Electronic Shelf Label Market (ESL Market) - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025

Electronic shelf label market size to cross $700 Million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of over 26% during the period 2019–2025

Electronic shelf label market Size, Share, Trends, Analysis Report by Display (LCD and E-paper), Technology (RFID, IR, NFC, BLE, and Others), End-users (Supermarkets & Hypermarkets, Departmental Stores, Convenience Stores, Drug Stores, Others), and Geography (North America, APAC, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa) Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Growth Trends, Competitive Landscape, Share & Forecast, 2020–2025

The report also offers insights in terms of volume (million units).

MARKET DYNAMICS

The adoption of electronic shelf labels has been limited; however, the growth has been 3x times in the last five years, which is validating expansion opportunities in the coming years. Germany and Sweden are rapidly approaching the inflection point, which further propels the adoption pattern. The electronic shelf label market has witnessed several shifts from segmented and mono-chrome variants to multicolored labels. In highly competitive markets, players that offer less sophisticated but cheaper products have a high probability of success. The rise in the proliferation of IoT alongside the growing preference for digitalization is expected to boost the electronic shelf label market shares. The persistent growth in retail formats such as department stores, specialty stores, discounters, and convenience stores has further increased the reliance on technology.

The impact of COVID-19 has drastically affected the sale of ESL in early 2020. In March-April 2020, a majority of developed economies, including the US, the UK, Germany, and China, who are the significant ESL end-users tags, were under the strict lockdown to avoid the spread of the pandemic. This has dramatically affected the degree of replacement demand, which is considered to be a major source of income for the leading players in the industry.

Snippets

• The RFID technology is expected to reach a revenue of over $790 million by 2025.
• The supermarket & hypermarket segment is likely to witness an incremental revenue of over $1 billion by 2025.
• The e-paper technology is expected to reach $1.75 billion by 2025. The growth can be attributed to the consistent replacements of LCD labels with e-paper technology.
• The ESL market in China is projected to grow at an incremental growth of over $140million by 2025 on account of the increased adoption of innovative hi-tech solutions based on wireless technology in supermarkets.                  

GLOBAL ELECTRONIC SHELF LABEL MARKET REPORT SCOPE

GLOBAL ELECTRONIC SHELF LABEL MARKET SEGMENTATION

This research report includes a detailed segmentation by the display, technology, end-users, and geography.

INSIGHTS BY DISPLAY 

The LCD segment accounted for 37% of the total revenue in 2019. LCDs have been the most conventional mode of ESL in the market; they have been adopted in major economies of North America and Europe. Retailers continue to rely on LCDs as they are considered cost-effective. LCD labels are capable of integrating with the latest technology such as BLE 5.0 and NFC, which help them to remain competitive. However, the segment is likely to witness a decline in revenue share on account of the increasing adoption of e-paper technology.

The e-paper technology is the latest sensation in the Electronic shelf label (ESL) market, where vendors are striving to differentiate their offerings. The fully graphic e-paper segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR. In contrast, the segmented e-paper segment is expected to pose an absolute growth of 378% during the forecast period. There are also consistent replacements of LCD labels with the e-paper technology.  The segment constituted over a 69% share of the e-paper market. Europe and North America led the Electronic shelf label market in 2019 owing to their shift from LCDs to e-paper technology.

INSIGHTS BY END-USERS

The RFID technology segment accounted for over 35% of the electronic shelf label market share in terms of revenue in 2019. The presence of a two-way communication feature, affordability, reliability, and security checks is expected to drive the segment. RFID technology is expected to remain competitive during the forecast period by maintaining significant market dominance. RFID connectivity is feasible for supermarkets and hypermarkets, thereby increasing their adoption. 

NFC is the fastest-growing segment as the capability of facilitating contactless payments has driven the growth during the past five years. It has also become an inevitable option among vendors. The rise in smartphone penetration with NFC facilities has propelled the growth further. The adoption from major vendors further validates the reason behind its dominance as these vendors help in global reach and widespread adoption of NFC based labels in global retail chains.

The BLE 5.0 platform is compatible with respect to customer interaction. A smartphone is embedded with the BLE feature by default, which further eases the adoption level of BLE enabled electronic tags. Despite lagging behind NFC technology, the segment is expected to remain competitive by posing a strong growth for the next five years. The technology is expected to be popular in APAC and Latin American regions.

INSIGHTS BY TECHNOLOGY

In 2019, supermarkets and hypermarkets led the revenue contribution by contributing over 51% to the total share. Increasing shopping space, a growing number of SKUs, and intense competition e-commerce platforms are influencing retailers to rely on solutions such as QR code-enabled ESLs. The segment is a major end-user of LCD and e-paper technology. While North America and Europe tend to dominate the segment, the growth in demand for personalized experiences, social commerce, the need for traceability, and insights is expected to drive the electronic shelf label market in Africa and Asia.

Department stores were highly limited for the wide-scale adoption owing to the smaller number of SKUs. However, developed markets in Europe and the Americas are having high room for growth in the segment alongside drug stores as vendors are trying to maximize their share in the market. However, the pace of adoption can be slow in growing economies owing to ROI vision and low impact on offering cost advantage. The growth of the segment is estimated to be supported by the penetration of IoT-based devices in stores and the demand for automated solutions. Convenience stores are the next major opportunity for the electronic shelf label market with a high rate of adoption. The growth in the concept of forecourt retailing, click and collect features, elevating profitability through price fluctuations, penetration of smart shelves, and demand for additional information on certain high-end products are the major factors that are likely to drive the segment during the forecast period. Further, the wide adoption in stores has served as an effective example for upcoming stores that can drive new and additional demands for ESLs.

INSIGHTS BY GEOGRAPHY

Europe has a dominant market with a high presence of ESL systems in retail formats, including apparel and retail stores and electronics retail. The region is expected to remain as the electronic shelf label market leader by 2025 as it grows with regional trends and consumer demands. The concept is more familiar with the region where it has become one of the basic qualities for a store consideration. The future of the competition can be based on sustaining advantage with respect to technical collaborations, new retail partnerships, and deployment of preferable, advanced technologies rather than focusing on penetration. The region is also expected to witness the installation of over 186 million units of ESL by the end of 2025. The region, which is home to several vendors, is likely to venture into global markets by pursuing strategies such as mergers & acquisitions or joint ventures as the market is expected to be highly fragmented.

INSIGHTS BY VENDORS

The Electronic shelf label (ESL) market landscape is considerably fragmented, where players such as Pricer, SES-imagotag, and Displaydata are the largest revenue generators in Europe, APAC, and North America. Based on retail trends, the market is expected to witness the growth of domestic vendors in developing economies as the future of retail is based on digitalization and real-time cost-saving solutions in the shopping space. Vendors will try to differentiate their offerings in the Electronic shelf label market through factors such as technology, cloud system, hardware, battery, price, durability, add on features, and services. The success and profitability of vendors also depend on the range of SKUs, width, and product line of the retail store commodities that rely on the number of tags to be installed for optimum utilization.

The electronic shelf label market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry analysis with revenue and forecast insights for the following segments:

By Display

• LCD
• E-paper
  • Segmented E-paper
  • Fully Graphic E-paper

By Technology

• RFID
• IR
• NFC
• BLE
• Others

By End-users   

• Supermarkets & Hypermarkets
• Departmental Stores
• Convenience Stores
• Drug Stores
• Others

By Geography

• North America
  • US
  • Canada
• Europe
  • UK
  • Germany
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
• APAC
  • China
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Singapore
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
• Middle East & Africa
  • South Africa
  • UAE
  • Saudi Arabia

Key Questions Answered

1. What is the global electronic shelf label market size and growth rate during the forecast period?
2. Which technology/end-user/region is generating the largest revenue in the Europe region?
3. What are the factors driving the growth of Electronic shelf label market shares?
4. How is the growth of the LCD segment influencing the growth of the ESL market size?
5. Who are the leading vendors in the Electronic shelf label market, and what are their market shares?
6. What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the electronic shelf label market?