“People went on vacation this year, but we can clearly feel that hardly any long-distance trips have been made,” says Marlene Kittel, managing director of the photo book and photo product specialist “Happy Foto” based in Freistadt. “If you are on holiday in Croatia for the third time, you will not make a photo book as a souvenir afterwards.” Summer and autumn were difficult for the industry (around 300 providers in German-speaking countries): Numerous celebrations and weddings, which are usually recorded in photo books and on photo calendars, also fell through this year. According to Kittel, this will also be reflected in the balance sheet for the current financial year (as of January 31). In 2020/21 sales were around 25 million euros: “We will probably not achieve this value.”
The weeks before Christmas are traditionally the most important of the whole year for Happy Foto: books and calendars are popular gifts. Around 40 percent of sales are made in the six weeks before Christmas Eve. The order books are also well filled this year, most recently production was carried out six days a week in order to be able to process all orders before the festival. This was made possible by the discipline of the employees, says Kittel: “Almost 100 percent are vaccinated, we wear masks all the time. I’m very proud.” More than 17,000 photo books and 15,000 calendars are produced in Freistadt on busy days.
From Freistadt to four countries
The processes are largely automated, but some work steps, such as the binding of the books, are done manually: Ten people have a photo book in their hand before it is finished. Two thirds of sales are achieved in Austria. The books, calendars and mugs are also delivered to the Czech Republic (there is also a branch there), to Slovakia and, to a lesser extent, to Germany.
Three hurdles to the photo book
Many people would appreciate photo books, but still forego creating one due to three hurdles: According to Kittel, they don’t take the time and are overwhelmed by both the technology and the thousands of photos on their smartphone.
Happy Foto has therefore developed the “Smart Moments” app: With the help of artificial intelligence, the best photos are selected, motifs that appear multiple times are sorted out. A first proposal for a photo book will then be created automatically. The customer can still lend a hand.
While books are ordered all year round, according to Kittel, photo calendars are almost exclusively in demand under the Christmas tree: “These are popular gifts. Grandparents demand these memories from children and grandchildren.”
Source: Nachrichten
