3D printing for masses is no longer a sci-fi concept. Pretty soon all consumers will be able to print out a teapot, towel holder or an ashtray at home instead of making a trip to a supermarket. While this is great news for consumers, stores fret about their shrinking profits. But is a 3D printer a threat to retail or, quite the contrary, a brilliant opportunity?

Not so long ago 3D printing a highly expensive and rather underground technology with very narrow practical application. But today, everything from clothing and cars to musical instruments and even body parts can be created with a 3D printer. The global demand for 3D printing is expected to soar by over 20 percent each year and hit a whopping $5 billion in 2017. It seems that retail industry can also gain particular advantage from innovations in the space.

Prototypes to forecast demand

3D printing has been used for a while as means of prototyping. Manufactures and retailers have recently developed interest in this application of 3D printers. According to experts, the ease of prototyping new products with 3D printers will translate into more localized manufacturing. This may both help decrease supply chain costs and produce a better quality product. It is hardly a secret that nowadays retailers spend millions, if not billions, in an attempt to predict the type of products they ought to be purchasing. 3D printing could help firms save big bucks by enabling them to create and deliver products in small quantities in real time. This way companies get an actionable insight into which products will in fact drive demand. If shoppers fall for a 3D model, it justifies a mass production through traditional manufacturing channels to satisfy a growing demand.

Extra SKU-s at zero cost?

Another recent phenomenon that is gaining force is emergence of customization hubs within stores. Assisted by specially trained service personnel, shoppers can customize practically any product they wish and have it printed out while they are shopping in the store. If this model becomes more popular, we will soon witness the transformation of traditional retail outlets into hybrid stores/service bureaus. Already retailers like Staples are bringing 3D printing to their store locations to test the new solution. They want to see whether offering this type service to their customer has a real value. At the same time, they educate consumers about the technology. We can compare 3D printing to a sort of a factory in the cloud that enables a retailer to offer up to thousands of additional SKUs to its clients, but at no extra cost. After all, there is no need to provide more space for inventory. Given the fact that a 3D-printed product frequently exists first as a template saved to the cloud, the product is ready to be created in certain quantities once a consumer is ready to buy or the demand is there for a particular product line. In this arrangement, the benefit is for both the consumer and retailer due to reduced supply chain costs and the convenience of accessing a product from a shared network. In some scenarios retailer may have to charge more for custom-produced goods should they be created to meet specific requirements of a narrow group of clients.

Sources: http://www.forbes.com; http://3dprint.com
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