Electronic signature solutions have been one of the key factors in the modernization of business operations and workflow processes. The growth of the e-signature market relies primarily on the value rendered by e-signature solutions to enterprises all over the world. Businesses could avail of a wide assortment of advantages from e-signature solutions other than the convenience of electronic signing. E-signature solutions are helping businesses reach critical decisions faster and reduce capital expenses.
One of the prominent factors that drive the faster growth of the global e-signature market is the role of e-signature solutions in improving the efficiency of businesses. The lack of paperwork bottlenecks is a prominent example of the advantages of e-signature solutions for enterprises. Integrated document management and flexible storage options support the digitization of documents, thereby reducing the need for paper-and-pen methods.
Also Read: Top 10 Uses of Electronic Signatures
Therefore, every business should obtain an overview of the electronic signature market size and trends for capitalizing on a new-generation technology. An overview of the industry forecasts can help a business plan its strategy for the adoption of e-signature solutions.
Most important of all, an organization could compare its position with respect to the future state of the e-signature market. The following discussion can help you find some of the important predictions regarding the global e-signature landscape. In addition, the discussion would also focus on certain essential e-signature statistics for a better understanding of the industry.
Growth in the Global E-signature Industry
According to the recent reports, the total value of the global e-signature market was $879.6 million USD in 2018. Some reports estimate the total value of the worldwide e-signature industry in 2018 at $1.2 billion USD.
Now, various reports present different estimates of growth rates for the global electronic signature market. For example, Fortune Business Insights state that the CAGR of the global e-signature industry during the period from 2019-2026 would be 28.77%. The forecast for Fortune Business Insights indicates that the e-signature industry would reach a total value of $6,128 million USD by 2026.
On the other hand, Technavio reports an estimate for a different forecast period i.e., 2019 to 2023. The report indicates that the global e-signature industry would have a growth of $1.99 billion USD in the forecast period. A closer look at some of the other electronic signature statistics related to market growth can help in obtaining a general impression.
- According to the estimates of Globe News Wire, the global e-signature market is likely to reach a total value of $3,410.8 million by 2023.
- According to the reports of Business Wire, the worldwide e-signature market could most probably reach a total value of $5.5 billion by 2023. The reports of Business Wire estimate the CAGR in the period from 2018 to 2023 at 36.7%.
- According to Business Insider, the growth in the worldwide e-signature industry would be at a CAGR of 34.7%. The forecast period of Business Insider is 2017 to 2023.
- P&S Intelligence states that the estimated growth rate of the electronic signature market in 2020 is 39%. In addition, P&S Intelligence also estimates that the global e-signature market would reach a total value of $9.07 billion by 2023.
So, it is clearly evident that the electronic signature industry is growing at a rapid pace. The growth of the e-signature industry is also evident in the massive growth in e-signature transactions in the US. Almost $754 million USD worth of transactions in 5 years definitely proves the large-scale adoption of e-signature solutions.
The major reason behind the above-mentioned electronic signature statistics regarding market growth is the delivery of e-signature solutions through SaaS. The adoption of e-signature solutions for transactions of lower value and with limited complications would be a formidable factor for its growth. The cloud deployment of e-signature solutions alongside regular use in HR, legal, and sales departments of enterprises would drive increased adoption.
One may have many doubts while choosing an e-signature vendor. Here are the questions you should ask the e-signature vendor.
Productivity Due to E-Signature Solutions
Another promising element of the e-signature market forecast is the identification of the potential impact of e-signature solutions on cost savings and workflow effectiveness. The use of an e-signature solution could appear very insignificant, especially in terms of cost savings for each transaction.
However, cost-savings and workflow improvements due to e-signature solutions are the crucial e-signature market trends. The attention to these trends is important for small and medium businesses to understand the advantages of e-signatures. Here are some of the significant statistics related to cost savings and improvement in workflow efficiencies with e-signature solutions.
- Businesses can realize around 55% to 78.62% increment in total savings by migrating to e-signature solutions. The estimate takes the cost of material, shipping, subscription, and administration into account.
- As compared to 5 days required on an average for obtaining signed documents through traditional methods, e-signature solutions help in obtaining signed documents within 37 minutes on an average.
- Another significant e-signature market forecast is that e-signature solutions help in an 80% average reduction in turnaround time. In addition, the estimates indicate that e-signature solutions help in reducing 80% of errors on average. Reportedly, e-signature solutions also help in achieving an 80% improvement in productivity on average. Reports also indicate the average savings on each document as $20.
- The impact of e-signature solutions on business efficiency is also a prominent highlight of electronic signature market trends. Reports by the Electronic Signature & Records Association indicate that businesses can achieve an improvement of around 83% in obtaining approvals. The reports also indicate that businesses reported 86% savings in document costs.
- Salesforce enabled 60% of its services in a mere span of 15 minutes. Furthermore, Salesforce enables almost 90% of its services in the period of a day with the help of e-signature solutions.
In addition, some other estimates regarding the global e-signature market indicate a 70% to 80% improvement in the efficiency. In the case of financial institutions, some e-signature market trends point out the reduction in scanning errors by 92%. Furthermore, financial institutions could also prevent their files from missing by 66%. American businesses spend over $120 billion annually on paper documents. However, the majority of the paper-based methods would soon become obsolete in around three months.
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Another statistic related to the e-signature market suggests that businesses could reduce their processing errors by 90% on average. The productivity of e-signature solutions in short periods of time is a prominent reason for the growth in the electronic signature market size. Almost 81% of e-signature business users achieved ROI within a single 12-month budget cycle. Interestingly, around 25% of the users achieved ROI in three months or even earlier.
An example of a use case of e-signature such as United Healthcare could help in obtaining further clarification regarding the potential of the e-signature market. United Healthcare executed a provider contract in 2 days as compared to the usual 32.5 days. United Healthcare saved around 3.5 million pages through the implementation of e-signature solutions. The annual admin savings for United Healthcare were $1 million that accounts for the annual salary of almost 31 admins.
Therefore, it is clearly evident that the modern global electronic signature market trends focus largely on the elimination of inefficiencies in traditional “wet” signatures. Small and medium businesses could benefit largely from e-signature solutions for complicated administrative tasks. The implementation of e-signature solutions in financial institutions would increase considerably due to the automation of workflows. Workflow automation could help in improving the speed of payment and general transaction procedures.
Legality and Security of E-Signature Solutions
Another important aspect of a discussion regarding prominent trends for the global e-signature market refers to the legal and security implications.
E-signature solution has legal recognition in the US and Canada as well as other countries in the world since 1999. Legal validity and security are two of the important concerns for businesses in the adoption of e-signature solutions. Some of the interesting stats regarding the legality and security of e-signature solutions are as follows.
- The international legal benchmark for e-signature solutions is the 1996 United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on Electronic Commerce. Almost 60 countries all over the world have adopted the legislation.
- However, the landmark in legal aspects related to e-signature solutions is the ESIGN Act. The US Government implemented the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act in 2000 for establishing the legality of e-signatures.
- The legal precedent for the e-signature market in the European Union is the eIDAS (electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services) legislation. The EU established eIDAS in 2014 and outlined specific standards for e-signatures, digital identification, and measures for user security.
- Generally, the majority of countries all over the world follow the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) for governance and security of the use of e-signatures.
In addition, one of the prominent trends in the global e-signature industry is the facility of top-grade security measures. The notable e-signature software solution vendors offer improved safeguards such as password-protected e-signing and audit trails. Furthermore, you can also find the facility of SOC 2 Type II certification for safe storage and management of documents.
Deployment of E-Signature Solutions
Now, we have an impression of the essential e-signature statistics regarding market growth, productivity, and legal and security aspects. The final set of statistics that can help in anticipating the future of e-signature adoption refers to deployment. The statistics and forecasts regarding the deployment of e-signature solutions can help in understanding the different patterns of adoption and barriers for adoption.
- The time required for the adoption of e-signature solutions in large enterprises is nine months. In the case of medium-size enterprises, the time for adoption is 5.5 months. The adoption time for small businesses is around 2.3 months.
- A mobile web browser is a preferred device for opening almost 30% of all agreements. Therefore, the growth of the e-signature market would largely rest in the delivery of e-signature solutions on mobile platforms.
- The integration of security measures is one of the noticeable factors that drive the adoption of e-signature solutions. New e-signature solutions include biometric authentication as well as rhythm and handwriting pressure verification methods for security. Almost 45% of organizations all over the world implement the two-factor authentication method for verifying e-signatures.
- The growth in the e-signature market is obviously dependent on the large-scale adoption of e-signature solutions. And, the flexibility for integrating e-signature solutions with other business tools and third-party apps is a reliable driver of adoption. Contemporary e-signature solutions integrate effectively with popular third-party apps and business tools in HR, accounting, ERP, and workflow management solutions. Furthermore, the improvements in features of e-signature solutions also aim at the facility of electronically signing documents through SMS text messaging.
Another important trend related to the deployment of e-signature solutions refers to the business developments that promote the adoption of e-signature technology. The developments refer directly to customer expectations for digital interaction and awareness regarding the legality of e-signatures. In addition, the desire to sustain competitive advantage and better focus on compliance and security also drive the adoption of e-signature solutions. Enterprises also aim at coping with the increasing use of mobile devices through the adoption of e-signature solutions.
Obstacles for the Adoption of E-Signature Solutions
As the trends in the global e-signature market indicate promising opportunities, the challenges are also inevitable. For example, the lack of uniformity in electronic signature regulations in different regions poses formidable setbacks for the adoption of e-signature solutions. In the case of Peruvian laws, an e-signature is valid only if it accompanies a digital certificate.
In the UAE, you would need an official consent from the government to validate electronic transactions. Another prominent challenge for the adoption of e-signature solutions is the formidable initial investment. Furthermore, the period for achieving ROI can vary according to the size of the organization. The adoption of e-signature solutions would also face the barrier of highly engrained conventional business practices and workflows.
Thinking to adopt electronic signature for your business? Here are the points you need to consider while choosing an e-signature vendor.
Final Words
As evident from the above-mentioned discussion, the global e-signature market is growing at a staggering pace. The better speed of conducting business operations and cost savings are prominent drivers of the adoption of e-signature solutions. However, challenges are also an important part of your journey in adopting e-signature solutions.
Apart from the information in this discussion, you can also look at the promising potential for the e-signature industry in different markets. For example, North America is presently the largest market for e-signature, with over 40% of the global market size. However, the Asia-Pacific market is also catching up, and the facility of innovative developments in e-signature implementation indicates long-term promises for growth.
