Finding the Silver Lining

Every cloud has a silver lining. The origin of this phrase - which describes the opportunity to find something positive under the most negative of circumstances - seems to be John Milton's 1634 poem Comus. "Was I deceived or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night" reads the poem, referring to the silvery shining edges of a cloud backlit by the sun or moon.

The negative implications of COVID-19 cannot be summarized in a short blog post. As of October 2020, 1.15M people around the world have lost their lives due to the pandemic, huge industries have seen disruptions in their business model with countless jobs lost, and families have been separated unable to visit each other. Still, as the phrase reminds us, even the worst of cloud storms can show a silver lining.

Working from home, with its fair share of difficulties, has also offered families a chance to be together more. Companies were forced to digitize whole departments in a matter of months, a process that would have otherwise taken years. And supply chains needed to be reevaluated with the shortages and sharp increases in price we saw earlier this year. Even as we settle into our new normal, opportunities still persist.

A recent study showed that prices go down slower than they rise (https://www.justice.gov/atr/why-prices-rise-faster-they-fall). This is something that we are all too familiar with in practice. In situations where the challenge to an industry is minimal, the price increase is usually passed on to the customer, that then passes it on to their customer. COVID, as a major disruption, forced customers to leave their comfort zone to review their supply chains. I’ve heard this many times now in conversations with Glowlit users, who cite a positive overall impact on their business.

What happens if you’re not in a position to change your supplier, or simply don’t want to? This could be due to a process preference to a certain product and supplier or due to location restrictions. What happens when you merely want to know whether the decline in price is being passed on to you quickly enough?

This is where Glowlit comes in. Users can use a single quote to compare their current market price. Our Glowlit Pro users can see in real time any locations that have abnormal prices for the products they trade. This arbitrage information allows them to reach out to new contacts for more competitive prices. This transparency allows the market price to become more stable while offering companies a profitable new direction. We call that a silver lining.