Since its inception, the digital signage industry has been on an upward trend with regard to growth and revenue generation. The expectation is that the global digital signage revenue will surpass US$15.1 billion this year, which is a 6.0% increase from 2013. In fact, market research firms expect that the entire digital signage market could be worth about US$14.87 billion by 2020, which comes to an annual growth rate of 8.94%.
Most of the current revenue is concentrated within North America and Europe but the Asia-Pacific market is poised to out-do both markets within a few years. The Arabic and African markets are also tapping into digital signage and they are set to grow exponentially as well.
Looks good, doesn’t it?
A quick glance at these figures and projections and any savvy business person would want to buy into this market. You see, digital signage is a most natural progression in marketing, advertising and general signing. While some global regions may be ahead of others, we are all essentially moving away from analogue systems to digital ones. This includes the sign industry: this is the greatest contributor to current and expected growth rates in the industry.
How do I get in?
Alright, so this sounds like good business. How do you get in? After all, handling of digital signage is by large companies and you do not have the resources to start one of your own. Even if you did, it would take forever to compete with the ‘big boys’ of the industry. So, what to do?
Well, there is this new trend among the ‘big boys’ to try and sell their products directly to the end user. This was initially reserved to hardware but now, digital signage companies are including software and facilitating the content end of things. The idea is to have small businesses get on the digital signage bandwagon by bringing it closer home. Most of these companies may have the best free digital signage but they are in serious need of a fully supported solution. Therefore, this reselling and distribution idea is actually contributing to the growth of the industry.
Where do I sign?
Well, you will literally have to sign up with a digital signage company to become one of its resellers (also referred to as distributors). Most companies will require you to be in some kind of IT or design related business like IT consultancy or website design, in order to ensure that you can reach the end-user. After all, you would not expect a person to be buying digital signage from a grocery store, right? Different companies have different terms of service, so make sure to read them through before signing on the proverbial dotted line.
Full support
Digital signage is not as simple as selling a piece of hardware (unless that is all you would like to do). If you want to go all in, you will be dealing in hardware, software and after-sale support to your clients, along with ensuring that you will be making a profit. While this can be a little overwhelming, most companies will provide support in various forms to ensure that you are successful. After all, your success means their success so do not be afraid to jump into the digital signage reselling business.