Click-click-click…that’s the sound of the increasing amount of e-commerce activity in the printing industry. Today’s consumers love having the ability to customize, and even personalize, printed products online whenever and wherever they choose. Thanks to the proliferation of digital printing technologies, the number of products within consumers’ reach is simply remarkable. Everything from personalized clothing to home décor and photo products can be customized and ordered online. In industry lingo, this is a trend toward mass customization.

Businesses are jumping onto the e-commerce bandwagon, too. Online design tools dropped into controlled and branded web storefronts enable business users to customize materials to local markets and tastes while maintaining compliance and brand controls. With capabilities like these in high demand, online design tools (e.g., Chili Publish and Silicon Publishing) are expected to demonstrate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.4% between 2017 and 2021. Businesses can also set ordering, monetary limits, and thresholds in the storefronts to save more money.

Based on government NAICS data and the percentage of work that U.S.-based PSPs say is being ordered online, Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends projects that the U.S. e-commerce industry will demonstrate a CAGR of 5.2% between 2016 and 2021, reaching $48 billion by 2021. Meanwhile, the value of shipments ordered offline will decrease at a CAGR of -6.0% during the same timeframe. Some of the e-commerce value has been consolidated by large online print service providers like Vistaprint. The majority, as mirrored by the number and size of industry establishments, is generated by a high number of PSPs that are generating far less online sales and shipments.