IRCG Launches Pandemic Revenue Index for Distributors

Distribution market business advisory service firm Indian River Consulting Group (IRCG) debuted its distributor Pandemic Revenue Index (PRI) on Thursday, aimed to provide the B2B distribution space with a weekly snapshot of how distributor sales are doing business-wise amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

IRCG said the goal of the PRI is to give distributors a weekly quantified view into how other distributors in the industry are faring with respect to revenue declines as the global pandemic progresses.

"The PRI offers distributors a window into how their business plans are performing year-over-year," IRCG said.

The firm has placed the index in the public domain to maximize its impact, and the distributors in IRCG's sample group have agreed to share data until the crisis passes.

For the work week starting March 16, the PRI showed that sales for represented distributors were down 5.56 percent from the prior-year period, compared with an increase in sales of 3.01 percent year-over-year for the work week running March 9-13, 2020.

The chart below shows the percent change in sales in 2020 compared with the same week in 2019, helping to reveal how revenue declines may have driven by uncontrollable forces, such as the current COVID-19 global disruption.

Mike MarksIRCG Founder Mike Marks said many business owners are caught off-guard when they suddenly run out of cash. “We’re aiming to provide insight into how distributors can better monitor their cash flow,” Marks said. “For many, survival for is knowing their Days To Die (DTD) and having a quick sense of market changes, so they can take action to preserve their capital. The PRI provides that market insight.”

IRCG said the PRI data chart will be updated weekly.