Must Read | The State of Growth 2024 Distributor Benchmarking TABLE 2: Gross Profit Margin PPAI 100 Distributors 36% Distributors $100M+ 34% Distributors $50M-$100M 40% Distributors $25M-$50M 36% Distributors $5M-$25M 34% Distributors $1M-$5M 40% Distributors Under $1M 36% “It’s good to see gross margins holding strong,” says Jake Himelstein, president of BAMKO, the No. 6 distributor in 2024. “What we do is inherently difficult, and we (industrywide) should be compensated for the work we perform.” Andrew Titus, president of Fully Promoted, which ranked as the No. 26 distributor this year, sees these numbers as an indicator of product trends in the promo market. “Items like bags and pens are popular hard goods for us, and we see a huge opportunity to grow that piece of our business as demand for hard goods holds strong,” Titus says. “We’re seeing gross profit steadily climb as our locations diversify their product mix and believe this will be an ongoing trend for us at Fully Promoted in the years to come.” TABLE 3: Revenue From New Clients PPAI 100 Distributors 16% Distributors $100M+ 11% Distributors $50M-$100M 12% Distributors $25M-$50M 17% Distributors $5M-$25M 16% Distributors $1M-$5M 43% Distributors Under $1M 28% Titus expected to see higher numbers coming from new clients. Again, the changes in groupings mean PPAI Media isn’t easily able to compare this year’s results with last year’s. The following survey questions, which were also used to score the 2024 PPAI 100 Growth category, reveal how distributors compare to one another. TABLE 1: Revenue Change Since 2020 PPAI 100 Distributors 38% Distributors $100M+ 38% Distributors $50M-$100M 52% Distributors $25M-$50M 51% Distributors $5M-$25M 69% Distributors $1M-$5M 50% Distributors Under $1M 92% Again, it’s no surprise that revenue has increased by a significant amount since 2020 for all distributor respondents, considering that was an outlier year due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market. “Despite the challenges faced by many, our sales remained steady during 2020,” says Amanda Clay, president and co-owner of Walker-Clay, the No. 91 distributor in the 2024 PPAI 100. “This success can be attributed to our agility in leveraging our in-house kitting facility. Our ability to adapt enabled us to assist our clients in distributing essential items and engaging their remote workforce. “That being said, we’ve experienced significant growth since 2020 and are extremely proud of our team,” Clay adds. “Without their dedication, that wouldn’t have been possible.” Midsize distributors generating between $25 million and $50 million saw their revenue change more than double since last year. Another notable change occurred among small distributors, who reported a 20% jump from last year’s percentage. Amanda Clay Andrew Titus Jake Himelstein 46 • JULY 2024 • PPAI
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzU4OQ==