UK Office Product Market Stumbles in 1Q2015

The UK office product market, which includes toner and inkjet cartridges, dropped 0.1%, 2.6% and 1.8% respectively in the first three months of 2015, reported The GfK Group SE, Germany’s largest market research institute.

According to the Recycler, the IT market, containing printers and multifunctional devices, declined 3.0%, 2.2% and 4.2% respectively in value in the same period. The durables market, covering office and IT products, declined 1.0% and 5.0% in offline sales. Meanwhile, online sales in the segment increased 6.0% in February and 2.0% in March.

The office market saw 6.0% year-over-year growth in online sales and 4.0% decrease in offline sales. The IT market experienced 3.0% and 5.0% declines in both online and offline segments. The two markets registered 4.0% and 5.0% declines respectively in chain store purchases.