PPB May 2018

Figure 7: The Pro t Picture, 2017 Versus 2016 GREATER THAN 2016 SAME AS 2016 LESS THAN 2016 UNDER $2.5 MILLION OVER $2.5 MILLION ALL DISTRIBUTORS 18% 27% 11% 21% 17% 26% 2017 2010 2011 2012 2007 2008 2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 Figure 8: Percentage Of Online Sales, 2007 - 2017 UNDER $2.5 MILLION OVER $2.5 MILLION 57% 68% 55% 13 % 17 % 15 % 17 % 16 % 15 % 16 % 17 % 14 % 21 % 17 % 24 % 11 % 17 % 14 % 22 % 9 % 27 % 10 % 28 % 12 % 32 % FEATURE | PPAI Exclusive Research: 2017 Distributor Sales Volume Estimate $430,982 ($449,835 in 2016), while the median was $150,000 vs. $176,750 in 2016 (see Figure 5). A Second Source Of Revenue For Small Distributors Promotional products continue to be a second revenue stream for many of the industry’s 22,721 small distributors— and large ones, too (see Figure 6). In 2017, more small companies that participated in the survey (43.5 percent) did less than 80 percent in sales of promotional products. However, these distributors generated 29 percent (up from 23 percent in 2016) of their revenue from promotional product sales, and 71 percent from another source. Sales from these dual-revenue source distributors accounted for 32.7 percent of the sales volume in the small-company segment, a significant increase over 2016’s 23.2 percent. The Profit Picture On average, the number of distributors reporting profit growth in 2017 increased slightly over 2016. Only 57 percent of distributors had greater profits over the prior year (54 percent). This was particularly true for small distributors, with 55 percent experiencing higher profits compared to 53 percent in 2016. However, significantly more distributors in the large- distributor category saw a profit increase compared to 2016—68 percent vs. 60 percent (see Figure 7). The Surge In Online Sales Online sales are defined as buys resulting from orders placed through an online store or website. These sales (not to be confused with salespeople transmitting orders online) are estimated to be $5,398,230,352 in 2017, or 23.2 percent of industry total sales (see Figure 8). 46 | MAY 2018 |