PPB June 2020

sales of $13.6 billion, showing an average loss of 0.86 percent over 2018 (see Figure 3 ). Not all small company categories experienced a decline in sales in 2019. The most notable growth was found among companies with up to $500,000 in sales, while those with higher annual sales saw a decline (see Figure 4 ). The average revenue for the 25,065 firms in the small-company segment was $422,465, down from $469,833 in 2018, while the median—that is, the midpoint where half the population is above, and half is below—was $150,000, compared with $130,150 in 2018 (see Figure 5 ). A Second Source Of Revenue For Other Businesses Although promotional products continued to be a second revenue stream for many small and large distributors, fewer “full-time” distributors participated in the 2019 study. In 2019, more small companies that participated in the survey (45.95 percent) did less than 80 percent in sales of promotional products (see Figure 6 ). These distributors sourced 22 percent (down from 28 percent in 2018) of their revenue from promotional product sales and 78 percent from some other segment. Sales from these dual- revenue-source distributors accounted for 27.9 percent of the sales volume in the small- company segment, a slight increase from 27.5 percent in 2018. The Profit Picture On average, the number of distributors reporting profit growth in 2019 decreased over 2018. Fewer distributors (57 percent) reported higher profits than the prior year (59 percent). Large distributors experienced the steepest decline, with 67 percent reporting higher profits in 2019 compared to 75 percent in 2018. Small distributors also saw a drop in profits in 2019 (55 percent), which is just shy of the 2018 figure (56 percent) (see Figure 7). Figure 4: Segmenting Industry Sales By Company Size, 2014 - 2019 COMPANYSIZE $1,846,568,885 $1,530,260,232 $2,207,506,975 $1,770,604,678 $1,481,662,627 $2,562,181,430 $1,595,736,108 $1,581,337,042 $2,508,215,895 $1,697,870,003 $1,753,476,883 $2,520,331,225 $1,728,413,057 $1,826,290,910 $2,574,805,007 2014 2016 2015 2017 2019 2018 CHANGEOVER2018 <$250K $250K-$500K $500K-$1M $1M-$2.5M $2.5M+ TOTAL $4,329,256,589 $3,441,922,613 $4,020,627,032 $3,820,451,352 $4,864,590,762 $10,128,636,250 $11,551,799,373 $11,599,015,380 $13,493,850,947 $13,752,479,10 $20,042,228,931 $20,808,170,722 $21,304,931,457 $23,285,980,409 $24,746,578,839 $1,978,883,063 $2,009,047,831 $2,272,053,820 14.5% 10.0% -8.8% $4,329,090,085 -8.9% $13,634,410,069 -0.86% $24,223,484,868 -2.11% Figure 5: Sales Average (Mean) By Under $2.5 Million Distributors, 2010 - 2019 2017 2018 2019 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 $407K $423K $415K $443K $431K $418K $450K $431K $470K $422K Not all small company categories experienced a decline in sales in 2019. The most notable growth was found among companies with up to $500,000 in sales. FEATURE | PPAI Exclusive Research: 2019 Distributor Sales Volume Estimate 46 | JUNE 2020 |