Barcodes, printing and cards: The opportunities for resellers

The company and its resellers have also noticed strong opportunities in new market areas, with emergency services, education and hospitality looking particularly promising.  The time looks to be right for resellers to expand their horizons by either prospecting into new markets, or identifying new opportunities and applications within existing markets.

An example of the former is the ‘blue light’ emergency services arena, and in particular, police forces. Mobile printing devices are being increasingly employed by local police forces to increase their productivity and drive policing efficiencies. These lightweight, compact mobile printers are now enabling officers to issue printed police notifications such as offence tickets immediately, eliminating mistakes and reducing time spent on follow up paperwork back at the office.

An example of the latter is the increasing adoption of mobile printers for patient sample labelling at the bedside in hospitals. The healthcare sector has been a longstanding key market for Zebra and its reseller community, but this new desire for printing at the bedside represents an exciting and lucrative new opportunity in a relatively well known marketplace.

As the economy picks up, the channel community should look forward to a strong 2010. However, it is important that we do not be complacent and continue to be on our toes by responding to, and ideally pre-empting, the changing dynamics and requirements in the industry. By having our finger on the pulse, we will be able to adapt to constantly stay relevant and current in the industry.