May 2012

We often hear distributors complain that no matter how many times they communicate to customers that they are the better partner, lowering costs and improving productivity for the end-user, the selling decision always comes down to price. These claims have grown louder in the wake of Amazon’s launch of its online industrial platform AmazonSupply.com.

But there’s a problem. ...

Customers segment distributors much like distributors segment customers. Because of this, customers don’t typically think beyond the products they already buy from you. This article examines how distributors can expand what they sell to existing customers by uncovering unexpected cross-selling opportunities in their transaction data.

As consumers, we routinely experience cross-selling by retailers. It can be as simple as “Do you want fries with that shake?” or in more complex e-tail environments: “Customers who bought X also bought Y.”

Companies who do this well include Amazon and Netflix. In fact, Netflix thought the problem was so important that they setup a contest with a $1 million reward for anyone in industry or academia who could create ...