One week after posting its best non-holiday week since the pandemic began, Indian River Consulting Group's weekly Distributor Pandemic Revenue Index (PRI) reverted to modest growth in its newest reading.
The PRI — aimed to provide a snapshot of how industrial distributors' sales have fared year-over-year amid the pandemic — had a reading of +2.9 for the selling week of Dec. 7-11, meaning that for the 14 distributors surveyed, their sales were up an average of 2.9 percent year-over-year. It followed a mark of +12.5 percent for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 4 and readings of +5.0, +3.7 and -1.8 in the three weeks prior. Though it was a considerable one-week decline in growth, the latest reading was the fourth-straight week of at least +2.9 percent growth.
"After a strong end to November, December’s index is back down to where it’s hovered for most of the fall with the index showing an increase of 2.9 percent versus the same week in 2019," IRCG partner Mike Emerson noted.
Emerson added that eight of the 14 distributors surveyed reported increases, with a range of 2 to 22 percent growth. Of the six companies reporting declines, the range was 3 to 25 percent.
IRCG would like to increase the sample size for the PRI, so if you would like to include your company, reach out to IRCG partner Mike 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:
