Halfway through 2023, sales are strong – though not quite as robust as they were at the beginning of the year. That’s according to a slate of industry leaders who spoke with ASI Vice Chairman Matthew Cohn during a keynote panel Wednesday morning at ASI Chicago 2023.

“We started off the year very excited, with a strong double-digit increase,” said Liza Sachs, chief revenue officer at Top 40 distributor Kaeser & Blair (asi/238600) and a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list. “In the past two months, we’ve had a little bit of a slowdown, but we’re still seeing an increase. … We went in with very high expectations, but it’s getting a little more challenging.”

Sachs was joined on stage by Melissa Ralston, chief revenue officer at Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480) and a member of the Power 50; Donna Bridgeforth, founder and owner of Chicago-based distributorship Bridgeforth Wolf & Associates (asi/145800); and Tej Shah, head of global sales and marketing at Chicago-based Top 40 distributor Overture Promotions (asi/288473).

Ralston also noted that sales started to become softer in the second quarter of 2023, but said that sales in certain segments – including education, hospitality and financial services – have been robust. In particular, distributors’ clients are looking for items like writing instruments, travel backpacks, sticky notes and tech items. “It’s those back-to-normal items that people want and need,” Ralston added.

Shah and Bridgeforth both reported that their sales remained strong. “Most of our clients haven’t pulled back on spend yet,” Shah said. “We still feel bullish about 2023.”

He noted that client demand continues to cater to the flexible and remote workforce, with a lot of kitting involved. “Kitting has its own complexity,” he added. “It’s a beast to manage and do well.”

Overture saw 10% growth last year and is expecting to see 10% growth again this year, Shah noted.

Bridgeforth shared how she completely changed her business during COVID. After losing the majority of her staff and clientele, she started “dialing for dollars” to procure PPE business.

“Through that constant 24/7 working and beating on their door, we were able to forge relationships,” she said. Those new customers have stuck with Bridgeforth post-pandemic and continue to order traditional promo with her.

“We’ve increased sales 400% year over year since 2020,” she said, noting that for the first 25 years of running her business, annual sales were pretty much always under $1 million. Last year, however, the company brought in $3.5 million, and halfway through 2023, Bridgeforth Wolf & Associates has already passed the $2 million mark. “Our sales are amazing,” she added.

Other topics discussed during the panel included the effects of inflation and lingering supply chain issues. Ralston noted that Koozie has tried to be thoughtful about price increases it’s had to make and has also been quick to lower prices on certain products when raw material costs go down. “Most of our customers have been understanding,” she added.

It’s all about education and communication with clients, the panelists agreed.

“It comes down to over-communicating,” Shah said. “None of our clients are oblivious to what’s going on in the marketplace. … Being as transparent as possible has helped us quite a bit.”

Sustainability is also top-of-mind for clients, panelists said. “We’re definitely getting more and more requests,” Sachs shared. “There are some customers that refuse to use any products unless they have something to do with eco.”

Clients want products with a positive story – whether they’re made with eco-friendly materials, from a small minority-owned business or incorporate a charitable giveback element, according to Shah. Not only that, customers want to know that the distributor they’re working with is itself taking steps to reduce waste. “Our customers all want to know we’re sustainable,” Bridgeforth said. “Not only do we have to offer more eco-friendly items, we’ve also had to become sustainable and prove to them that we are.”

Ralston agreed: “It’s certainly not a trend anymore. … It’s really part of a commitment that customers are expecting you to have in your entire supply chain.”

Sustainability is in Koozie Group’s DNA, Ralston added, noting that the majority of its product line meets its third-party verified KG factor and that the supplier is well on its way to meeting its goal of becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2024.

The panelists rounded out the session with a discussion of AI tools and how they’re using them in their business. Currently, they said, products like ChatGPT and Midjourney are useful for first drafts and ideation. It’s a good first step, Sachs said, but still needs fine-tuning. “We still put our own twist on AI-generated copy to personalize it,” she added.

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