Key Takeaways
• Sales Performance Insights: ASI Research’s latest data highlighted mixed sales performance in April, with distributors reporting equal year-over-year sales increases and declines, and suppliers more likely to report decreased sales.
• High Concern Among Suppliers: The report reveals that over 60% of suppliers were “very concerned” about the potential impacts of tariffs on 2025 business. Meanwhile, distributor concerns slightly rebounded, with fewer reporting that they were “very concerned,” though the majority remains apprehensive.
• Lower Confidence & Higher Prices: Counselor Confidence Index scores for both suppliers and distributors dropped in April compared to Q1. And the number of suppliers who have increased prices due to tariffs is on the rise.
To say that April was a whirlwind for the promo industry would be an understatement.
From ballooned tariffs on Chinese imports, to (announced and then paused) country-specific reciprocal levies on more than 90 nations, it was a month characterized by uncertainty over global trade – which extended into significant impacts on April promotional products sales and industry health projections for the remainder of the year.
A survey fielded by ASI Research at the close of the month – the first time ASI members were surveyed monthly rather than quarterly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 – revealed that the vast majority of both suppliers and distributors were still acutely feeling the impacts of tariffs on their sales.
April’s volatility was preceded by a difficult Q1 that resulted in lackluster sales for the promo industry, with distributors reporting a collective sales decline of 3.6% – the industry’s biggest quarterly sales decrease in four years. The U.S. economy overall also shrank 0.3% in the quarter.
The difficulties for the promo industry continued into April, with equally as many distributors notching year-over-year sales increases compared to April 2024 as declines. (In Q1, 42% of distributors reported sales declines, compared to 39% in April.)
A greater percentage of suppliers reported decreased sales in April (45%) than their distributor counterparts. The figure, however, was a notable drop compared to the percentage of suppliers who reported sales decreases in Q1 (58%).
Read the rest of this story on ASI Central.
