A vertical market (often referred to simply as a "vertical") is a group of similar businesses and customers that engage in trade based on specific and specialized needs. Often, participants in a vertical market are very limited to a subset of a larger industry (a niche market).
For Examples:
- Construction and property
- Financial services and insurance industries
Managers in the financial services and insurance industries deal with distinctive issues, including privacy and security around personal financial information and various corporate compliance regulations.
- Government industry
Managers in the government industry face distinct challenges, such as deploying larger-scale technology and software initiatives and addressing requirements of the Homeland Security Act and various other compliance regulations.
- Healthcare industry
Companies that develop, manufacture, market, and/or distribute health-related products or provide health care services, such as hospitals, nursing homes, HMOs, medical product suppliers, medical equipment and medical device makers, and medical laboratories.
- Manufacturing
- Media and entertainment
- Retail industry
An IT organization in the retail industry faces unique challenges, including keeping up with e-commerce technologies and protecting consumer data and financial information.
- Transport and logistics
- Travel and hospitality
- Utilities
A horizontal market is a market which meets a given need of a wide variety of industries, rather than a specific one, in contrast to a vertical market. In technology, horizontal markets consist of customers that share a common need that exists in many or all (vertical) industries. For example, customers that need to purchase computer security services or software exist in such varied industries as finance, healthcare, government, etc.
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing. So the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact. It is also a small market segment.
