Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly turning to self-service technologies to streamline operations, meet customer expectations, and drive revenue growth.
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The hot new form of AI is rapidly spreading into the business world. Two distributors describe their AI journeys.
Regardless of how we got here, what many of us discovered is a career that offers more than just selling and moving boxes.
Upcoming Programs
Join us on June 4, 9 PT/12 ET, as we delve into strategies for leveraging these platforms to boost sales and stay competitive.
Join us on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 9 PT/12 ET for a new AI News and Gurus: The Show for Intelligent Distributors
Join us on June 11, 2025 at 9 PT / 12 ET as we delve into the current state of distributor pricing and costing
Join us on June 18, 9 PT/12 ET, to explore the data infrastructure behind the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing industries, and where it’s headed
WMS, LMS, OMS, WES, YMS: whatever acronym we use, they’re all tools, but they’ll never replace the need for leadership.
Trent Gillespie will detail approach to AI in a keynote entitled “Designing an AI-enabled business” at Distribution Strategy Group’s Applied AI for Distributors conference.
Whatever else happens in the world, your competitors will use AI to drive performance.
Recent Reports
John Caplan talks about how Alibaba’s customer-focused business model may be a better digital marketplace for U.S. distributors than Amazon Business.
A study of both successful and disastrous consolidations finds 10 common mistakes that drive employee misunderstanding and mistrust after the deal.
Everyone recognizes the effects of emerging technologies, as well as well-capitalized competitors, on the channel and on their businesses.
This post previews some of the key findings in the third report based on our research for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors into how
Wholesale Change hosts Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein dig into public distributors’ earnings reports from across segments to bring you insights into how your
The increase in digital buying behavior is here to stay, pandemic or no – especially as the number of millennial decision-makers rises. If 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.
Amazon Business is projected to make $52 billion in sales by 2023. For distributors to fend off this AI-powered giant, they’ll need to understand
When salespeople are slow to embrace ecommerce, they miss opportunities that not only hurt the company, but the customers they are trying to help.
If you are a distributor on a quest to get on page one of Google, don’t neglect the importance of being found locally. Here’s
Learn how Amazon uses AI and how distributors can fend off this B2B juggernaut with their own strategy around product recommendations, search relevancy and
To understand how vulnerable a distribution vertical is to disruption, look at the relationship between the product category’s complexity and the ability for the
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
Recently, the Atlantic posted a story about the resilience of human societies in the face of disaster. The author made a strong historical argument
Setting a Minimum Order Quantity is quick, predictable, and perfectly suited for the V-shape recovery. It’s a great strategy for distributors that have taken
In this episode we explain why the old assumption that distributors can be “High Tech” or “High Touch” is a destructive myth.
We talk a lot about the importance of sales reps’ selling value, rather than going directly to price.
Read about five common mistakes distributors make when considering and offering vending and inventory control solutions, and how to overcome them.
Do you feel like your ecommerce platform is broken – not delivering the ROI you expected? You’re not alone.
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
Marketplaces are among the most successful business models of the modern era. From Amazon to Google to Grainger’s Zoro, there’s clearly good money in
Some distribution verticals are much more vulnerable to disruptors than others. Why was office supplies hit so hard by marketplaces but building products has
Selling more to existing customers is more profitable than acquiring new customers. So why don’t many distributors succeed at effectively cross-selling to their customers?
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
Here’s what to consider when considering what “product” means to your distribution business and your customer relationships.
Many distributors have spent time creating a value proposition their companies rally around, but salespeople often stumble when it comes time to sell that
How can you tell whether your website is working for your customers? Start with the why, and implement ongoing evaluation of how successful your
Here’s why hybrid models are ideal for this new sales landscape, how outside sales reps are primed to dominate this disrupted environment, and what
If you hide so well – in your office or among your own employees – that your employees can’t recognize you, then you are