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ST’s Inaugural Vehicle-Graphics Survey

Survey comprises 23 questions; suggestions for improving next year’s version welcome

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Even during the era when vehicle graphics meant paint and liquid clearcoats, they’ve been popular. However, inkjet printing has made them exponentially more affordable and efficient. And, ever-evolving materials, inks and laminates have further fueled the market’s growth.
We acknowledged the dynamic, vehicle-wrap market by creating a separate Vehicle Graphics Contest in 2007. During the subsequent eight years, latex-ink printers have improved and provided another wrap-decoration option, and such specialty films as carbon-fiber, textured and solid-color have expanded the personalized-vehicle market.
As such, we decided to introduce our inaugural Vehicle Wrap Survey. Using a www.surveymonkey.com questionnaire, we composed 23 questions to gauge wrap shops’ growth, and the tools and equipment they use to ply their trade. Although the 73 responses received fall a bit short of our anticipated response, we hope they will grow in coming years.
I consulted two wrap shops, Wicked Wraps (Mukilteo, WA) and Dr. Wraps (Canton, OH), for input on how to tweak the questionnaire, but I’d certainly appreciate feedback on how I can improve it in the coming years.

Question 1: What is your shop’s annual revenue?
It all comes down to money, doesn’t it? Seventy-two respondents – all survey answers were provided anonymously – volunteered their revenue range. As I expected, the size of the responding shops was relatively balanced; a modest plurality, 26.4%, fall within the $250,000-$500,000 annual-revenue range. Shops in the $500,000-1 million and $1-5 million ranges accounted for 22.2 and 23.6%, respectively, with shops under $250,000 in annual revenue close behind at 19.4%. The megashops – $5 million-plus – garnered only 8.3%.

Question 2: How long has your shop been in operation?
These responses surprised me somewhat. Vehicles wraps are perceived as a hip, trendy type of graphic, and some might regard them as a specialty for a newer shop. But, veteran signmakers have clearly mastered the market and evolved with market trends.
Shops in business for 5-10 years, and those in existence for more than 20 years, tied at 30.2%. Shops in business 10-20 years represented 23.3%% of those who answered, followed by 1-5-year-old shops at 12.3%. Only three shops, or 4.1%, in business less than one year, answered (it’s possible the newbies are less familiar with industry publications).

Question 3: How much of your shop’s annual revenue comes from vehicle graphics?
For most respondents, vehicle graphics represent a bread-and-butter business segment. Only 20.8% of those taking the survey listed vehicle graphics as encompassing less than 25% of their business. A small plurality, 30.6%, noted that vehicle graphics occupied 25-50% of its business. Nearly half, 48.6% (which was divided nearly evenly between 50-75% and 75% or more), said vehicle graphics represent a majority of their business.

Question 4: How did your vehicle-graphics sales change from 2013 to 2014?
Survey respondents conveyed almost universally good news for 2014 sales compared to 2013. The largest segment, 34.3%, reported sales had risen 10-20%, closely followed by the 31.3% that reported growth of more than 20%. Approximately 1 in 6 respondents reported no change, while 12% reported single-digit percentage growth. Only 6% reported a sales decline.

Question 5: How large is your shop’s vehicle-graphics production space?
Here, we asked survey participants about the size of their shops. Nearly 80% said their shops spanned 5,000 sq. ft. or less, with those in the 2,000-5,000-sq.-ft. range netting 41.2% or responses, and those less than 2,000 sq. ft. accounting for 38.2%. Only 6 of the
68 responding shops work in facilities that measure 5,000-10,000 sq. ft., with four each in the 10,000-20,000 sq.-ft. and 20,000-plus-sq.-ft. ranges. Presumably, there may be a heavy correlation between specializing in vehicle wraps and smaller shops. After all, more production-floor space wouldn’t be required for more types of sign fabrication.

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Question 6: How many full-time, vehicle-wrap employees do you have (including design, production, installation, and marketing and sales)?
Signshops remain the epitome of small business; a sizable majority operates with five or fewer employees. These responses affirm that. Among the 68 respondents, 39, or 57.4%, maintain a staff of one to three workers, and an additional 18, or 26.5%, operate with four to eight employees. Thus, approximately five out of every six vehicle-graphic shops that answered thrive with less than 10 workers.

Question 7: Do you operate a franchise, franchise-licensed, or non-franchised, chain shop?
In the interest of full disclosure, I contacted franchise representatives to notify them about the survey. Still, a large majority – 49 of the 59 that answered the question, or 83.1% – conveyed they maintain an independent shop.

Question 8: How many vehicles are involved in your customers’ jobs?
Admittedly, the wording of this question may have seemed confusing to some. We wanted to know how many shops produced one-off wrap jobs for clients, and how many decorated fleets. Only 53 survey respondents answered the question, and no one filled in every blank. When someone left the “10 or more” field blank, we presumed that shop didn’t handle fleets that large. We divided the total numbers for each response by the number of responses, and all combined responses totaled 100%. Again, it’s evident that wrap shops are small businesses that serve other small businesses – just over half (52.4%) of projects were handled for customers with only one vehicle to wrap. Next, 22.2% were done for two-to-four-vehicle campaigns, 12.4% for 5-9 vehicles, and 13% for fleets of 10 or more.

Questions 9-11: Do you design, produce or install vehicle wraps, but subcontract certain phases to another shop?
What vehicle wrap project portions do you handle in-house?
If you produce wraps both in-house and through subcontracting, what portion do you sub out?

This trio of questions inquired about the amount of vehicle-wrap work that’s subcontracted. The answer? In keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit of these shop owners, they like to control their own destinies and mostly keep work inhouse. Among the 59 who answered Question 9, only 11 (18.6%) acknowledged subcontracting the design, production or installation of vehicle wraps. Looking at Question 10, one can further surmise the breakdown. Given the same number of responses, three of the 59 (slightly more than 5%) farm out wrap design, four (6.8%) subcontract vehicle-wrap production, and another four recruit others to handle installation. As such, each phase is handled in-house by more than 90% of respondents. Among those who do subcontract, it’s done a minority of the time. Only 32 respondents answered Question 11 (it’s safe to assume those who skipped are involved with no subcontracting), and 81.3% outsource wrap production less than 25% of the time, and the remainder 25-50% of the time.

Question 12: Fill in the approximate percentage for how often you use each vehicle-graphic decoration method. Answers must total 100%.
Not surprisingly, inkjet-printed wraps dominate the vehicle-graphic production among the 59 responding shops. Based on the allocations listed, such wraps represent an average of 70% of answering shops’ vehicle-graphic workload. A distant second, approximately 20.8% of shops’ vehicle graphics comprise plotter- or hand-cut, vinyl graphics. A slight surprise, only 8.5% of respondents reported using textured, metallic, carbon-fiber or other paint-replacement wrap films. Interest in such personalized wraps likely varies greatly by locale. And, although 30 respondents said they painted, gilded, spraypainted or pinstriped vehicle graphics, they comprise less than 1% of their business.

Question 13: Which ink systems do you use to produce vehicle wraps? Answers must total 100%.
Here, we begin to delve into the tools and equipment wrap providers use to ply their trade. Only 53 respondents provided information about the kind of ink they use; presumably, those who specialize in cut graphics left this question blank. Further, none of the options received more than 34 tallies as a technology used by the shop, which seemingly indicates that many only use one printer, and thus one ink type, to produce wraps. Aggregating each choice based on the number of responses, 45.8% of wraps produced by respondents were made with eco-solvent inks. Next, full-solvent-printed wraps captured 30.8% percent of the market, a number that seems poised to grow in coming years. Then, latex-ink wraps represent precisely 20% of the market, and UV-cure inks, whose improving flexibility only recently made them viable for vehicle wraps, represent the remaining 3.4%.

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Question 14: List how often you use each type of film to produce vehicle wraps. Answers must total 100%.
Not surprisingly, printable cast films dominate the vehicle-wrap market. According to 51 respondents, they comprise 70% of material used. The remaining 30% is relatively evenly divided between perforated window film, calendered media and non-printable, textured, metallic or carbon-fiber media.

Question 15: What brands of PSA vinyl do you use? Check all that apply.
Respondents were allowed to list more than one type of media, so the total number exceeds 100%. More than 92% of 55 respondents use 3M materials, followed by Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions at 55.6% and Orafol at 31.5%. Next, Arlon scored 16.7% and MACtac 13%. Ritrama, Hexis, General Formulations and Kapco achieved single-digit percentages. One “other” response reported using KPMF media.

Question 16: Do you use air-release media?
Perhaps this question falls under the “Well, duh!” category. All but two of the 56 respondents use air-release media.

Question 17: What types of vehicles do you decorate? Check all that apply.
The broad array of responses underscores vehicle wraps’ diversity. Not surprisingly, all 54 respondents noted wrapping cars, trucks and SUVs. Further, more than 90% also work on box trucks, passenger vans and semi tractors and trailers. Non-commercial, personal vehicles neared 90%, and approximately 75% also work on walk-in vans and food trucks. A food-truck aficionado, I was glad to note their relative popularity, given that weather and lack of population density limit their use in some areas. I’ll add additional choices next year; we received 11 “Other” responses. In them, boats were noted five times, and emergency vehicles, exotic cars, motorcycles, ATVs and RVs were also cited.

Question 18: What brand(s) of printer(s) do you use to produce vehicle wraps? Check all that apply.
For this question, which gauges printer usage, respondents could list more than one manufacturer. Still, the totals approximated only 130%, so most providers evidently only run one printer (given their expense, that’s understandable). Twenty-eight of the 54 respondents, or 51.85%, operate a Roland printer; in second, HP captured 40.7% of the tallies. Next, Mimaki accounted for 20.4% of the vote. No other OEM surpassed single digits.

Question 19: What brand of laminator do you use? Check all that apply.
Lamination is a valuable tool for protecting wraps, especially in cold- and warm-weather areas. The laminator of choice was essentially a two-horse race, between Royal Sovereign (44.9%) and Neschen/Seal (38.8%). GBC, at 16.33%, was the only other vendor to hit double digits. We allowed participants to list more than one vendor, but, again, most shops apparently either only use laminator, or, if they use multiple machines, are brand-loyal.

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Question 20: What type of squeegees do your installers use? Check all that apply.
Asking a vehicle-wrap installer what squeegee they prefer can seemingly be as personal as asking their religion or favorite food. However, felt squeegees prevailed, according to 73.6% of respondents (like the previous few questions, participants could list more than one type). A decade ago, I heard felt squeegees alternately referred to as “European” squeegees. Clearly, they’ve gained U.S. market acceptance. Smooth operators themselves, Teflon® squeegees comprised 64.2% of respondents’ usage, and were closely followed by nylon at 56.6%. Vinyl brought up the rear at 24.5%. In the other column, wet-edge and microfiber squeegees also received a couple votes.

Question 21: Besides squeegees, what other vehicle-wrap installation tools do you use? Check all that apply.
It may take a village to raise a child, and it definitely takes a kit full of tools to help a wrap shop run smoothly. With 94.2% of respondents using them, heat guns captured the top spot. Knifeless tape rated second with 88.5% – remarkable given its relatively recent introduction to the market. Masking tape, magnets, adhesion promoters (such as 3M Primer 94) and torches also rated 75% or above usage. In the next tier, vehicle-wrap templates, wrap gloves, Olfa and X-Acto® knives, edge sealers and rivet brushes are also used in more than 60% of respondents’ shops.
Only slightly more than 30% of respondents listed film rollers; I wonder if I’d referenced specific products, such as RollePro, V-CAT or Roller L tools, if the response rate would have been higher. They were mentioned several times in the “Other” category.

Question 22: What investments do you think your shop will make to build business this year? Check all that apply.
It takes money to make money, so we asked respondents how they planned to invest in their business this year. Only 5.9% answered none. The top three responses don’t involve equipment. A slight majority (52.9%) planned to spend more on advertising. Next – an encouraging sign – 49% plan to hire more production staff, and 43% plan to move or expand their shops. Among equipment options, printers topped the list for 33.3% of respondents; software or template upgrades came next at 27.5%. Nearly one-fourth (23.5%) plan to increase their vinyl inventory, and nearly 20% plan to buy a new laminator or hire new marketing staff.

Question 23: How do you think your vehicle-graphic business will change in the coming year?
Even during the 2008-2010 economic downturn, optimism reigned when respondents to other ST surveys were asked about next year’s sales. This survey’s respondents could be seen as nearly giddy when considering 2015’s prospects. None predicted a decline, and only 5.9% expected sales to remain the same. More than 42% predict growth by more than 20% this year, with 34.6% expecting 10-20% growth, and 17.3% forecasting single-digit-percentage growth.
 

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