The Weather Company unveils new insights on the economic impact of climate change and weather

New ‘Weather Means Business’ report highlights the growing influence of volatile weather patterns on business resilience, growth, and competitive advantage

ATLANTA – Oct. 2, 2024 – The Weather Company, the world’s most accurate weather forecaster,¹ has released a groundbreaking report, ‘Weather Means Business,’ highlighting the crucial role of weather intelligence in shaping business resilience, growth, and competitive edge as the world adjusts to escalating global temperatures and volatile weather patterns.

In 2024, the world saw 15 straight months of record-breaking temperatures and the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in history, Hurricane Beryl.² In 2023, the U.S. saw 28 separate billion-dollar weather disasters, totaling $93 billion in damages.³ It is more vital than ever for businesses to rethink their strategies when navigating these weather and climate challenges.

By combining accurate weather data with AI and human intelligence, businesses can convert data into actionable insights that drive better informed decision-making. From optimizing supply chains to refining advertising and marketing strategies to demand forecasting, weather intelligence has real-world applications with real financial impact to the top and bottom lines.

The report includes new survey data from Magid and reveals that 75% of executives say that weather has had a moderate or high impact on their business across all functions, with half indicating that this impact has grown over the past five years. Additionally, 100% of executives agree that weather intelligence can help gain a competitive edge, though how that advantage materializes varies by industry and specific business needs.⁴

The Weather Company’s ‘Weather Means Business’ report highlights the power of weather intelligence across a variety of business sectors including retail, CPG, pharma, insurance and travel & tourism. According to the findings, businesses that successfully harness weather intelligence can expect revenue boosts of as much as 10% and significant cuts in operating expenses.

“The critical role of weather intelligence as a change agent in modern business cannot be overstated,” said Sheri Bachstein, CEO, The Weather Company. “A weather strategy for any business- small, medium, or enterprise – is not one-size-fits-all. To be effective, the weather strategy must be tailored to the unique needs of each business function.”

The report further found that 78% of executives surveyed say incorporating advanced weather analytics into their decision-making processes could enhance their ability to anticipate and respond to market fluctuations, while 77% said using weather insights effectively can help them be better at their jobs.

Looking further at industry verticals, 80% of retail executives agreed that enhanced weather intelligence has the potential to contribute positively to annual revenue growth, while 90% of pharma executives said that harnessing weather data can serve as a strategic advantage for their organization. 93% of travel executives also estimated that environmental and weather conditions have impacted their operating costs and revenue by 50% or more over the past year.

For a detailed look into how weather intelligence can transform your business, and for breakouts covering the specialized impact on the retail, CPG, pharma, insurance and travel & tourism industries, download the full “Weather Means Business” report here.

Methodology 

This whitepaper leverages a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research study conducted by an independent research company, Magid, involving 297 C-suite and VP-level executives from U.S. companies across five industries, representing a range of job functions from Revenue & Finance, Operations, Supply Chain to Advertising, Marketing, and  Customer Experience.

About The Weather Company
The Weather Company helps people and businesses around the world make more informed decisions and take action in the face of weather. With its deep industry expertise and highly accurate, high-volume weather data combined with advanced technology and AI, The Weather Company provides insights and solutions that harness the power of weather in a scalable, privacy-forward way. The world’s most accurate forecaster, the company serves hundreds of enterprise customers across media, advertising, aviation and more, and is trusted by hundreds of millions of monthly active users via digital properties from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com). For more, visit weathercompany.com.