Distributor Pandemic Index Hits Highest Non-Holiday Growth Mark

It was the index's best growth week since the pandemic hit the US, and the best week since Feb. 24-28.

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Mike Hockett/Industrial Distribution

Indian River Consulting Group's weekly Distributor Pandemic Index (PRI) was heavily skewed over first two weeks of September due to Labor Day, but the latest index shows that modest growth is continuing.

The latest PRI, covering the week of Sept. 14-18, shows that sales increased 4.9 percent year-over-year, marking the largest increase non-holiday week since the week of Feb. 24-28 — before business impacts of the pandemic fully set in across North America. Normalized for average daily sales, the latest PRI's increase makes six consecutive weeks of increases, following gains of 9.1 and 3.4 percent for the weeks of Sept. 7-11 and Aug. 31-Sept. 4, respectively.

Out of the 12 distributors in the latest PRI survey, seven reported year-over-year gains, with our of them in double-digits. Of the five companies that had a year-over-year decrease, the range varied between 3 and 30 percent.

IRCG would like to increase the sample size for the PRI, so if you would like to include your company, reach out to Emerson, at [email protected].

The chart below shows the percent change in sales in 2020 compared with the same week in 2019, unadjusted for additional selling days for the week of July 4 and Labor Day:

Ircg Pandemic Revenue Index September 14 18 2020

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