In complete contrast to the previous two months, the Skynamo Industry Thermometer has revealed an uptick in both order values as well as the number of orders placed by Skynamo partners’ retail customers in November.
Zane van Rooyen, product marketing manager at Skynamo says, “Even though all the statistics were indicating that November would be a good month, the uncertain times that we currently find ourselves in meant that anything could happen,” says Zane van Rooywn, product marketing manager at Skynamo. “So, the palpable excitement and relief of seeing this buyer optimism, even though we know it’s mainly because of festive season preparation, has been welcomed with open arms.
“The data shows that measured against November 2020, from the 26 industry segments that we track, only Freighting & Logistics and Services have fared only marginally better this November,” he adds. “This can be expected if one takes a look at how Covid has fragmented what was once a well-oiled global supply chain network and, more specifically, with the world yet again under the grips of another variant. One can only hope that Omicron passes swiftly, and sales chains restore rapidly in the new year.”
Van Rooyen also notes that the Skynamo Industry Thermometer data shows a very different story, however, for the other 24 industries. Thankfully, he says, these industries have excelled with a recorded average increase in order value total for November versus the previous month, at an average 127% increase overall.
On the rise was the Food & Beverage industry once again taking the lead in November with the highest total order revenue, a 235% increase from October. But this sector is not the biggest climber. The Chemicals & Paints industry segment has shot up from its October total by over 2000%. Building & Hardware doubled its order revenue, as did Apparel & Pharmaceuticals segments. In fact, the data shows that all the other industries enjoyed an increase in order revenues not much less than that, says Van Rooyen, who is hopeful that the rumblings about consumers’ eagerness to spend over these coming months will equate favourably into this being exactly what the retail sector has been waiting for.
“From a Skynamo app usage point of view, in November we saw 3 347 sales reps place an increased number of 172 717 orders and use the app to complete 1 011 566 custom forms for CRM to competitor and customer level information gathering. Long may this upturn last,” says Van Rooyen.