Signage Market: Global Outlook And Industry Trends

The signage market size plays a crucial role in several industries and includes all sorts of signs and displays, such as backlit and pop displays, billboards, corporate graphics, and trade show materials, as well as banners, backdrops, and flags.

By 2020, the global signage market is estimated to cross a value of $49.8 billion.

Global Outlook

The high-maturity markets for the signage industry include various regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia.

Within them, China, India, the U.S., and the U.K. have the most demand for signage. Moreover, the Australian digital signage market is also expected to make a significant leap in growth, crossing $130 million by 2020. One major reason behind this projection is the fact that major Australian retail chains are increasingly favoring digital signage.

This has resulted in major growth in linked end-user segments, such as public transport and financial services. In addition, industries such as FMCG, FBT, and retail are also contributing to the overall revenue of the signage market.

As seasoned buyers narrow their focus on consolidating suppliers, a majority of signage suppliers are looking to expand their geographic footprint. Suppliers are also widening their service portfolio in an attempt to cater to a larger chunk of the buyers’ trade marketing spend.

Industry Trends

Several trends are being witnessed in the global signage industry today, ranging from the changing dynamic of the signage industry, an overall increase in retail space worldwide, the heightened demand for context-appropriate signage, as well as the increasing transition of traditional stores into smart stores.

As a result, the retail market is estimated to play a significant role in increasing the revenue of the signage market.

1. In the near future, the biggest winner in terms of growth will be the digital signage industry

Digital, rather than physical signage, will be at the center of the industry in the future. Due to the constant innovation in software, there is expected to be greater ease of use as well as technological advancement in the digital signage solution market.

Therefore, the estimated growth rate of the digital signage market far outdoes that for physical signage, since physical signage have a long operational life, and are therefore not frequently purchased.

Given that software licenses are required to be purchased and updated at periodic intervals for digital signage, the software market is primed to grow drastically in the future.

2. The digital signage market will be dominated by the commercial vertical

The commercial vertical is a significant part of the signage market, comprising of retail, hospitality, healthcare, corporate and broadcast, and government sectors.

It also includes control and command centers with applications across hospitals, hotels, malls, along with quick-service restaurants (QSRs), to name just a few.

3. The public places industry, along with transportation, will witness the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR)

Transportation requires a large number of screens to be connected with different technologies (like databases) which can maintain reservation allocations as well as travel itineraries in one place.

It also requires large screen displays at public arenas such as railway stations, highways, and airports. With the increase in innovation in digital signage, new displays have been developed which are highly aesthetically pleasing and can also effectively communicate with passengers (in the case of airports and railway stations) much better than conventional signage could.

Moreover, this also opens up the possibility of live video streaming at very high brightness levels during all hours of the day. Being constantly updated with new information, it helps consumers interact better with their environment.

Finally, this all adds up to provide a significantly enhanced user experience, which is at the heart of the driving force behind the signage market.

4. North America still has the leading share of the digital signage market

Being at an unparalleled advantage in terms of technological advancement, the strongest market for signage remains North America.

This has been the case for several decades now since it has always pioneered innovation in this space, whether it be regarding digital signage or smart signage. The signage market in North America is fuelled by the high standard of living that most individuals have, as well as their need for accurate information, delivered both in a fast pace and without gaps.

Since other regions are still to catch up by way of technology, it seems unlikely that markets of other regions will mature anytime soon, given that North America is at least decades ahead, if not centuries.

Key Players in the Signage Market

• Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
• Sharp (Japan)
• E Ink Holdings (Taiwan)
• Omnivex Corporation (Canada)
• Deepsky Corporation (Hong Kong)
• Daktronics (US)
• Exceptional 3D (US)
• Christie Digital Systems (US)

Digital signage, through effective dissemination of advertising and promotional material, can attract large groups of customers, which contributes significantly to the growth of this vertical.

This is one of the primary reasons why there is an increase in customer bases everywhere, as well as an increase in customer satisfaction.