Thermal labels Market Size, Share & Growth | Forecast [2031]

Report Description

The global thermal labels market size was valued at around USD 895.02 million in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 1388.47 million by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period, 2023 – 2031. The market growth is attributed to the growing popularity of digital printing solutions across various industries.

A thermal label refers to a digital labeling device, which is used to create an image or write a specially-treated surface by using heat. Labeling plays a vital role in marketing as it helps to grab the attention of consumers and encourage them to buy the products.

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Thermal labels are predominantly utilized for labels printed for receipts, tags, shipping product labels, and recording cardiac rhythm strips of pharmaceutical products used in hospitals and clinics. The digital labels are specifically served to label product identification, record keeping, board manufacturing, laboratory samples, outdoor and refrigerator, and others.

Thermal labels are in high demand and the market has robust growth potential owing to the increasing focus on functional use and sustainable or eco-friendly solutions, which results in the packaging industry growth. They are widely adopted across industries such as healthcare, food & beverage, trading, logistics & transportation, manufacturing, industrial goods & products, semiconductor & electronics, and retail labels. 

Thermal transfer labels and direct thermal labels are two main types of printing technology used in thermal heating. In both labeling processes, a thermal print head is utilized that applies heat to the label surface to create the required image. These thermal transfer labels are widely equipped with advanced techniques to provide high-quality and durable printing labels on a wide range of materials.

The thermal transfer printer is extensively used and is ideal for long-term applications including product identification, permanent identification, asset tagging, inventory identification, circuit board tracking, laboratory specimens, certification labels, cold storage and freezers, and other outdoor applications that require long-life image stability. They used heat-sensitive ribbon rather than heat-sensitive paper, in order to produce reliable long-lasting labels.

On the other hand, direct transfer is best suited for short-term label production including receipts, shipping labels, and others. Direct thermal labels are easy to operate and do not require any ribbon, ink, or toner to print the required images. It uses chemically-treated, heat-sensitive media that blackens under the thermal printhead. 

The whole process of this heat transfer to create imaging is extensively based on using environment-friendly materials. White paper and plastic materials are often used for labeling variable information regarding the products. A wide range of eco-friendly packaging solutions and materials are in high demand across industries owing to their major contribution to environmental preservation, protection, efficiency, and sustainability.

The global thermal labels market is witnessing rapid growth due to the growing demand for eco-friendly sustainable packaging alternatives. The increasing technological advancements in the packaging sector that facilitate performance-enhancing packing solutions are further contributing to the market expansion. The huge demand for retail labels accelerates global thermal label sales.

COVID-19 Impact on Thermal labels Market

The global thermal labels market experienced an adverse impact due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus across the globe. The pandemic emergency imposed several preventive measures including the shutdown of manufacturing activities, trade restrictions, and bans on imports and export, which resulted in disruption of demand and supply chain.

Moreover, the shortage in the supply of raw materials and shortage of labor owing to the increased associated risk of COVID-19 infection further delayed thermal label production. The prolonged shutdowns of the factories of thermal labels due to several governments’ emergency lockdowns forced manufacturers to cancel various production projects and reschedule them.

Moreover, the temporary closure of offline stores caused a sharp decline in the demand for thermal label products leading to the sluggish growth rate of the overall market revenue. Additionally, the restriction in the sales of non-essential goods and services as well as sharp disruption in logistics and transportation during this pandemic resulted in the downsizing of the global thermal labels market.

Thermal labels Market Dynamics

The global thermal labels market report presents a complete market overview by providing a thorough explanation of market dynamics. The research report focuses on an in-depth analysis of key market segments, current market trends, existing drivers, growth opportunities, and emerging challenges that can shape the outcome or overall performance of the market during the forecast period, 2022 to 2030.

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Major Trends

Rising usage of portable thermal printers

Rapid development in thermal printing technology provides advanced solutions such as more flexibility, efficiency, and speed enhancement in labeling operations. Inkjet printer is one of the key examples that offers faster performance and high efficiency in the labeling process as compared to other conventional printers. The development of advanced technologies has improved the performance of portable thermal printers and other wireless printing technologies.

The rising use of small and lightweight portable thermal printers using direct printheads is a key market trend that is likely to have a major positive impact on the global thermal labels market. These mini thermal printers have one key advantage they consume less energy and can operate on low voltage, which makes them quite popular for various commercial use.

Key Drivers:

Increasing demand for digitally printed labels

Digital thermal labeling is an ideal part of marketing services. Thermal label packaging fulfills the requirements of long-lasting and anti-counterfeit labels for manufacturing thermal labels companies and suppliers of consumer products. Such labels tend to protect the integrity and authenticity of the product.

The thermal transfer labels, with the help of innovative technology, incorporate unique inks to offer a secure print on the products. The digital print technology used for a thermal label offers high-resolution images and enhances the image quality on numerous parameters.

A major outcome of such digital labels has been seen with the increased demand for digitally printed labels used across industrial applications including food & beverages, electronics retail labels, and pharmaceuticals.

Rising growth of the E-commerce sector 

The e-commerce retail sector is one of the fast-growing industries owing to the rising consumers’ preference for online shopping and free delivery facilities. E-commerce retailers use thermal digital printing to label shelves for various labeling and shipping procedure, owing to their long-lasting and chemical-resistant properties.

In recent years, the e-commerce industry gained significant popularity among consumers and people opted for online shopping to a great extent. The expansion volume of selling and buying of products using internet connectivity results in the growing demand for various eco-friendly packaging solutions from the retail sector.

As a result, the rapid growth of e-commerce sectors is propelling the global thermal labels market. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), an India-based government agency, the e-commerce market is expected to increase from USD 46.2 billion in 2020 to USD 350 billion by 2030.

Emergence of innovative technologies in digital labeling procedures

The emergence of innovative digital printing technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), wireless technologies in mobile printers, barcode printers, and others are game-changing drivers in the thermal labels ribbon markets. RFID deploys intelligent labeling solutions and is utilized for authentication, tracking, and anti-counterfeit of goods.

They are also known as smart labels that increased operational efficiency and can store more information than barcode labels.  RFID solutions enhance real-time data accuracy and eliminate errors since the reader does all the tasks without human intervention.

Thus, the growing utilization of automatic identification technologies for improving productivity and rising concerns over product safety and anti-counterfeiting contribute to upscaling the digital printing applications, which lead to the significant expansion of the global thermal labels market.

For instance, CCL Industries Inc. a major label company recently introduced a new innovative labeling solution for home and personal care, healthcare and specialty, and automotive sectors. The rapidly growing e-commerce industry and the rising demand for multi-language labels for different other countries’ shipping further accelerate thermal label sales.  

Existing Restraints:

Stringent regulations regarding label offerings

Strict government regulations regarding the labeling procedures and the requirement for manufacturers to provide complete information disclosure acts as a major restraining factor for the market. The manufacturing companies have to label every detail including product name, manufacturing company’s name and address, country of the origin of the imported item, specify its contents, net weight, list of ingredients, nutritional information, serving size, date, and month of manufacturing, and expiring, and others.

These regulations direct the manufacturers to ensure health and safety standard guidelines for pre-packaged foods and display required information on premises where food is manufactured, processed, served, and stored. Such regulations have severely affected the flexibility of design patterns, label sizes, and shapes.

Fulfilling regulatory requirements is a key challenge for manufacturers. Furthermore, stringent regulations against certain chemicals such as the usage of Bisphenol A in certain kinds of products considering its toxicity to the human body act as a major factor hampering the global thermal label market. 

Rising switch to ‘e-receipts’ among industries 

The ‘e-receipts’ system is rapidly gaining popularity in various industrial settings. Many companies and retailers are increasingly switching to paperless digital receipts as it reduces paper waste considering the rising importance of sustainable environments.

Additionally, the rising monetary transactions such as UPI and ATM bank cards in every purchase replace paper receipts with ‘e-receipt’ leading to a decline in the sales of thermal label devices.

Emerging Opportunities: 

Rising applications of digital thermal printers in the healthcare sector

Thermal labeling is a vital part of the health care sector since it provides information regarding drugs, their usage, formulation, and lifetime. The manufacturing thermal label companies are widely engaged in the development and integration of digital labeling technologies to enhance the reliability of healthcare products.

UPM Raflatac, for example, offers labeling for small volume medical containers such as syringes, IV bottles, cartridges, ampoules, pens, vials, and test tubes. Luminescent adhesive options are largely adopted for detecting missing labels in healthcare products.

Additionally, thermal label printers are also extensively used for recording live rhythm strips of cardiac monitors in hospitals. The growing cases of cardiovascular illness increase the adoption of thermal printers due to the rising utilization of recording live heartbeats. These factors offer tremendous opportunities for thermal label production firms.

Increasing demand for thermal barcode printers in the supply chain industry

Thermal barcodes are convenient and cost-effective printing solutions, which are extensively used in the supply chain industry for managing and handling different information, activities, and resources. The barcodes offer robust, heat-sensitive, and fade-sensitive labeling systems that help warehousing and logistic companies in improving the management of shipping goods and records. 

Barcoding systems have become an ideal part of a flexible and efficient retail organization as the systems keep real-time track of the shipping products, which reduces the risk of getting misplaced during transport. The rising demand for barcode printers is offering lucrative growth opportunities for the global thermal labels market.

Scope of Thermal labels Market Report

The report on the global thermal labels market includes an assessment of the market trends, segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.

Thermal labels Market Segment Insights

Plastic segment dominates the market

Based on materials, the global thermal labels market is bifurcated into paper thermal labels and plastic thermal labels. The plastic label segment is sub-segmented as polyester, polypropylene, and polyethylene. The plastic segment held a dominant market share, accounting for 61% share of the overall market revenue in 2021, and is projected to expand significantly in the coming years.

The segment growth is attributed to its increased adoption across various end-users, especially in the packing sector, owing to certain advantages such as being lightweight, saving fuel, and eco-friendly materials. As compared to paper thermal labels, plastic packaging offers many advantages including good preservation and protection of the targeted goods during transport from one location to another.

Plastic materials offer cost-effective, durable, and affordable products, which are key reasons for the high demand for the material in various applications across industries ranging from the electronic sector in the manufacturing of computers, cell phones, microwaves, and televisions to the food and beverages industry.

Desktop printers segment to hold a major market share

On the basis of printer types, the market is classified as desktop printers, industrial printers, and mobile printers. The desktop printer segment is expected to hold a major market share during the forecast period owing to the increasing usage of the printing type in various commercial settings.

Desktop printers are basically engineered with high-quality resolution labels, thereby, largely used for high-resolution label printing, retail inventory labeling, light manufacturing, and hospitality. The printers are advanced, flexible, and convenient printers that have a compact footprint for simple operation.

Desktop printers are equipped with several advanced computer hardware that includes inkjet & laser printers used for businesses and home settings. The ongoing emergence of advanced packaging operations and its increasing integration of desktop printers further propel the segment.

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Direct thermal labels segment to register a significant growth rate

Based on technology, the global thermal market is bifurcated into direct thermal labels and thermal transfer labels. The direct thermal labels segment constituted a major market share in 2021 and is expected to register a significant growth rate during the projected period owing to its advantages over thermal transfer labels.

The direct thermal labels have a high heat resistance and a protective layer on the surface that provides good quality resolution text, graphics, and bar codes. They served as cost-effective alternatives to other conventional labeling solutions as it is comparatively cheap, owing to no requirements of ink, toner, or thermal transfer ribbon during the procedure.

The increasing adoption of direct thermal labels across various industries such as the food & beverages industry, e-commerce platforms, and others raises the inclination toward direct thermal labels.

Additionally, the direct thermal labels make the packaging look attractive and functionally more accurate. All these aforementioned factors are propelling the demand for direct thermal labels and are expected to expand the segment revenue in the coming years.

Food & beverage segment accounts for a large market share

On the basis of end-users, the global thermal label market is divided into healthcare, food & beverage, trading, logistics & transportation, manufacturing, industrial goods & products, semiconductors & electronics, retail labels, and others.

The food & beverage segment accounted for a large market share in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period due to the high demand for the labeling process in the food & beverage sector. Quality maintained labels provide a durable image and easy traceability of the product.

Furthermore, the growing requirements for product labels to differentiate among different types of food and beverage products further drive segment growth. The emergence of e-commerce facilitating direct-to-customer food delivery shipping service further boosts the demand for thermal label packaging.

Additionally, thermal transfer labels are widely used for product descriptions, which are easily visible to customers before purchasing any products. The rising sales of food and beverage products open up great opportunities for the rising market share of the food & beverage segment.

Asia Pacific segment to account for a high revenue share

In terms of regions, the global thermal labels market is divided into Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. The Asia Pacific market is anticipated to account for a major market share in 2021 and is projected to exhibit a steady growth rate in the coming years.

The emergence of new entrants from emerging economies in the region, especially India, China, and Malaysia drive the regional market growth. The availability of cheap labor and raw material abundantly facilitates high versatility and performance products at low cost, which in turn, accelerates the market growth in the region.

The well-establishment of numerous semiconductors and electronics industries in the region, especially in China and India further fuels the regional market. Additionally, the rising population in the region presents a key factor that helps in the growing demand for food supply and product delivery services.

North America constituted a key market share in 2021 and is projected to register a robust growth rate in the coming years owing to the rising growth of the food & beverages industry and the rising demand for smart packaging methods across various industries in the region. The presence of a large pool of health-conscious population, especially in the US is one of the key driving factors for the market in North America.

Considering the market scenario in the region, the US thermal label market is likely to reach a valuation of USD 255 million by the end of 2030, which represents nearly 17.5% share of the overall global market. With the rising development of digital printing technology from key market players in the region, the market in North America has enormous growth potential in the coming years. 

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