Q3 Pulse of Lighting – Share 3 Minutes, Receive Free Lighting Insights

There are only 17 days remaining in Q3, which means it is time for our Q3 Pulse of Lighting survey to gather an understanding of how the lighting market, through electrical distribution, performed.

Feedback we’ve heard from distributors, reps / lighting agents and manufacturers is “varied”.

There are some that are having a good year and had a strong quarter. For others it was “fair” and still others say it has lagged (and a few commenting that business is “way off”.)

Trying to find a trend is challenging. In Q2 we reported that the market was fading and the forecast was for it to continue to decline. The questions are “did it” and, if so, “by how much?”

Consider:

• While many thing resi is down, it may be down nationally but there are areas where it is still strong
• And multi-family is strong in some areas.
• A number of major metropolitan areas have lots of cranes, so commercial construction for larger projects cannot be too bad, but it is not everywhere.
• Industrial construction seems to be doing well. And there are a number of very large, multi-year projects in some markets … but other markets could not get something built, but inevitably that could be a longer-term structural issue.
• Some are benefiting from IIJA projects that are beginning and others are benefiting from IRA funds.

But, according to DISC, and the consensus, is for a flat market … nationally.

This reinforces what has always been said about the electrical market … it is a compendium of local markets, and they all operate differently.

But a big thing that is different is:

• No more supply chain issues, so no need for distributors to add inventory. They have reduced excess inventory and are back to pre-pandemic purchasing behavior.
• Backorders are slowly getting better, which enables projects to get completed. In fact, distributor sales are benefiting from working down their backlogs (which they’d like to rebuild based upon market activity.)
• And the big change … no price increases. Consider how much everyone’s sales increased over the past couple of years due to price increases. This artificially built sales … and set expectations for 2023.

So, with many thinking the “go go” days of the past few years would continue, there are lighting manufacturers that are not hitting goals and are paring back staff. Yes, some layoffs have occurred. In some cases, it may be performance. Others may ne “taking advantage of marketplace opportunities.” And there are some large distributors that have done the same (albeit perhaps not due to the lighting market.)

With this as a backdrop, and uncertainty about market drivers continuing, it is time to ask you to share 3 minutes of your time and share your lighting insights from Q3.

All input is confidential. Whether you’re an electrical / lighting distributor, a manufacturer rep or lighting agent, or a lighting manufacturer, we need your help.

In exchange for your 1-3 minutes, you’ll receive a free copy of the report late this month / early October.

Please contribute. I need your input by Wednesday, September 20^th.