While offering a transactional website has become a must-have in today’s environment, enhancing your shopping functionality has become even more critical to meeting customer
Ian Heller
Ian Heller is the Founder and Chief Strategist for Distribution Strategy Group. He has more than 30 years of experience executing marketing and e-business strategy in the wholesale distribution industry, starting as a truck unloader at a Grainger branch while in college. He’s since held executive roles at GE Capital, Corporate Express, Newark Electronics and HD Supply. Ian has written and spoken extensively on the impact of digital disruption on distributors, and would love to start that conversation with you, your team or group. Reach out today at iheller@distributionstrategy.com.
Articles by Ian Heller
John Caplan talks about how Alibaba’s customer-focused business model may be a better digital marketplace for U.S. distributors than Amazon Business.
Everyone recognizes the effects of emerging technologies, as well as well-capitalized competitors, on the channel and on their businesses.
Wholesale Change hosts Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein dig into public distributors’ earnings reports from across segments to bring you insights into how your
In this episode Ian Heller welcomed Alibaba’s John Caplan to the Wholesale Change Show to discuss Alibaba’s capabilities and the marketplace’s long-term plans.
Learn how Amazon uses AI and how distributors can fend off this B2B juggernaut with their own strategy around product recommendations, search relevancy and
Successful ecommerce in B2B is wildly more complex than in retail. Multiple users, workflows, e-procurement, punchout, email-to-order conversion and many more challenges make it
In this episode we explain why the old assumption that distributors can be “High Tech” or “High Touch” is a destructive myth.
This post summarizes some of the key findings in the second report based on our research for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors into how
Returned goods can hurt productivity, reduce profitability, and damage customer and supplier relationships. No wonder most distributors focus on reducing them – but they
There is a way to get over the widely recognized “small-order” issue in distribution in a truly actionable way. Establishing and monitoring Minimum Order
Many distributors have spent time creating a value proposition their companies rally around, but salespeople often stumble when it comes time to sell that
If you hide so well – in your office or among your own employees – that your employees can’t recognize you, then you are
Distributors hate returns. In addition to refunding the sale, they often have to liquidate the product and deal with the administrative hassles ranging from
Distributors know that any digital initiative requires a great product database. Even after all these years, defining the requirements, nailing down the process, choosing
This is a look into the future of wholesale distribution. Join us as we discuss how disruptors will drive consolidation as distributors pool resources
If you’re a distributor, keep an eye on White Cap, which – thanks to the help of CD&R and The Sterling Group – is
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just “advanced technology” – it’s a learning technology that improves on its own without human intervention. AI relies on
Most customers think they buy from you more often than they do in real life. Similarly, customers think they understand everything they need to
Can there be a golden rule for such a broad discipline as distributor marketing, which includes everything from public relations to direct mail, advertising