Lockdown turnaround: what DSV customers think
Greater supply chain visibility a key to managing risk in the future
2020/06/05
Reduced consumer spending, clearing the backlog of goods in storage, bringing in new orders and reducing inventory to free up cash are the main challenges DSV customers say they face as lockdown restrictions ease.
These were the key findings that emerged from a DSV customer survey conducted in early May representing a broad spread of industries. (see figure 1), which Mungo Park shared with viewers of DSV’s first public webinar held recently;
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While most of the 120 customers surveyed expect recovery to take upwards of three months, nearly 40% were more optimistic and anticipate recovery inside three months – and early indications are that retail stores serving lower LSMs are already showing signs of recovery.
Nevertheless, it is early days and more severe lockdown restrictions may be re-imposed, perhaps region by region, depending on how the Covid-19 infection rate increases. Any tightening of restrictions will inevitably cause further economic distress, and early gains may be reversed.
Customers were most concerned about their consumers' reduced expenditure (see Figure 2) and a longer lasting drop in consumer demand as the full impact of job losses and company closures becomes clear.
