Recently we\'ve been talking to distributors and manufacturers about the impact of eCommerce on their business as well as assisting on their 2018 planning. While growth is a recurring theme (as expected) as is the goal of improved profitability, an area that unites these two is the ability to cost-effectively deliver the business. Cost-effectively is being defined as ways to … [Read more...] about Improving Profitability Through Warehouse Transformation
Insights
Amazon Business Isn\’t the Greatest Threat, Customer Expectations Is
As electrical distributors launch, or prepare to launch, their eCommerce sites, they need to be aware of a key customer dynamic that is changing...the expectation of accuracy. While many have talked about Amazon Business being a key competitor (or threat), their biggest impact may be on customer expectations ... and the expectation that the inventory information on the website … [Read more...] about Amazon Business Isn\’t the Greatest Threat, Customer Expectations Is
Grainger Turning a Corner?
Continuing our Q3 earnings observations, next up is Grainger which is a traditionally a good barometer for the industrial MRO space and lately has been a case study in value proposition, price and fear of Amazon Business. From the earnings call and their slides: Overall \"a solid quarter and there were some positive signs\". Seeing growth coming from their price reduction … [Read more...] about Grainger Turning a Corner?
Focusing on People in Need with Disaster Relief
At last month’s AD meeting (our observations here) Bill Weisberg announced the launch of the AD Disaster Relief Foundation. While the timing was serendipitous given the recent tragedies in Houston, Florida, the Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Mexico and now California with the wildfires, the concept was in discussion for over a year due to floods in West Virginia … [Read more...] about Focusing on People in Need with Disaster Relief
Reps … Mega vs Medium / Smaller?
For the September issue of Electrical Wholesaling magazine I wrote an article for their Speaking Out section titled Mega Agencies vs Smaller Reps. In an industry where it has commonly been stated that 80% of manufacturers who represent 60% of industry sales go to market through independent manufacturer sales agents, needless to say, the agency world is important. And the trend … [Read more...] about Reps … Mega vs Medium / Smaller?
Distributor Perspective of State of eCommerce Research Report
Recently Channel Marketing Group surveyed distributors in the construction and industrial trades regarding their eCommerce experience. The intent was to gain a distributor\'s perspective of the state of eCommerce, how they define it, what results they are currently experiencing, where they have challenges and their opinion regarding the future of eCommerce. Over 230 … [Read more...] about Distributor Perspective of State of eCommerce Research Report
O+P=R and a Lower Cost of Sales … The Agent Management Formula
In the electrical industry, capturing business is a fight for market share. And to win that fight you need the most effective sales organization. One that can get into \"the right person at the customer\" (be they and end-user, contractor or distributor) to prove your difference. At the same time companies need to do this cost-effectively. There is a balance that needs to be … [Read more...] about O+P=R and a Lower Cost of Sales … The Agent Management Formula
Does your warehouse make you money?
There are two ways to make money. Either you sell more material / services for a profit or you need to reduce your loss (operating costs) in your warehouse (support services). The only ways to make your warehouse a profit contributor is to reduce costs by reducing people, reducing delivery costs or increasing output without increasing expenses. Alternatively you can seek ways … [Read more...] about Does your warehouse make you money?
What is Good “Product Content”?
For the past few years electrical distributors have been actively investing (in the hopes of eventually deploying) in commerce-enabled websites. This has necessitated that distributors become acquainted with, focus on, invest in and develop product content (data) to power their systems. And they\'ve had to learn the difference between product content that is sufficient / usable … [Read more...] about What is Good “Product Content”?
Acquisitions – Pieces of a Puzzle …Border States and Womack
Monday marked the day that Amazon closed on its Whole Foods acquisition and that Border States closed on its Kriz Davis acquisition. Both provided the acquirer strategic opportunities to increase their footprint and become pieces of a puzzle to become national. As many recall, last month Border States announced it was going to acquire the $200M Kriz Davis business while … [Read more...] about Acquisitions – Pieces of a Puzzle …Border States and Womack
