Supplier Benchmarking TABLE 1: Revenue Change Since 2022 Suppliers $100M+ 33% Suppliers $25M-$100M 12% Suppliers $10M-$25M 29% Suppliers $3M-$10M 16% Suppliers Under $3M 28% Considering that the branded merchandise industry was still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, it’s not surprising that revenue has increased by a significant amount for all supplier respondents since then. “Tomax has been experiencing rapid growth,” says Joshua Jen, COO of Tomax USA, PPAI 100’s No. 37 supplier. “We’re on track in 2026 to do more than triple what we did back in 2022.” TABLE 2: Gross Profit Margin Suppliers $25M+ 38% Suppliers $10M-$25M 40% Suppliers $3M-$10M 44% Suppliers Under $3M 30% Ben Zhang, founder and CEO of Greater Pacific, PPAI 100’s No. 47 supplier, says his company’s gross profit margin is much lower than the industry norm. “Maybe that’s because we don’t carry inventory like a typical supplier,” Zhang says. “For suppliers with inventory, I agree that they have to make more than 30% margin considering the warehouse cost, labor cost, etc. “But for Greater Pacific, we adapt just in time with zero inventory in the U.S. Our average size of order is about $30,000-$50,000 in volume. Therefore, we offer lower gross margin to help our distributors to advance their projects. Some of the large projects we only mark up single digits to improve our competitiveness.” TABLE 3: Active Distributor Company Clients Suppliers $100M+ 11,268 Suppliers $25M-$100M 8,127 Suppliers $10M-$25M 3,384 Suppliers $3M-$10M 1,672 Suppliers Under $3M 197 The average of 11,268 distributor clients among the industry’s largest suppliers highlights both the extensive network of distributors and the wide range of partnership opportunities available to suppliers. In contrast, the significantly lower average for suppliers in the under $3 million segment may reflect limitations in resources that cap the number of distributor relationships they can sustain. However, it also underscores the strength and importance of the relationships these smaller suppliers maintain with their active distributor partners. TABLE 4: Order Count Suppliers $100M+ 407,543 Suppliers $25M-$100M 92,192 Suppliers $10M-$25M 50,038 Suppliers $3M-$10M 25,526 Suppliers Under $3M 698 Across the board, suppliers processed a lot more orders in 2025 than in 2024. For example, suppliers under $3M doubled the amount last year. Must Read | The State of Growth 2026 Across all supplier sizes, I’m impressed by on-time shipping performance. —JIM DUSBIBER, INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AT CHAMPRO 24 • JULY 2026 • PPAI
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzU4OQ==