In its December QuickPulse Report, DSA presented new data on the challenges posed by the pandemic and recovery to help members better understand overall business, supply chain, and inflation impacts to the direct selling industry. The survey was fielded between December 6–14, with 36 companies participating. Highlights included:
- In this month's survey, the percent of responding companies citing a positive business impact in the US from the pandemic saw a modest uptick of 3 percentage points to 56%. This represents a reversal of a several month downward trend.
- The percentage of companies citing a positive impact from the pandemic to their global business increased 5 percentage points in December to 57%. This is a two-month upward trend, building on an 8 percentage point increase in November.
- The vast majority of companies (94%) continue to indicate they’re experiencing global supply chain issues impacting business in the US. Of those experiencing supply chain issues, 71% say these issues are having a moderate or significant impact on their business in the US. (This is about the same level as the last two months).
Eighty-two percent expect general supply chain-related business disruptions will continue for at least five months. (For comparison, these expectations appear relatively aligned with similar data from Oxford Economics’ recent Global Risk Survey.)
The top three supply-chain challenges of direct selling companies in December are:
- Higher production or shipping costs (82%)
- Transportation delays outside US (68%)
- Product/component/raw material production delays outside US (53%)
Two other issues are at all-time highs in December: “delays in product development/launch” at 44% and “challenges in managing quality control” at 21%.
All direct selling companies are encouraged to participate in DSA’s QuickPulse research, which is fielded at the beginning of each month. As a benefit of your company’s participation, you’ll receive the comprehensive results report and crosstabs. For questions or to be added to the distribution list, contact DSA’s Director of Industry Insights, Ben Gamse at bgamse@dsa.org.