Or are we talking ourselves into a recession? Since the fall and the beginning of planning season there have been some economists who have been warning of a second half 2019 slowdown leading to a 2020 recession. Their prognostications were based upon some trends, the fact that we’ve been in a growth cycle for awhile and “are due”, the last year’s tariffs and the one that was … [Read more...] about Does it feel like we’re heading into a recession …
Technology & Digital
Embracing Digital Connections…Texting
Yes, we’ve all seen it and most of us have done it…multi-tasking by listening and texting, reading and texting, sending a quick text to touch base or share a piece of information and more. While many thought “texting is for our kids”, it is now mainstream and becoming further integrated into everyday business. We’ve heard of distributor salespeople getting texts from their … [Read more...] about Embracing Digital Connections…Texting
Slow Growth in Industrial MRO … Grainger Reports
The industrial MRO market appears to have slowed its rate of growth as evidenced by Grainger’s 2019 first quarter report. While Grainger is much more than electrical products, products commonly associated with the electrical industry (electrical, lighting, motors) represent 9% of sales with power and hand tools representing another 10% according to Grainger’s 2019 Fact Sheet, … [Read more...] about Slow Growth in Industrial MRO … Grainger Reports
Punchouts Drive eCommerce
eCommerce is more than, in the words of an Amazon and MRO analyst, “click and ship”. eCommerce is about a methodology and a mindset to do business more electronically. In fact, the commerce element can be very diversified, especially for medium to large MRO buyers. Consider Amazon Business, Grainger and MSC. Both Grainger and MSC report that over 40% of … [Read more...] about Punchouts Drive eCommerce
Will Alexa Bring Smart?
Many talk about the impact of Amazon. It’s impact on societal expectation. Influence on retail. It’s emergence as an MRO platform through Amazon Business. It’s foray into branded products / private labeling through Amazon Basics and its integration into the platform of many companies through Amazon Web Services (AWS). And, remember, it’s entered into homes (and some … [Read more...] about Will Alexa Bring Smart?
Amazon Business is a Nominal Electrical Distributor Competitor
Interesting article in Electrical Wholesaling, “Amazon Business is Growing. Do Distributors Have a Plan” written by Unilog essentially saying you need to either join or fight Amazon Business because they are / will be taking over the distribution business (and since Unilog placed this article in EW, presumably they believe that the electrical channel is at risk.) The article, … [Read more...] about Amazon Business is a Nominal Electrical Distributor Competitor
Spinning products to improve customer experience
Over the past six months we’ve seen a number of distributors upgrade their websites – either the “look and feel”, evolve to a webstore or upgrade both. Why the investments? Because these distributors recognize that “table stakes” for at least some customers is requiring, or will require, offering an e / omni-channel experience. Customers are evolving to seeking more information … [Read more...] about Spinning products to improve customer experience
