North American buying group Affiliated Distributors, Wayne, PA, has announced the launch of its eContent Service program to help member companies compete digitally. The content management solution includes a shared master e-catalog and Web portal, along with member-specific sub-catalog and store front options.
“Independent wholesale distributors’ battle for a level playing field must be fought anywhere that nationals are able to use their size and leverage to create a competitive advantage for themselves to the potential detriment of independents," said Bill Weisberg, AD’s CEO. "And one place that this battle must clearly be engaged and fought is on the Internet.”
The AD industrial division has undertaken and funded the buildout of 2 million product SKUs and marketing content and maintenance to support them on an ongoing basis. The AD electrical and pipe, valve & fittings divisions are revising the e-commerce initiatives they started several years ago to follow this model so that all seven AD divisions can leverage the group’s multi-divisional economies of scale and share ongoing production costs and content.
