INDEAL is an organization with unique access to the dealer community. In addition to all the other events, learning opportunities and brand partnerships, INDEAL hosts monthly meetings with Champions, its key points of contact within each dealership, to talk about the INDEAL program and other topics of importance. Recently, it started polling dealers about topics important to the industry and I thought I would share some of the findings here, since they provide an interesting look at how dealers feel about various issues.

INDEAL’s most recent poll was about vertical markets and the findings are very interesting.

A key questions was: Where do you see the biggest growth opportunity in your region? The options were Corporate, Education, Healthcare, Hospitality and Senior Living. Surprisingly, corporate did not come out on top. In fact, 31.4% of dealers said healthcare held the biggest opportunity, followed by 20% who said education. Corporate came in third with 17.1% saying it provides the biggest opportunity for growth. Hospitality came in at 11.4%, which is sizable given its traditional low importance in the dealer world. Senior living was listed by 5.7% as the biggest growth opportunity. I was surprised to see that 14.3% of those who responded said they weren’t sure what vertical market had the biggest growth opportunity.

Next, INDEAL asked how dealers keep up with the latest trends and insights related to vertical markets. No real surprises here with relatively even distribution between “engaging with market experts” (30.7%), “attending events and trade shows” (29.5%) and “leveraging industry publications” (26.1%). Investing in training and certifications came in with 13.6%.

57% of dealers reported having a dedicated specialist or team to support vertical market business, which looks like an opportunity to me. I would assume that a dedicated team might help companies expand vertical market opportunities at dealerships.

Outside of corporate, most dealers reported working most in the healthcare vertical, followed closely by education and government. Few reported doing much work in hospitality or senior living, despite believing those to be verticals with good opportunities.

By far, the most common challenge for clients when selecting products was balancing cost and quality, according to dealers surveyed.

If you would like to read more about niche solutions and vertical markets, check out the latest issue of viewpoint magazine. It is free to read and free to subscribe to. It is produced by OI Publications, the same publisher that brings you officeinsight magazine. viewpoint magazine is created to connect the dealer world with design.

As the market continues to weigh long-term plans for offices, vertical markets are becoming more and more important to the industry. Whether you are a dealer, designer or manufacturer, vertical markets adjacent to the office furniture industry might provide a way to expand your business. It’s definitely worth a look.