Distrib. Pandemic Revenue Index Down 29% for Week of April 6

Index provider Indian River Consulting Group said the sharp decline confirms that last week's improvement was an anomaly.

Warehouse
Mike Hockett/Industrial Distribution

After a one-week improvement, Indian River Consulting Group’s (IRCG) weekly distributor Pandemic Revenue Index (PRI) sharply accelerated downward last week to show that sales for the index's nine participating distributors fell nearly 30 percent year-over-year.

The index — launched in late March to provide the B2B distribution space with a snapshot of how distributor revenues are doing amid the COVID-19 pandemic — showed that distributor sales were down 29.4 percent for the week of April 6-10, following declines of 13.5 percent for March 30-April 3 and 23.5 percent for March 23-27.

In his analysis of the data, IRCG partner Mike Emerson said this week's index confirms that the previous week's improvement was an anomaly, as expected.

The index sample size for the week of April 6-10 was nine distributors, up one from the previous week. IRCG expects that the sample size will continue to increase weekly. To help increase the sample size and participate in the index, contact Emerson at [email protected].

"There is a fair amount of confusion right now. We’re all hearing that the “opening up of the economy” is around the corner at the end of April from some – and end of summer from others," Emerson commented with this week's index. "Things might become clearer in the next few weeks as to whether 'we’ve reached the apex,' which most agree is a prerequisite for easing the stay-at-home orders."

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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.

Ircg Pandemic Revenue Index April 06 April 10Indian River Consulting Group

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