NAED’s latest survey shows signs of growth for electrical distributors

Aug 31, 2004 9:35 AM

The majority of respondents see continued growth into the third quarter

The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) recently released its Quarterly Sales Change Expectation (QSCE) survey results, which found that sales are growing among electrical distributors. The survey was distributed in early April to approximately 3,700 distributor locations and focused on sales expectations for the previous and upcoming quarter.

Of the survey’s 346 respondents, 81.2% estimated increased sales during first quarter (January through March 2004), 84.7% anticipate increased sales in the second quarter (April through June 2004) and 33.5% expect a continued growth of 10% or more in the third quarter (July through September 2004).

The Western region, which was the least optimistic coming into the first quarter of 2004, had the largest percentage of distributors experience a sales increase with 85.9%. The Southern region was second with 84%, followed by the Midwestern with 78.9% and the Northeastern with 73.3%.

Despite all the optimism, some distributors are facing tough times. Nearly 4% of respondents reported flat sales, and 4.0% expected negative sales growth of –10% or more.