March Manufacturing Technology Orders up 11.3%
AMT releases USMTO program data.
March Manufacturing Technology Orders up 11.3% Read More »
AMT releases USMTO program data.
March Manufacturing Technology Orders up 11.3% Read More »
Over the past three decades, Al Bates has found no improvement in payroll as a percent of sales across distribution sectors.
The Next Battleground in Wholesale Distribution: Payroll Read More »
The right services can boost profitability, but the benefits have to be on both sides of the transaction.
Tip: Don’t Provide Services that Don’t Make Sense Read More »
The Home Depot benefited from the termination of a secured loan guarantee for HD Supply.
The Home Depot Sales Up 5.9% in First Quarter Read More »
Allen Orton serves fluid power needs of businesses in Georgia and South Carolina.
Hydradyne Acquires Allen Orton Read More »
Compared to the prior quarter, the power transmission/motion control industry is expanding at a faster rate.
PTDA Business Index Indicates Sales Growth in 1Q12 Read More »
NetSuite delivers unified platform for B2B, B2C and Machine2Machine commerce models.
NetSuite Announces Commerce as a Service Read More »
The convenience of tablets can't be disputed, but are businesses jumping in too quickly?
Most Common Mistakes in Adopting Tablets for Business Read More »
Opportunities for cross-selling arent always as intuitive as hammers and nails.
How Data Can Help Salespeople Cross-Sell More Effectively Read More »
Acquisitions contributed 5 percent to the April growth.
Grainger Daily Sales Up 12% in April Read More »
Profit increased 41.9 percent to $16.4 million.
Graybar Sales Up 7.8% in First Quarter Read More »
U.S. sales increased 9.4%.
Allied Motion 1Q Sales Up Slightly YOY Read More »
The sale of Bathstore is in line with Wolseley's announced strategy of focusing on core businesses.
Wolseley Sells U.K.-based Bathstore Read More »
On an unadjusted basis, April marks the seventh straight month of slowing increases.
Wholesale Prices Down 0.2% in April Read More »
Edgen Group completed its initial public offering on May 2.
Edgen Group Sales Up 55% Read More »
Selling more product to existing customers is a common goal for many distributors. The challenge is figuring out how to achieve that goal. And according to Paul Cherry, president of Performance Based Systems, the answer may be in the questions salespeople are asking. Cherry spoke at the Industrial Supply Association's 2012 Product Show & Conference in San Antonio, TX.
"There are still a lot of customer relationships that seem to holding back a bit," Cherry says. "We want to get them to share that money, and share that money with us."
But by the time your salesperson arrives …
Sell More to Customers by Asking the Right Questions Read More »
Bart Schwartz, president of Industrial Channel Research, believes consolidation will continue, but on a much greater scale than we are seeing now: “Distributors that don’t respond – and respond with thoughtful strategy and great execution – aren’t just going to be relegated to second place or bad profitability, they’re going to be gone.” Schwartz spoke at the Industrial Supply Association’s 2012 Product Show & Conference in San Antonio, TX.
There will still be room for niche players, “but they have to be really good, they have to offer something different, and they have to constantly evolve to stay ahead of the players of scale,” he says. Schwartz presented 10 measures of channel success: …
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Amazon.com recently launched AmazonSupply.com, a B-to-B website with more than 500,000 products across 14 categories in industrial and lab supplies. This article, with input from distributors, manufacturers, service providers and industry consultants, examines the potential impact of Amazon’s move into industrial markets. MDM also outlines the next steps for distributors looking to compete more effectively in an increasingly crowded market.
With a broad product offering, name recognition and years of e-commerce best practices under its belt, Amazon and its new industrial marketplace – AmazonSupply.com – should not be discounted as a competitor to independent distributors.
That’s what many industry consultants, distributors and manufacturers say about Amazon’s recent announcement that it would serve the B-to-B market in a formal and more aggressive way by selling more than 500,000 industrial and lab supply products across 14 categories at AmazonSupply.com.
While Amazon has been growing its sales of these products over the past few years, AmazonSupply.com signals a much more serious intent to compete in industrial and commercial markets.
The Details
Amazon is capitalizing on what Grainger, MSC and other large MRO distributors call “unplanned spend” for MRO supplies. Grainger in the past has put the percentage of unplanned spend for MRO as high as 75 percent of all purchases in the category. That’s a huge opportunity.
It’s also homing in...
What AmazonSupply.com May Mean for Independent Distributors Read More »