February 10 2009
Volume 39, Issue 3 - 02/10/2009
39
3
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Certainly, transportation costs may come down - particularly for distributors who rely on their own fleets for delivery. But for those who sell oil-based products like plastics and industrial lubricants, the value of inventory has also plummeted.
The trend is not limited to oil. The prices of most products on the commodities markets are falling as the world economy continues its downward spiral. Copper has lost more than 60 percent of its value since last summer; lumber has fallen to the lowest prices in 20 years. Corn and wheat saw similar spikes and falls in the past year.
The bubble has ...
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One aspect of Amazon's success was that they had a successful new product that generated a lot of interest and did well: the Kindle electronic book reader.
What does that have to do with distributors? I think there are several important lessons for distributors when you start to look beyond the numbers. To start, last quarter was the worst holiday shopping season in decades for traditional retail across all categories. ...
- Premium
Manufacturers have for the past couple of decades commonly offered pricing tiers to distributors, setting purchase quotas to qualify for price discounts and offered rebates based on growth and penetration. These rebates have been of great benefit to distributors - actually we buy our bottom lines - and have been the primary driver behind the growth of buying groups.
In some industries, rebates based on quantity purchases alone have been removed from the table. Pricing at the time of purchase, and special rebates or pre-bates to grow specific markets seem to be the emerging trends.
This means that many in distribution will have to rethink their purchasing strategy and start to look at shorter term growth and market penetration. Pre-bates are paid ...
- Premium
Grainger reported sales of $6.9 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, up 7 percent from 2007. Profit of $475 million was up 13 percent. Grainger reported that it is somewhat below the low end" of the range it provided in November for 2009 of -5 percent and +5 percent. In ...
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In a nutshell, the idea that resonated throughout the survey results was: Now is the time to act. As one respondent wrote, Climb into bed with your income statement, and act now. Responses to the profitability survey indicate that distributors and manufacturers are indeed responding to the new market conditions. ...
- Premium
Certainly, transportation costs may come down - particularly for distributors who rely on their own fleets for delivery. But for those who sell oil-based products like plastics and industrial lubricants, the value of inventory has also plummeted.
The trend is not limited to oil. The prices of most products on the commodities markets are falling as the world economy continues its downward spiral. Copper has lost more than 60 percent of its value since last summer; lumber has fallen to the lowest prices in 20 years. Corn and wheat saw similar spikes and falls in the past year.
The bubble has ...
- Premium
One aspect of Amazon's success was that they had a successful new product that generated a lot of interest and did well: the Kindle electronic book reader.
What does that have to do with distributors? I think there are several important lessons for distributors when you start to look beyond the numbers. To start, last quarter was the worst holiday shopping season in decades for traditional retail across all categories. ...
- Premium
Manufacturers have for the past couple of decades commonly offered pricing tiers to distributors, setting purchase quotas to qualify for price discounts and offered rebates based on growth and penetration. These rebates have been of great benefit to distributors - actually we buy our bottom lines - and have been the primary driver behind the growth of buying groups.
In some industries, rebates based on quantity purchases alone have been removed from the table. Pricing at the time of purchase, and special rebates or pre-bates to grow specific markets seem to be the emerging trends.
This means that many in distribution will have to rethink their purchasing strategy and start to look at shorter term growth and market penetration. Pre-bates are paid ...
- Premium
Grainger reported sales of $6.9 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, up 7 percent from 2007. Profit of $475 million was up 13 percent. Grainger reported that it is somewhat below the low end" of the range it provided in November for 2009 of -5 percent and +5 percent. In ...
- Premium
- Premium
- Premium
In a nutshell, the idea that resonated throughout the survey results was: Now is the time to act. As one respondent wrote, Climb into bed with your income statement, and act now. Responses to the profitability survey indicate that distributors and manufacturers are indeed responding to the new market conditions. ...