U.S. B2B technology dealer sales to grow 12% in 2021

According to data from The NPD Group, the U.S. B2B technology reseller channel has seen strong growth in 2021, with revenue sales increasing 12% year-over-year. When comparing 2021 sales to 2019, pre- pandemic sales were up 8%, based on NPD’s reseller tracking service data.

Sales trends in the B2B technology reseller channel continued to emphasize the importance of security and work-from-home requirements over the past year . In the fourth quarter, B2B software sales increased 16%, driven by strong demand for endpoint protection software (up 27%).

Despite the current slowdown, revenue from home office equipment sales remained strong in the fourth quarter, with growth driven by more core peripherals including keyboards (up 41%) and mice (up 21%), replacing USB cameras (down 29%) and PC headsets (up 1%).

In the fourth quarter, revenue sales in the data center ecosystem increased 7% year over year. While this indicates a recovery in the sector, sales are still down 3% compared to pre- pandemic levels in 2019. Data center categories driving the growth included power (up 14%), storage (up 13%), and compute (up 12%).

According to NPD Vertical Dealer Tracking data, the education services industry saw the fastest year-over-year growth in 2021, adding $1 billion in sales, while professional services, retail trade, and information each increased by nearly $750 million.

"After a strong performance in 2021, the dealer channel may see some shifts in the first quarter of 2022," said Mike Crosby, director and B2B technology industry analyst at NPD.

They also said, “We expect device sales to slow in the education sector – shifting the focus from device deployment to more IT infrastructure and security – and that enterprises and mid-sized companies will accelerate their IT spending across the board, with the technology mix shifting from hardware to more software, cloud, and managed services. Small businesses continue to struggle and will likely focus on updating critical needs until the market stabilizes further. This leaves opportunities for investment and growth as we move further into 2022.”

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