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By
Tara
Seals
Digital signage – that is, screens
that offer public information in retail
stores, transportation hubs, next-gen
billboards, hospitals and more – is a
fast-growing market fueled by ever-
better broadband and technological
innovation in the content arena. And
while it may seem like a niche play,
the role for channel partners in the
space could be a large one.
According to MarketsandMarkets,
the digital signage market was valued
at $16.88 billion last year, and is
expected to reach $27.34 billion by
2022, at a CAGR of 6.7 percent be-
tween 2016 and 2022. The firm said
that improvements in technology offer-
ings and infrastructure expansion is
likely to fuel the additional opportuni-
ties to offer the integration of real-time
data management tools, big data ana-
lytics and smart content, with multiple
presentations and dynamic interfaces
to further drive the market for public
commercial displays.
The firm also said that the growth of
the digital signage market for software
offerings is higher than that for hard-
ware offerings considering that displays,
media players, projectors, mounts and
other accessories don’t require frequent
purchases or replacements.
Kiosks held the largest market
share of the global digital signage mar-
ket last year and are expected to domi-
nate the market till 2022. Kiosks play
a significant role in the digital signage
market for providing access to informa-
tion and communications, commerce,
entertainment, education and other
applications; put simply, they are quick
and effective solutions, which can be
used virtually in all locations.
Aside from the overall market op-
portunity, SpinetiX research found that
digital signage is a great segment for
channel partners, with small installa-
tions from one to 20 screens being
the most common sale in both EMEA
and North America. Big projects with
more than 100 screens only represent
11 percent of total market.
SpinetiX also found that the aver-
age digital signage project duration is
typically three to five years. Content
production is a key element in the equa-
tion, so channel partners have to under-
stand how the end user will update the
content on the screen. Accordingly, pro-
fessional services represent 41 percent
of the average digital signage budget.
The scope as well as the overall budget
envelope (including capex and opex)
should be appreciated as a whole.
The small to medium enterprise
segment is obviously a sweet spot for
most channel partners, which here
have a golden opportunity to offer
ancillary technology, connectivity and
more along with the digital signage
solutions themselves.
“There is great potential for chan-
nel partners to bundle digital signage
solutions with third-party integration
to further differentiate themselves,”
a SpinetiX spokesperson told us.
“There’s a huge potential with CCTV,
queue management, building auto-
mation and more.”
In terms of specialized knowledge
or training, professional A/V and IT
channel partners are already skilled
to address the digital signage market
requirements – and networking and IP
skills are additionally valuable.
Above all, to be successful, part-
ners should vet their portfolio provid-
ers wisely.
“Channel partners need to work
with brands which value their role in
the ecosystem and have an integrity
on how they work with their channel
partners,” the SpinetiX spokesperson
said. “Too many players in the market
use the dealer to open the door of the
end user and then bypass the dealer
to take the good margin out of them.”
To put its money where its mouth
is, Convergent and SpinetiX kicked
off a channel partner program for
North America earlier in the year.
SpinetiX sells its digital signage
solutions primarily through distribu-
tors and dealers. And as a strategic
partner for North America since
2011, Convergent said that it made
a commitment to deliver more digital
signage business opportunities, addi-
tional business coaching and support
to SpinetiX channel partners.
“Our goal is to continuously improve
the digital signage experience of our cus-
tomers in every aspect,” said Francesco
Ziliani, CEO of Spinetix. “Following the
success of our channel partner program
in the EMEA region, we are focused on
growing our commercial presence in
North America. By growing our partner-
ship with Convergent in this way, we are
now truly ready to take the digital sig-
nage business to the next level.”
The program consists of four lev-
els tailored to reward participating
partners for their commitment, exper-
tise and performance. A partner gains
increasing benefits commensurate
with their commitment and proven
performance, such as special project
pricing, volume discounts, incremental
program support and supplemental
marketing resources.
“We are proud to expand our busi-
ness relationship with SpinetiX as a
SpinetiX Distribution Partner and play a
key role in growing the digital signage
market in North America by making it
more accessible to the companies who
previously considered it too complex or
unreliable for their environment,” said
Steve Schilling, president of Conver-
gent. “SpinetiX solutions fit very well
with Convergent’s mission to bring sim-
plicity, reliability, scalability and account-
ability to the digital signage industry.”
Digital Signage Lights Up
the Scene
INTERNATIONAL AGENTS
SECTION
34
CHANNEL
VISION
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July - August 2016