MDM’s most popular blogs of April showed that readers are looking to keep pace in an ever-changing distribution market. While Amazon continues to keep everyone on their toes, issues like talent retention and the threat of disintermediation continue to be hot topics of discussion. Follow the links below to read MDM’s most popular blogs from April.

1. Amazon Raises the Bar… Again

When Amazon announced in April that it grew 17% in the first quarter, the bigger news was that the company was cutting its two-day shipping guarantee for Prime members in half over the next year, and that its Business Prime members can now specify a day and time for order delivery. MDM’s Tom Gale comments on how the company is ratcheting up its value proposition and impact on distributors. 

2. How Distributors Can Retain Top Talent for the Long Haul

Employee recruitment and retention remain major challenges for industrial distributors. Paul Byrnes, vice president of distributor development for NetPlus Alliance, offers effective strategies for recruiting top talent and retaining them long-term.

3. To Keep Pace, Embrace the Right Technology

Choose the right platform, make smarter data-driven decisions and employ advanced cloud technologies to leverage the growing power of e-commerce and adapt your distribution business to keep up with the rise of Amazon Business. 

 4. Why Third-Party Sellers Are Important to Amazon

Third-party sellers are kicking our butt. Badly. That’s how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos assesses the percentage of physical gross merchandise sales – 58% of total merchandise sales – on Amazon by independent third-party sellers in 2018. But don’t feel too sorry for him. By some analyst estimates, Amazon’s operating margins on third-party sales are 20% or higher. Without carrying inventory. That should ease the pain a bit.

 5. The Threat of Distributor Disintermediation

Suppliers are evolving their revenue generation across sales, marketing and service to support direct-to-customer models. In response, distributors would be wise to develop a stronger value proposition surrounding how their company can meet and exceed customer needs, says The Alexander Group's Andrew Horvath.