operations, and improving the business performance of its more than 350 members. NAGASA: The Distribution Association for Printing and Imaging Technologies.