Inkjet cartridge refilling had been one of the growing industries in the past several years. With the high growth in the sales of computers and printers, the need to replace the cartridges of the inkjet printers, laser printers, photocopiers, and fax machines had also swelled enormously. The increase in digital photography had further augmented the need of cartridge replacements.
The cost of new cartridges and in particular the cost of color cartridges is comparatively higher for the small office home office (SOHO) segment. Refilling of the printer ink cartridges had been a real boon to these people. It is estimated that nearly 80% of printer users discard the old cartridges to buy new ones. Hence, there is a vast potential in the cartridge refilling market worldwide, because refilling saves about 50% of the cartridge replacement cost.
Cartridge replacement cost vs. refilling cost
Data reveal that there are about 220 million printers in the business houses and homes of the United States. Consequently, inkjet cartridge refilling franchises in the US are increasing day by day. The cost of a new black cartridge of an inkjet printer is between $20 and $30, while a color cartridge costs around $50. The cost of refilling varies between $7 and $15 only. That is an enormous saving for the entire country, where about 300 million cartridges accumulate in the landfills each year
Inkjet cartridge refilling franchises in US
In the United States, the inkjet printer annual sales are nearly 20 million and the replacement of inkjet cartridges is around 500 million. According to estimates, the inkjet cartridge refilling market is expected to grow to more than 40 million cartridges in 2009 from just 7 million in 2005. The refilling is done by franchised operators, chain stores, and independent refillers in the US. Researches show that retail chain stores are likely to dominate the ink cartridge refilling sector in 2009. In the United States, four top inkjet refilling franchisors are dominating the market. They are Cartridge Word, Island Ink-Jet, Rapid Refill Ink, and Caboodle Cartridge. They control about 700-800 retail refilling locations in the US.
Retail chain stores - huge potential for refilling market
The major retail chains in the US include supermarkets, consumer electronic outlets, office supply stores, and drugstores. Retailers with brand names like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Office Depot, Costco, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, CVS, CompUSA, and Staples possess more than 20,000 outlets for their retail operations. According to Lyra Research Inc., the inkjet cartridge refilling sales in these retail chain stores is likely to reach around 62% of all the refilling sales in the US. This segment accounted for only 7% of cartridge refilling in 2005.
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