March 10 2010
Volume 40, Issue 5
40
5
Subscribers: Log-in to read this issue of Premium.
Not a subscriber? Click here to learn more and subscribe.
- Premium
- Premium
Today, Grainger is widely recognized as a leader among distributors in B2B e-commerce. But that wasn't always the case.
The launch of Grainger's first electronic catalog in 1995 marked a shift for the now $6.2 billion distributor of maintenance, repair and operations supplies. After all, the payback of such a move was still unknown, and that uncertainty could have prevented the heretofore "conservative" company from delving into that arena.
"The fact that [Grainger commissioned a team] to do this was unheard of at the time,"
- Premium
Source: Grainger 10Ks 1996-2009; timeline compiled by MDM
1995
- Premium
Grainger's investments into e-commerce 10 to 15 years ago don't look like large gambles today, but as our lead article by associate editor Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier illustrates, it was in fact a large dollar amount for what the adoption rate was at the time and also the company's culture. I was publicly skeptical at the time, questioning whether it was bleeding edge rather than leading edge. How smart was I?
As the timeline illustrates, Grainger's online sales took off with the dot-com era by 1999. It has continued to scale up along with the Internet.
- Premium
In February 2008, United Stationers President and CEO Dick Gochnauer told MDM the master distributor was well on its way to better integrating its customers – which it calls "resellers" – electronically through e-commerce, online marketing, and data tools and services.
The Deerfield, IL-based distributor of office, jan-san, and industrial
- Premium
Delaney's father founded Distributor Service Inc. in 1968; Delaney grew up in the business, which was a traditional two-step distributor serving independent lumberyards. During the 1980s, the company transitioned to industrial products and customers.
- Premium
- Premium
- Premium
Today, Grainger is widely recognized as a leader among distributors in B2B e-commerce. But that wasn't always the case.
The launch of Grainger's first electronic catalog in 1995 marked a shift for the now $6.2 billion distributor of maintenance, repair and operations supplies. After all, the payback of such a move was still unknown, and that uncertainty could have prevented the heretofore "conservative" company from delving into that arena.
"The fact that [Grainger commissioned a team] to do this was unheard of at the time,"
- Premium
Source: Grainger 10Ks 1996-2009; timeline compiled by MDM
1995
- Premium
Grainger's investments into e-commerce 10 to 15 years ago don't look like large gambles today, but as our lead article by associate editor Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier illustrates, it was in fact a large dollar amount for what the adoption rate was at the time and also the company's culture. I was publicly skeptical at the time, questioning whether it was bleeding edge rather than leading edge. How smart was I?
As the timeline illustrates, Grainger's online sales took off with the dot-com era by 1999. It has continued to scale up along with the Internet.
- Premium
In February 2008, United Stationers President and CEO Dick Gochnauer told MDM the master distributor was well on its way to better integrating its customers – which it calls "resellers" – electronically through e-commerce, online marketing, and data tools and services.
The Deerfield, IL-based distributor of office, jan-san, and industrial
- Premium
Delaney's father founded Distributor Service Inc. in 1968; Delaney grew up in the business, which was a traditional two-step distributor serving independent lumberyards. During the 1980s, the company transitioned to industrial products and customers.
- Premium
