- The three most pressing concerns ranked number one within the entire dealer universe comprising our Survey continue to be: declining clicks (52%), competing with manufacturer’s direct branches (20%), and hiring and retention (17%).
- When viewing those concerns regardless of where the dealer ranked them, the top three concerns are declining clicks (78%), hiring and retention (58%), and maintaining profitability (49%).
- While competing with manufacturers’ direct branches has been a long-time dealer concern, it has declined for three straight years when examining concerns regardless of positioning. Last year, it dropped to sixth place (37%), and this year, it has fallen to seventh place (32%), behind effectively diversifying your product/solutions/services offerings (42%), the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (40%), and a clear vision of where the industry is heading (37%).
- 24% of Canon and Ricoh dealers were most concerned about competition from direct branches, compared to dealers representing the other Big Six OEMs.
- Dealers representing Sharp (49%), Ricoh (43%), and Kyocera (42%) were most concerned about diversifying their product/solutions/services offerings.
- Dealers ranked the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as their fifth greatest concern.
- Dealers’ ratings of their A3 manufacturers declined slightly from the previous year, with the Big Six averaging 4.3 out of a possible score of 5.0. Last year, that figure was 4.5.
- For the third consecutive year, Sharp received the highest A3 manufacturer rating (4.5).
- The biggest rating declines among the A3 OEMs were by Konica Minolta, 4.1 from 4.5 last year, and Ricoh, 4.0 compared to 4.4 last year.
- Sharp claimed the highest rating among the A4 providers (4.5). Ricoh, despite not having an extensive A4 line, ranked second at 4.2.
- A4 ratings for HP, Kyocera, and Lexmark all declined from the previous year. For the second straight year, Lexmark received the lowest rating (3.6), down from 3.8 a year ago.
- Ricoh was identified by 28% of dealers as the top production print provider, followed by Konica Minolta (19%), Canon (18%), and Xerox (13%).
- For the fifth consecutive year, the average number of leasing partners was 2.6.
- The ratings of the top five leasing partners—those identified by 25 or more dealers as a primary leasing partner—were GreatAmerica Financial Services (4.6), U.S. Bank (4.5), DLL (4.3), Wells Fargo (4.3), and LEAF Commercial Capital (4.0).
- The percentage of dealers handling their own leasing rose from 3.3% last year to 7.9%.
- The top two ECM/document management providers in this year’s Survey were DocuWare and Square 9, followed by Laserfiche and M-Files. The top four print management providers were ACDI/PaperCut, FMAudit, PrintFleet, and Print Audit.
- Despite the pandemic, 43% of dealers are very optimistic about the future of their businesses, 38% optimistic, and 16% somewhat optimistic. Only 1% were neutral, while 0.6% were pessimistic, and 1% somewhat pessimistic about the future of their business.
- Canon and Ricoh have the most optimistic dealers, with not a single dealer representing those companies selecting neutral or pessimistic.
- When asked how their customers feel about their companies’ performance in 2021, 71% of the dealers said their customers were positive about the future of their business. Nine percent (9%) are very optimistic and 62% optimistic.
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