Brand survey: the impact of the COVID-19 virus on brands

Orderchamp survey among 318 brands

Through this survey Orderchamp monitors the impact of the COVID-19 virus on its brands. The most remarkable results are presented in this blog.

Most of the stores in the Netherlands were already open, the hospitality industry was allowed to do so last Whit Monday. The consumer dares and wants to go outside again and at the same time the entrepreneur does everything in his power to serve the customer safely. However, this progress does not take away the consequences of the "staying at home" period. 

Earlier we conducted a survey among our retailersto measure the impact of the virus on their operations. In order to understand the changes our brands have experienced (both positive and negative), we have therefore also conducted a survey with them. 

The survey was conducted with 318 brands of Orderchamp. Of all respondents, 87% sells both directly to consumers (B2C) and to retailers (B2B). The remaining 13% of respondents only sells to retailers.

Results

Summary

• Of the brands surveyed, 2/3 experienced a B2B turnover reduction;
• Besides promotions, the expansion of B2C channels is the most common measure;
• 10% is really worried about their own brand - while 66% is more worried about their retailers;
• Of the brands, 47% had supply problems, both in the EU and Asia.

Measures

In order to continue to operate as successfully as possible, many brands have introduced new measures. The survey showed that brands preferred to take the initiative themselves, only 25% requested help with government agencies and/or banks. Survey participants were asked to give examples of their own initiatives. Most of these turned out to be focused on maintaining a good relationship with the consumer. For example, almost half of those surveyed indicated their B2C activities to have expanded.

As many consumers spent more time at home, this led to a change in consumer behaviour. First of all, there was a noticeable shift to the online world, with more and more consumers looking for products via web shops or social media. To accommodate online consumers, brands responded by offering discounts or low-cost delivery options, for example. This also emerged in the survey; 37% of those surveyed indicated specific promotions to have started. Secondly, a change in customer needs was visible. In order to meet the customers' needs, many brands started to expand their product range in one or more popular product categories. Of those surveyed, 20% indicated that it had started to add new products to their current range.

Promotions

In order to best accommodate consumers and retailers in times of COVID-19, brands were asked to provide examples of specific promotions or actions they had (and still have) set up at that time. This resulted in the following most frequently mentioned examples:

• Joint promotions, packages and other actions between brands;
• Offer free delivery (85% of the surveyed brands arrange their shipments themselves);
• Perform discounts and win actions (B2C);
• Offer bulk discounts and samples (B2B);
• Add new products.

NoteIn the Orderchamp back office for brands you can find specific discounts. We advise all brands to set graduated prices - this can also be customer-specific. In addition, former collections can be put on sale. This can be useful in case of excess stock after this period and gives a retailer margin opportunities.

Degree of concern

The survey showed that respondents are less concerned about the progress of their own brand than that of their (online) retailers. Only 1 in 10 respondents indicated that they were really worried.

Regarding concerns about their (online) retailer(s), 66% of the interviewees expressed concerns. The small brands were the least worried about their retailers compared to the big brands that were more worried. On average, small brands are more independent of retailers because they mainly operate their own webshop or B2C channel. The large brands often have stocks in physical stores and are therefore more dependent on their B2B sales channels.

Fulfilment problems

Just over half said they had no problems with suppliers. The remaining interviewees did experience problems. The fulfilment problems mainly occurred with suppliers within the EU.

Fairs

68% of those surveyed expect that the failure of physical exchanges will have little or no impact on the continued existence of their brand. It is important to note that more than half of small brands attend at least one trade fair a year. From medium to large brands, 70-80% visits at least one trade fair per year.

Orderchamp

We do everything we can to serve our brands and retailers as well as possible. For example, various integrations with web shop and cash register systems are in the test phase and we are organising a digital purchasing trade fair in the near future. More about this will follow soon!

In addition, we would like to winners of the brand survey. Here are the three lucky winners. Congratulations!

• HomeLab Amsterdam
• CosMENtis
• Love on paper

Would you also like to register as a brand and start selling to more than 10,000 retailers on Orderchamp? Then click on here!