Over the next three to four years analysts expect the number of 3D printer sales to skyrocket. According to Gartner there were a total of just 108,151 3D printers sold in 2014. This number is expected to more than double this year to 217,350, and continue this pace each year until 2018 when they expect a staggering 2.3 million 3D printers will be sold. That’s right, just 4 years from now exponential growth within the market will equate to more than a 1000% increase in total printer sales.
This is likely why over the last several months we have been witnessing an expansion in the number of retailers offering 3D printers both online and within their physical stores. 3D printers are inching their way into the mainstream as companies like Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, The Home Depot, and Lowe’s become intermediaries between the manufacturers and the end user.
Although there still is a lack of 3D printers within physical store locations, the online business for several large stores seem to be taking off considerably. With so many options as of late, it intrigued us as to which machines were selling the best at some of the popular online retailers. And thanks to a company called JeeQ Data we were able to find out.
Founded by former Microsoft and Amazon.com employees, JeeQ is a cloud-based service which allows users to track sales data of various products offered on the websites of major retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon.
When Kevin Zhang, a co-founder of JeeQ Data, contacted us with a sneak peek at some of the data his company collects regarding 3D printer sales at various online stores, we were immediately intrigued. When we reached out to Zhang, he was kind enough to provide us with extensive data related to the sale of 3D printers, and 3D printing supplies on the Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon sites. The way the JeeQ system works is that it collects information regarding the top 10 best sellers within a specific category each morning. It then uses this information to create estimated sales data for thousands of different products. Below you will find several charts that provide us a clearer picture as to which machines are selling best at Best Buy, Amazon, and, to some extent, Walmart (first chart only).
Top Sellers For the Month Across All Marketplaces:
As you can see from the chart below, the Flashforge Creator Pro and the assembled ROBO 3D R1 machines have been consistently ranked higher than the other printers in our sample. This chart also shows the MakerBot Replicator struggling as of late, although data on this printer only goes back about a week.
Top Sellers For the Month at BestBuy.com by Printer Manufacturer:
The below chart shows that XYZprinting makes up nearly 33% of Best Buy’s 3D printer sales, at least according to JeeQ’s estimates. This is likely due to the affordable price that XYZprinting offers a number of their machines for. Following next is 3D Systems, which recently announced that they will bring their Cube 3D printers to 100 Best Buy store locations in the US, and then third is MakerBot.
Top Sellers For the Last Week at Amazon.com by Printer Manufacturer:
With a much larger selection of printers, and a shorter time frame of available data, the chart below can still be used to get a pretty accurate estimate as to what’s selling best on Amazon.com. 3Doodler, which sells their 3D printing pen on Amazon for just over $145 as a package, is currently leading the way. Although this isn’t a 3D printer from a technical standpoint, it is categorized as one. Alongside 3Doodler is Printrbot. They offer a number of machines on Amazon, including their flagship Printrbot Simple Metal for just $599. Rounding out the top five are ROBO 3D, XYZprinting, and Flashforge.
This is just a few samples of what JeeQ has to offer, but I hope that it has provided you will a little bit more insight into the online market for these machines. For those wishing to dive further into the numbers and unlock some cool features within the JeeQ platform, monthly memberships start at just $1.99. Additionally as new machines are added to a store’s inventory, better data will be made available, including that of Walmart which currently only offers a few 3D printers.
Let’s hear your thoughts on the charts provided above. Discuss in the 3D Printer Sales Trends forum thread on 3DPB.com.
