The film era is gone, and Tumei continues to provide photofinishing services: people can keep the beautiful moments

Financial News

Written by: Kwong Yueting

2021-01-18 09:27

Last update date: 2021-01-18 09:27

In recent years, the functions of smart phones have become more and more advanced, and the shooting effect is even comparable to that of cameras. Many people have "pushed into the cold" and switched to portable mobile phones to take pictures.

In response to changes in people’s shooting habits, as the photofinishing company with the most physical stores in Hong Kong, Fotomax also actively seeks changes. In addition to continuing to provide photofinishing services, the company has developed word processing services and customized personalized products in recent years Service, and strive to make the product line more diversified.

Fotomax’s parent company is China-Hong Kong Photographic Equipment Group (1123), which is a distributor of Fuji Photographic Equipment in Hong Kong and Macau. In an interview with "Hong Kong 01", the managing director of Fotomax Sun Daoxi said that the group advocates that as long as there is Fujifilm, it will continue When selling film, as long as there is film, the company will provide development services.

In recent years, young people have gradually begun to shoot short videos to share life details. He believes that this is a trend that is difficult to change. "We can force the public to re-photograph, but instead encourage them to use photographs to "keep the beautiful moments."

Fotomax currently has 54 branches, and more than 50% of the company's revenue comes from the printing business.

(Picture of Kuitumei FB page)

Fotomax was established in 1982. At its peak, it had 99 stores, and the current number of stores is 54.

The company currently mainly provides photo printing services, digital imaging services, photographing ID photo services, word processing services, customized photo albums, photo frames and other personalized products.

In addition, the company also develops B2B business, including providing staff ID shooting services and annual report photo shooting for enterprises; shooting graduation ceremony photos, class photos, and producing school journals for schools; and cooperating with wedding photography companies to provide on-site shooting and development services.

In addition, the company has also cooperated with Disneyland to become a shooting and printing partner in the park.

At present, 80% of the company's business volume comes from B2C business, and B2B business accounts for about 20% of the company's business volume.

Most desperate to attract young customers

Sun Daoxi feels that the photofinishing industry is an industry made up of memories, and every photo records precious moments in the past.

However, now the younger generation only needs to use mobile phones to take, store and send photos. They don’t need to develop photos. The age of the company’s customers is likely to have a "fault" crisis, but the printing industry "has something to do" because of the elderly. The first generation will continue to develop photos, and married people will use photos to record the growth of their children.

"Older people will post many photos, while young people will only choose 1 or 2 photos. We can help guests develop high-definition photographs, use photo frames to mount the table on the wall, and decorate the house with photos or Office.” This year the company will launch joint products with more young brands. It also plans to cooperate with participants of reality shows on local TV stations to promote the products, hoping to attract more young people to use photos as a memento.

Fotomax can scour 4K high-definition photography works for guests to decorate their homes.

(Photo by Li Zetong)

In order to broaden the source of income, Fotomax has set up a word processing service to help citizens photocopy documents.

Sun Daoxi said that in recent years, many stationery stores no longer provide document photocopying services. The company saw that there is room for development, so it launched this service.

Because the company has a certain scale, the printing cost is also lower, the charges are more affordable, and it provides student discounts, which I believe is more attractive.

"If the school wants to print a color photocopy, it may accept 3 to 4 mosquitoes, and we will flatten about 1 mosquito." In addition, the company has branches in 18 districts in Hong Kong, which can provide customers with convenient photocopying services.

Personalized product service is another key point. The company will specially customize cups, key holders, water cups, kettles, badges, cameras and other products for customers, which are used as corporate gifts or OEM (OEM) products.

He revealed that more than 50% of the company's revenue comes from the printing business, while the word processing services and personalization services account for 20% and 10-15% respectively.

Sun Daoxi revealed that during the epidemic, the sales of photo gifts were relatively good, and the citizens hoped to make gifts of commemorative value.

(Photo by Li Zetong)

Two-pronged approach to throttling through difficulties

The new crown pneumonia epidemic has been raging for nearly a year, which has severely smashed businesses in all walks of life, and Kuitumei’s business has also been affected by the epidemic.

Sun Daoxi said frankly that under the epidemic, people could not travel, and the company's ID photo shooting service was almost stagnant, and the number of photos developed by customers was also greatly reduced. In addition, schools were closed, many wedding banquets were postponed, and Disneyland would also be closed for some days. "It's so difficult to do business. For the time being, we are all having a hard time. Fortunately, we have government subsidies (to ensure employment)!" In order to control expenditure, at the beginning of the epidemic last year, company employees used to take up to 4 days of unpaid leave each month. The management also has to cut pay by 20%, but it has returned to normal.

The Hong Kong government plans to launch a vaccination program next month. Sun Daoxi believes that after the vaccine is launched, the city will slowly recover, but it will not be able to return to the pre-epidemic level at the earliest next year.

In the low market, the company will try to introduce more discounts to attract customers.

He sighed: "The mentality of Hong Kong people is that they will want to buy first if there is a discount, and if there is a discount, they will wait until there is a discount. But our products are all from Japan, even if they are discounted, they will not achieve a low price." Future company More resources will be devoted to the development of B2B business, such as birthday parties, events, wedding photo shooting services, and will strive to develop diversified personalized products, and increase the development of online business. He pointed out that if the online business is progressing well, It is not ruled out that it will further reduce the number of stores. The company is considering opening a small filming workshop in a larger store next year. The fee per session is expected to be more than 400 to 500 yuan.

China-Hong Kong Photo (1123) Economic interview