More than three-quarters of NetPlus Alliance distributor members expect sales growth in 2023, according to NetPlus Alliance Industry Outlook, a quarterly report based on a survey of NetPlus members.

NetPlus Alliance — an industrial buying group that facilitates partnerships between distributors and manufacturers — released the report March 30. The survey, completed last month using fourth-quarter and full-year sales results from 2022, found that 77% of members think their business will grow by at least 3% in 2023.

The report showed distributors remain confident after an overall strong 2022 despite signs the economy may be slowing in 2023. According to the survey, 64% of NetPlus distributors saw significant growth in 2022 (8% growth or more) compared to 2021, while another 23% reported moderate growth.

Factors that contributed to the increase included new customer growth, expanded product line offerings, improved product availability, increased end-user confidence in project pipelines, and prices increases, according to the report.

NetPlus also reported record purchasing numbers among its distributors in 2022.

“Purchases through the group exceeded $400 million for the first time,” NetPlus Alliance founder Dan Judge said in the report. “Purchases by our members from our supplier base in 2022 were 27% higher than 2021, and purchases that year were 25% better than 2020.”