These six trends should have an impact on industrial distributor market planning in 2011 and 2012:
- Growing focus on profitability, not sales volume
- Shifting definitions of value by customers
- More attention paid to employee recruitment and retention
- An international approach to doing business
- Increasing interest in online tools
- The return of consolidation
For each of the past three years, distributors have been taking a much closer look at their operations and how they define and execute their value propositions. Why? Economic conditions served as a wake-up call to even the best of distributors. 2009's economic environment as a "turning point for every company in wholesale distribution." Indeed it was.
As Warren Buffet is known for saying: "A rising tide lifts all boats. It's not until the tide goes out that you realize who's swimming naked." At the same time, the distributors who rebuilt on a stronger foundation in 2010 will continue to grow and take market share in 2011.
