Stationery Market

January 2006

Stationery Market

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STATIONERY: MARKET SIZE
The German market for stationery declined marginally by 0.1% in 2003 to reach value sales of almost €4 billion (US$4.9 billion) in 2004.

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STATIONERY: MARKET SECTORS
Other stationery remained the most important sector in the market with a market share of over 44%, worth €1.8 billion (US$2.2 billion) in 2004.

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STATIONERY: SHARE OF MARKET
Herlitz remained the leader in the German market for stationery in 2004 with a market share of close to 9%.

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STATIONERY: MARKETING ACTIVITY
Marketing expenditure of the key players (given here as group figure) amounted to €50 million (US$62 million) in 2004, roughly 1.3% of the market value.

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STATIONERY: CORPORATE OVERVIEW
Despite remaining the leader in the German market for stationery in 2004, Herlitz has also been the most troubled player in terms of growth.

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STATIONERY: Herlitz Group
Turnover in 2004 amounted to €335 million (US$414 million), a 3.4% decrease over the previous year. Pre-tax profit increased significantly from €1.7 million (US$2 million) in 2003 to €3.7 million (US$5 million) in 2004.

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STATIONERY: Staedtler Mars GmbH & Co
Turnover for 2004 amounted to an estimated €224 million (US$277 million), a decrease of 1.3% on the previous year.

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STATIONERY: Schwan Stabilo Group
Turnover for 2004 amounted to approximately €280 million (US$346 million), an increase of 2.5% on the previous year.

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STATIONERY: edding AG
Edding AG generated turnover of €95 million (US$117 million) in 2004, an increase of 1.4% on 2003.

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STATIONERY: DISTRIBUTION
Stationery specialists were still the preferred retail outlet for stationery products in Germany, with their share in retail amounting to 37.5% in 2004. However, they are losing ground, as they are increasingly unable to afford inner city locations.

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STATIONERY: CONSUMER PROFILE
The annual survey of factors influencing Germans’ decisions when purchasing stationery goods reveals changing concerns over the past three years.

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STATIONERY: MARKET FORECASTS
The German market for stationery is expected to be worth almost €4 billion (US$5 billion) in 2009, indicating a slight growth after a few years of decline.

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STATIONERY: SECTOR FORECASTS

•	MARKET SIZE The US market for stationery shrank 2.6% during 2004 to a value of approximately US$22.5 billion in 2004, down from US$23 billion in 2003.
•	MARKET SECTORS The stationery and school supplies sector was the largest sector, accounting for 60.1% of total market revenue in 2004, at US$13.5 billion in 2004.
•	SHARE OF MARKET The top five companies in the US stationery market accounted for 44% of total market revenues in 2004, as the market remained relatively fragmented among the estimated 2,000 companies in the industry.
•	MARKETING ACTIVITY Combined advertising expenditures for two of the top players in the industry dropped during 2004.
•	CORPORATE OVERVIEW Of the top five players in the stationery segment, Hallmark and American Greetings stand out as the two true competitors that maintain a sharp focus on the market. Newell Rubbermaid, Meadwestvaco and SocieteBIC all have stationery business lines but the majority of their sales come from other product lines ranging from office supplies to industrial paper products.
•	HALLMARK CARDS, INC Hallmark increased revenues by 2% in 2004 to US$4.4 billion, up from US$4.3 billion in 2003.
•	AMERICAN GREETINGS American Greeting’s revenue decreased 5.3% to US$1.9 billion in 2004 from US$2.0 billion in 2003.
•	MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION Meadwestvaco's revenue increased by 8.9% in 2004 to US$8.2 billion from US$7.5 billion in 2003.
•	NEWELL RUBBERMAID Newell Rubbermaid's revenue decreased 12.9% to US$6.74 billion in 2004 from US$7.75 billion in 2003.
•	SOCIETE BIC Societe BIC's 2004 revenue increased 10.8% to US$1.89 billion from US$1.7 billion in 2003.
•	DISTRIBUTION Mass market retailers continue to dominate the distribution channel for stationery, accounting for some 30% of the market in 2004. Supercenters/Hyper markets held onto a 20% share over 2004.
•	CONSUMER PROFILE Stationery and greeting card customers are predominately women, which accounted for 60% of cards sold in 2004. Americans send about 6 billion cards a year, half of which are purchased for the holiday season. The average American receives more than 20 greeting cards a year, with 1/3 of them being for birthdays, according to Hallmark.
•	MARKET FORECASTS The US stationery market is forecast to grow 15.5% over the 2004 to 2009 forecast period to reach a value of US$26.0 billion in 2009.
•	SECTOR FORECASTS The stationery and school supplies sector will be the largest during the forecast period, making up 70% of the stationery market by 2009 and will account for US$18.2 billion in sales.

Other stationery, which includes the growing SoHo segment, is expected to be the largest sector in the market in 2009 with a market share of 45%, worth €1.8 billion (US$2.2 billion).

http://www.euromonitor.com/Stationery_in_USA_(mmp)

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Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c20656) has announced the addition of Stationery (Personal & Office) - Market Report 2005 to their offering

The UK stationery market, as covered by this Market Report, includes products for office, home and educational use, but excludes greetings cards and calendars. Despite a favourable economic background, corporate customers have tended to economise by trading down to own-brand or lower-specification products. This, together with the continued pressure from cheap imports from the Far East, has reduced the stationery market's value between 2000 and 2003. However, spending is believed to have improved slightly in 2004. This report estimates that, in 2004, the total UK stationery market was worth 2.15bn at manufacturers' selling prices (msp), a rise of 0.9% on 2003. Between 2000 and 2004, the market is estimated to have decreased by 9.1%.

In 2004, an estimated 78.7% of the market's value was accounted for by products made principally from paper and board, including, for example, envelopes, cut paper, continuous business forms, notebooks and diaries, and files and folders. The remainder of the market comprised other stationery items, such as writing instruments and desktop items.

Growth in electronic communication is having some negative influence on stationery volumes and some traditional product sectors have decreased substantially between 2000 and 2004. However, direct mail has continued to benefit the manufacturers and suppliers of envelopes and labels. Decorative items of personal stationery, such as notebooks and albums, continue to sell well and the market is benefiting from the use of many kinds of stationery items as personal and business gifts.

The pressure of competition kept manufacturers' price rises to a minimum between 2000 and 2003, but prices increased slightly more in 2004 as manufacturers passed on some of the rising costs that they could no longer absorb. The envelopes subsector had the steepest price rises between 1999 and 2004.

The stationery and office products distribution sector has been subject to many corporate changes since 2000. The most recent changes include the acquisition by Staples Inc in 2004 of superstore chain Office World from its Swiss parent. In the UK, this acquisition is resulting in the merger of the two largest office products superstore chains - Staples and Office World - under the Staples brand. 2004 also saw management buyouts (MBOs) at both Kingfield Heath and OyezStraker, the opening of a new wholesaler - The Stationery Channel - and a string of acquisitions by Dudley Inkwell.

Between 2005 and 2009, it is forecast that the UK stationery market will decline by 4.7% at constant 2004 prices. However, rising raw material costs and UK inflation will provide some annual growth in the market in current price terms.
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c20656

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Moscow is the stationery capital of Russia, accounting for 80% of the US$350 million or so turnover in the country's market, according to official 2002 figures.

The entire sector is heading north, with sales jumping some 20% over 2001.

The corporate sector leads the charge, accounting for more than half the market, while school requirements are stable and predictable. That's not difficult to understand, in view of the multitude of new companies setting up, with their demand for new stationery.

Now, dozens of new Moscow companies specialise in stationery. The market leaders are Top Pen, Pro Bureau, Bureaucrat and A1. These companies offer up to 5,000 items each, and success depends on a subtle combination of price and quality, backed up by a wide assortment of products.

Given that so many companies are in the market, margins are tight. Locally manufactured products find difficulty competing with imported items on both price and quality.

Russian corporate customers are less likely to buy local pens, pencils and erasers, so that these products account for as low as 15% of the market for corporate stationery.

One exception is the domestic corporate paper products market, which is not monitored by the official survey. This has traditionally enjoyed good demand thanks to high quality resulting from privatisation and modernisation during the mid-1990s. Trademarks such as Ballet Paper and Copy 100 are best sellers not only in Russia, but also across the former USSR.

Currently, the stationery market is dominated by products from China, the Asian region, the US, Japan and the EU. The Czech Republic and Poland also have some market share.

Russian importers confirm that the market is moving to higher quality, suggesting more expensive products. This suggests a call to value-added suppliers, since corporate image is becoming increasingly required, particularly during the current buying season.

The trend has been taken up by Office Premier, which has launched cardboard archive files production with technology from Germany's Erich Krause. Prices for these products have dropped up to 60%.

Following this, Pro 100, through its private brand Siegler, has introduced Boom (for schools) and Proff (for the corporate market). Pro 100 places orders in South East Asia, Eastern Europe and Russia on OEM and ODM projects.

Leonid Orlov, Moscow Consultant