RETAILERS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS:
SMARTER. LEANER. CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC.

Selected Highlights

It has been a rocky two years for retailers and their suppliers. The 2008 recession and the resulting plummet in consumer spending sent the retail industry reeling, and the impact is still being felt 24 months later both by stores and the vendors that supply them. And while signs of recovery are appearing, the industry continues to maintain a conservative approach along the entire supply chain—cash is being conserved, inventories have been pared, staff levels are lean, and expansion plans are carefully examined.

In response, retailers and suppliers have had to learn some hard lessons. To examine the current state of middle market retailers and their small/mid-sized vendors, Forbes Insights, in association with small business and middle market lender CIT, conducted two distinct yet complementary surveys. The first focused on financial decision makers at U.S. middle market retailers (those with annual revenues of $25 million to $1 billion), while the second surveyed small and middle market suppliers and manufacturer (with annual revenues from $2 million to $1 billion) that sell their goods through retail. Both follow up similar studies conducted in 2009.