Laser labels are becoming one of the fastest growing segments in the label industry. Why is this large mature market acting like an emerging product in a dynamic market?

Basically there are three reasons:

Laser labels have traditionally sold through retail outlets in small quantity packs between 25 and 100 8-1/2 x 11" sheets. The cost per sheet range from 0.18 a sheet for retail private labeled 100 packs to 0.40 a sheet for a pack of 25 branded labeled sheets such as Avery labels. These high prices at retail, until a couple of years ago, limited laser label usage.

1. Number One Reason Is Price
Laser labels are now being sold through many different market channels at very competitive prices. Resellers can purchase 100 sheet packs for as low as 0.12 a sheet. Industrial cases of 1000 sheets sell to resellers as low as .09 a sheet. This dramatically reduces the price and makes laser labels very attractive.

2. Number Two Reason Is Printer Technology
Over the last decade, inkjet and laser printers have made major improvements on print quality. At the same time, the prices of inkjet and laser printers have come down as low as under $100.00. This allows users to print high quality, multi-color laser or inkjet labels with existing company printers. Companies, in many cases, have had to buy expensive thermal transfer printers with special software to do product identification labels with bar codes. This is no longer the case because both the inkjet and laser printers produce bar codes.

3. Number Three Reason Is Convenience
80% of all laser labels come in less than a dozen sizes on an 8-1/2 x 11" size sheet. They can be used for almost any application. An inkjet printer costing less than $100.00 can produce anything from address labels to multi-color product labels with bar codes. Existing computer networks, without special software, can be used to print labels from every printer. Short-run color labels can be produced for a fraction of the cost of flexo-printed labels. Inventories can be reduced by thousands of dollars.

Laser labels will continue to grow much faster than the rest of the label market because of the reasons we have explained. There is no complexity with laser labels. Existing laser label users can substitute branded or non-branded without any issues.