Amazon presents a threat to all of wholesale distribution, so “the industry as a whole has to shift quickly from a fear-based, defensive position to a more proactive stance,” write Ian Heller and Tom Gale in Your Amazon Business Playbook, a free report from MDM now available to download.

The report examines the threats that Amazon poses, the rise of Amazon Business – formerly AmazonSupply – and why it presents a clear threat to today’s distributor. Ian and Tom outline where they think Amazon Business is heading with its adaptive model and why its threat to your business has turned from disintermediation to displacement.

“In the absence of a clear Amazon B2B strategic roadmap, it’s critical for distributors to build a customized response – now – based on known facts, the historic record of Amazon’s exploitation of other mature industries and a strategic calculation on how your company can continue to grow as Amazon Business pushes into B2B procurement,” Ian and Tom write.

The report, which will help you understand Amazon’s rise and its likely long-term plans, includes the following chapters:

• Overview: The Threat
• Key Takeaways on Amazon Business
• Amazon’s Strategies and Capabilities
• Commentary: Amazon Attacks Industries, Not Companies
• Targeting Grainger & Beyond
• How to Respond: Options for Distributors
• Commentary: An Industry at an Inflection Point
• Call to Action in 2018

Download our free report, Your Amazon Business Playbook, now.

Our coverage of Amazon doesn’t end there. Subscribe to MDM Premium now and read all of our past and future coverage on Amazon – deeper analysis than you’ll find anywhere else to compete more effectively in today’s fast-changing marketplace. And look for the next installment of our free Amazon report in the second quarter.