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Operations

A Hidden Margin Killer for Distributors: Inefficient Order Processing

Order processing rarely grabs headlines, but it often determines whether a distributor protects margin or watches it slip away.
  • Keith Fatula
  • September 3, 2025
Maximize Your Operation With the Right Warehouse Design and Layout
Operations

Critical Skills for Front-Line Leaders in Distribution

You get tested when power and systems go out and you’ve got three hours to figure it out before you miss every commitment.
  • Will Quinn
  • August 26, 2025
Distribution Technology

Beating Delivery Delays with Smart Logistics: Why Distribution’s New Competitive Edge Lives in the Last Mile

Smart logistics technology isn’t replacing human expertise, it’s amplifying it.
  • Brian Hopkins
  • August 26, 2025

Upcoming Programs

  • Upcoming Program

How Distributors are Driving Employee Engagement

Join us on Sept 10, 9 PT/12 ET, as we explore how top-performing distributors are building engagement that fuels performance and loyalty.
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

Economic Update: Forecast Trends Shaping Distribution

Join us on Sept 11, 2025 at 9PT/12ET as we navigate both economic forecast trends with Economist Alex Chausovsky.
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

The Sales Rep’s AI Playbook: What’s Working in Distribution Today

Join us on Sept 17, 2025 at 9PT/12ET as we delve into what real AI adoption looks like in the field today and how
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

The Distributor’s “Technology Dreamstack”

Join us on Sept 24, 2025 at 9PT/12ET as top technology leaders will help you prioritize and make smarter technology decisions.
Register Now
AI in Distribution

Palmer Holland Rolls Out AI Product Platform to Streamline Product Data

Palmer Holland, a Cleveland-based specialty chemical and ingredient distributor, has launched an AI-driven product knowledge platform aimed at streamlining how customers and suppliers access
  • Distribution Strategy Group
  • August 26, 2025
AI in Distribution

Pattern Group’s $400 Million IPO Puts Distributors on Notice as Brands Double Down on Marketplaces

Pattern uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to process more than 46 trillion data points and add 100 billion more each week.
  • Distribution Strategy Group
  • August 25, 2025
2013 state of e-commerce in distribution
Distribution Technology

The E-Commerce Revolution is Pushing Distribution Toward a Digital-First Future

As a catalyst for transformation, e-commerce strategies can be tailored for distribution and leveraged to facilitate improvements across customer experience, sales enablement, and supply
  • Travis Rothstein
  • August 23, 2025

Recent Reports

The State of Customer Experience in Distribution

Transforming Wholesale Distribution with AI

State of CRM and Sales Analytics in Distribution

2025 State of Technology in Distribution

The-Critical-Link-Between-Culture-and-Business-Results
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: The Critical Link Between Culture and Business Results, feat. Randy Eddy, CEO of U.S. Electrical Services (April 13, 2022)

Watch this episode to learn how Randy’s impressive focus on culture is directly tied to business results.
  • Ian Heller
  • April 14, 2022
why losing customers
Distribution Marketing

Don’t Have a Plan to Address Customer Churn? You’re Losing Money 

How distributors can spot customer-churn risks sooner and respond before customers have time to defect.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • April 12, 2022
How Zoro is Building Real Partnerships with Distributors with ‘No Competitive Risk’
Digital Strategy

How Zoro is Building Real Partnerships with Distributors with ‘No Competitive Risk’ 

Is there a way to compete with digital giants like Amazon while simultaneously expanding your customer base to markets you can’t reach through traditional
  • Ian Heller
  • April 4, 2022
steps ascending
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Dakota Supply Group: Doubling Down on Service to Drive Organic Growth (March 30, 2022)

CEO Paul Kennedy about how the company’s focus on customer experience has driven profitable growth.
  • Ian Heller
  • March 30, 2022
How eCommerce Teams Can Drive More Revenue Through Their Website
B2B eCommerce

How eCommerce Teams Can Drive More Revenue Through Their Website

Distributors must deliver customers’ desired browsing and shopping experience to compete against big names like Amazon Business and other digital-first competitors.
  • Benj Cohen
  • March 28, 2022
stacks of shipping containers
Distribution Sales Strategy

Webinar: How to Manage and Recover from Supply Chain Disruptions (March 23, 2022)

In this webinar, we presented the findings from our survey and added our own expertise so you can learn the best practices to detect,
  • Ian Heller
  • March 25, 2022
icons in paint depicting omnichannel
Digital Strategy

The Omnichannel Customer Experience: Are You Channeling Seamless Customer Service?

Today’s customers want it all. They want to be able to go online and easily find products, prices and delivery information. But they also
  • Jonathan Bein
  • March 22, 2022
$100 bill on fire
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Why Losing Customers Costs More Than You Think (March 16, 2022)

n this episode hosts Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein share the true costs of customer defection – and the real upside of reducing it.
  • Ian Heller
  • March 16, 2022
How to Build a Value-Added Services Strategy to Fight Digital Disruptors
Digital Strategy

How to Build a Value-Added Services Strategy to Fight Digital Disruptors 

Distributors must become more effective at offering and managing value-added services because some of the most aggressive disruptors are taking share.
  • Ian Heller
  • March 14, 2022
person on tablet with digital icons representing omnichannel
Distribution Sales Strategy

Webinar: True Omnichannel: Digital, Sales, Branches & Phones – Part 1 (March 9, 2022)

In this webinar, Distribution Strategy Group shared how best-in-class distributors deliver seamless customer experiences no matter where their customers shop and buy. 
  • Dean Mueller
  • March 9, 2022
M&A Boom
Distribution Industry Analysis

Brent Grover: M&A Boom in Distribution is ‘Not Sustainable’ 

Although 2022 seems primed for another bull year, NAW Fellow Brent Grover believes that distribution M&A has hit a peak in value and will
  • Jonathan Bein
  • March 7, 2022
shopping basket on top of laptop represented digitally
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: How Distributors Win with Third-Party Marketplaces, Feat. Kevin Weadick, President of Zoro US (March 2, 2022)

In this episode Zoro President Kevin Weadick joined hosts Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein for a discussion on the role third-party marketplaces can play
  • Ian Heller
  • March 2, 2022
Digital Doom Loop
Digital Strategy

Distributors’ Digital Doom Loop 

Many distributors have become so discouraged about how their websites are performing that they are investing less in overall digital capabilities. After all, why
  • Ian Heller
  • March 1, 2022
shopping cart on top of computer keyboard full of boxes
Distribution Industry Analysis

Webinar: State of eCommerce in Distribution, Part 2 (February 23, 2022)

ow your distributor peers are planning to enhance and augment their ecommerce capabilities over the next three years – and how you can differentiate
  • Dean Mueller
  • February 23, 2022
Core & Main Acquires Earthsavers Erosion Control
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: 2022 M&A in Distribution – Trends and Best Practices (February 16, 2022)

On this episode we have an entertaining and informative discussion with Brent Grover about trends and best practices in M&A in the distribution industry.
  • Ian Heller
  • February 16, 2022
Why Distributors Need to Stop Making These 5 Marketing Mistakes Right Now
Digital Strategy

Why Distributors Need to Stop Making These 5 Marketing Mistakes Right Now 

Jonathan Bein and Ian Heller discuss five distributor marketing mistakes and how to avoid common pitfalls.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • February 16, 2022
Path Amid the Chaos
Digital Strategy

Global Industrial’s ‘Path Amid the Chaos’: A Conversation with Barry Litwin, CEO 

Barry Litwin of Global Industrial speaks about how they’ve built a foundation for effective customer experiences and have leveraged ecommerce to power Global Industrial’s
  • Ian Heller
  • February 15, 2022
economist presentation
Distribution Industry Analysis

ITR Economics Forecasts Growth Through 2025; Labor Shortage to Ease in 2024 

The U.S. economy is quickly bouncing back from COVID. The supply chain is slowly correcting itself, and distributors will see a lot of growth
  • Ian Heller
  • February 14, 2022
Behind the Deals
Distribution Industry Analysis

Behind the Deals: Lawson Products-Test Equity-Gexpro Services; Motion-Kaman; and White Cap-Ram Tool

Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein talked about recent distribution deals, synergies between the businesses, and their predictions for the rest of 2022.
  • Ian Heller
  • February 9, 2022
Facetree
Distribution Industry Analysis

‘Sourcing Simplified’: Factrees Aims to Change How B2B Channel Connections Are Made 

Factrees wants to change channel dynamics for the better. I recently spoke with Williams, who has deep experience in B2B and B2C ecommerce, about
  • Ian Heller
  • February 8, 2022
shopping cart on top of digital devices, phone, tablet, laptop
B2B eCommerce

Webinar: The 2022 State of eCommerce in Distribution, Part 1 (February 2, 2022)

Get the results of our exclusive 12th-annual State of eCommerce in Distribution research, a leading benchmark in the industry for adoption and drivers of
  • Dean Mueller
  • February 4, 2022
sign that says: Yes we're open
Digital Strategy

How Distributors Can Keep the Branch Alive in a Digital World 

Mark Dancer shares how distributors can reimagine physical stores so that they remain relevant long into the future.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • February 2, 2022
Person who painted themselves into a corner
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: The 5 Biggest Distributor Marketing Mistakes (February 1, 2022)

You’ll hear why distributors often fail at marketing — and how you can succeed in this episode of The Wholesale Change Show.
  • Ian Heller
  • February 2, 2022
B2B eCommerce

Better Customer Experience? Distributors Lean Into eCommerce in 2022

Last year, we saw a sharp increase in the adoption of ecommerce due to the COVID-19 pandemic. eCommerce includes transactions through website, mobile and
  • Dean Mueller
  • February 1, 2022
People putting puzzle pieces together
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: What’s Coming for Distribution M&A in 2022? (January 19, 2022)

Two major deals at the end of 2021 ensured the year would end with a bang. Lawson Products, Gexpro Services and Test Equity joined
  • Ian Heller
  • January 19, 2022
sign that says: Yes we're open
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: How Distributors Can Innovate the Physical Store (January 12, 2022)

Mark Dancer shares how he thinks B2B innovators can reimagine physical stores and other real-world spaces to create new value for customers and open
  • Ian Heller
  • January 12, 2022
The 4 Symptoms of Bad CRM
Digital Strategy

The 4 Symptoms of Bad CRM

Here are four symptoms you may be using a “bad” CRM – one that doesn’t help the sales team do their jobs.
  • Benj Cohen
  • January 12, 2022
3 Inside Sales Models That Sell
Inside Sales Strategy

3 Inside Sales Models That Sell

Businesses must have clear expectations of this role if they want to maximize growth opportunities. Here are three inside sales models that are working
  • Mark Peck
  • January 11, 2022
hand interacting with digital interface
Digital Strategy

ADI’s Digital Transformation Goes Beyond the Technology

For ADI, it’s about how that technology can enable the distributor’s team to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • January 5, 2022
How NetPlus Alliance is Helping Distributors Stay Relevant in a Time of Disruption
Distribution Industry Analysis

How NetPlus Alliance is Helping Distributors Stay Relevant in a Time of Disruption

Jennifer Murphy, President of NetPlus Alliance, joined us for a recent Wholesale Change episode to talk about the benefits of the buying group and
  • Jonathan Bein
  • December 20, 2021
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