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Distribution Sales Strategy

Promoted but Not Prepared: The Case for Sales Manager Training

Sales organizations are notorious for promoting top performers into management roles without adequate preparation.
  • Mike Kunkle
  • July 10, 2025
Operations

Beyond the Spreadsheet: Transforming Order & Quote Processes

The most successful implementations start with clear process mapping, identifying the highest-impact automation opportunities first.
  • Brian Hopkins
  • July 8, 2025
AI in Distribution

Parspec Raises $20 Million to Bring AI Automation to Construction Distributors

Parspec expects both the distributor and contractor tools to be commercially available by the end of 2025. Pilot programs are currently underway.
  • Distribution Strategy Group
  • July 8, 2025

Upcoming Programs

  • Upcoming Program

Using Technology to Drive Profits and Productivity

Join us on July 16, 9 PT/12 ET, as we discuss how to turn technology strategies into tangible outcomes.
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

How Distributors are Solving Supply Chain Challenges

Join us on July 23, 9 PT/12 ET, as we discuss how companies are building more resilient, agile supply chains.
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

AI News and Gurus: The Show for Intelligent Distributors

Join us on Thursday, July 24, 2025 at 9 PT/12 ET for a new AI News and Gurus: The Show for Intelligent Distributors
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

State of Distributor Sales

Join us on July 30, 2025 at 9PT/12ET as we delve into the state of distributor sales to enhance your customer experience.
Register Now
Operations

Critical Skills for Front-Line Leaders in Distribution Part One

Frontline leadership isn’t about reports and titles. It’s about earning trust, solving real problems, and keeping the operation moving day in and day out.
  • Will Quinn
  • July 7, 2025
Operations

The New Rules of Profitability in Wholesale Distribution

Today’s profit leaders aren’t necessarily the biggest players, they’re the swiftest.
  • Brian Hopkins
  • July 1, 2025
AI in Distribution

5 Big Lessons from Day Two of the Applied AI for Distributors Conference

Chicago was buzzing. Day Two of the Applied AI for Distributors Conference wasn’t about theory or future hype. It was about execution.
  • Will Quinn
  • June 27, 2025

Recent Reports

State of CRM and Sales Analytics in Distribution

2025 State of Technology in Distribution

From Silos to Synergy: Transforming B2B Distribution with Automation and Collaboration

Optimizing B2B eCommerce for Distributors: Strategies for Scalability, Supply Chain Visibility and Digital Integration

Shopping cart full of boxes with boxes overflowing onto the floor
B2B eCommerce

Webinar: 2021 State of eCommerce in Distribution: Part 1

In the first of two webinars on the State of eCommerce in Distribution, we present the results of our 9 annual State of eCommerce
  • Dean Mueller
  • January 26, 2021
The Role of Marketing Groups & Co-Ops Amid Disruption, feat. Steve Ruane, IMARK Electrical
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: The Role of Marketing Groups & Co-Ops Amid Disruption, feat. Steve Ruane, IMARK Electrical (January 20, 2021)

We had a frank conversation with Steve Ruane, Vice President of Marketing and Member Services for IMARK Electrical, about the role co-ops and marketing
  • Jonathan Bein
  • January 21, 2021
DSG Survey Reflects Sharp Increase in eCommerce Adoption, Maturity in 2020
B2B eCommerce

DSG Survey Reflects Sharp Increase in eCommerce Adoption, Maturity in 2020

We had expected a sharp increase in the adoption of ecommerce in 2020 with the shifts in buying behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Dean Mueller
  • January 20, 2021
Home Depot, HD Supply and the Multifamily Market War
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Home Depot, HD Supply and the Multifamily Market War (January 6, 2021)

We had a lively discussion about trends in the multifamily market, as well as the recent Home Depot-HD Supply acquisition.
  • Ian Heller
  • January 8, 2021
How to Build Successful B2B Customer Loyalty Programs
Distribution Marketing

How to Build Successful B2B Customer Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty and incentive programs can help wholesale distribution companies build meaningful relationships with their customers to gain mindshare and wallet share.
  • Ian Heller
  • January 4, 2021
8 Reasons Distributors Fail at Digital
Digital Strategy

8 Reasons Distributors Fail at Digital

No matter how hard you try, it’s really easy to build a doomed website. In a recent episode of the Wholesale Change webcast and
  • Ian Heller
  • December 28, 2020
Secure Buy-in to Your Pricing Initiative
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Secure Buy-in to Your Pricing Initiative (December 16, 2020)

Without buy-in from your entire team – including that salesperson that complains the most – a strategic pricing project will, simply put, not yield
  • Ian Heller
  • December 17, 2020
How Distributors Can (Finally) Succeed at Cross-Selling
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: How Distributors Can (Finally) Succeed at Cross-Selling

Debbie Paul joined Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein to talk about what’s in distributors’ way, and how emerging technologies are making it easier to
  • Ian Heller
  • December 10, 2020
Digitally Native Vertical Brands: Lessons for B2B Channels
Digital Strategy

Digitally Native Vertical Brands: Lessons for B2B Channels

As of yet, the Digitally Native Vertical Brand is not common in B2B markets. But B2B channels can learn from the success of DNVBs.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • December 9, 2020
How Culture Can Be Cultivated on Zoom (with John Tisera, CEO of Johnstone Supply)
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: How Culture Can Be Cultivated on Zoom (with John Tisera, CEO of Johnstone Supply)

John Tisera, president/CEO of Johnstone Supply, joined Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein in this episode to talk about how the distributor has built and
  • Ian Heller
  • December 2, 2020
High-Tech AND High-Touch: How Distributors Can Win in a B2C World
Digital Strategy

High-Tech AND High-Touch: How Distributors Can Win in a B2C World

If you aren’t building high-tech platforms that make it hyper-efficient for your customers to execute simple transactions, you’re losing the game. But simply adopting
  • Ian Heller
  • December 2, 2020
3 Technologies That Deliver 10X Returns for Distributors
Digital Strategy

3 Technologies That Deliver 10X Returns for Distributors

Based on our extensive work with distributors, we distill your list of technology choices to the investments that we believe can have the greatest
  • Jonathan Bein
  • December 1, 2020
How to Get Your Brand Out of the Graveyard
Distribution Marketing

How to Get Your Brand Out of the Graveyard

You’ll know you’re stuck in a brand graveyard if your customers only buy a small percentage of your product offering, only buy big products
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 30, 2020
If Marketplaces are a Must, Should You Build Your Own?
Digital Strategy

If Marketplaces are a Must, Should You Build Your Own?

Independent alternatives to third-party marketplaces like Amazon are emerging, and some distributors have found success selling through them. This has many wondering if they
  • Ian Heller
  • November 25, 2020
How Fastenal is Outperforming the Market in 2020
Digital Strategy

How Fastenal is Outperforming the Market in 2020

Fastenal is outperforming its peer distributors in 2020 despite the recession. They’ve recovered quickly by capitalizing on their end market and excellent company culture,
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 23, 2020
AI vs BI in Sales: Why Distributors Should Choose Artificial Intelligence
Digital Strategy

AI vs BI in Sales: Why Distributors Should Choose Artificial Intelligence

Today, distributors can choose from an array of sales tools that all promise data-driven results. In theory, this should help distributors understand their customers
  • Benj Cohen
  • November 20, 2020
Leverage Customer Loyalty Programs for Long-Term Growth
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Leverage Customer Loyalty Programs for Long-Term Growth (November 18, 2020)

Learn why loyalty is a powerful emotion and how to leverage it in B2B, best practices in designing loyalty and incentive programs, and how
  • Ian Heller
  • November 18, 2020
Home Depot
B2B eCommerce

Home Depot Buys Back HD Supply; MRO Distributors Get Squeezed

Home Depot pays a 25% premium for an enterprise value of $8 billion to reacquire HD Supply, putting branch-based distributors square in the middle
  • Ian Heller
  • November 18, 2020
Prevent Customers From Leaving You
Distribution Sales Strategy

Prevent Customers From Leaving You

For some companies, an annual increase of 1% in customer retention over each of the next ten years results in 20% increase in annual
  • Robert Kelley
  • November 12, 2020
Why a Great Shopping Experience is More Important Than the Checkout Experience
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Why a Great Shopping Experience is More Important Than the Checkout Experience (November 11, 2020)

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
  • November 12, 2020
The Difference Between Alibaba and Amazon: How Alibaba’s B2B Platform Works for Distributors
Digital Strategy

The Difference Between Alibaba and Amazon: How Alibaba’s B2B Platform Works for Distributors

John Caplan talks about how Alibaba’s customer-focused business model may be a better digital marketplace for U.S. distributors than Amazon Business.
  • Ian Heller
  • November 10, 2020
The Minefields of Building Companies through Acquisition
Distribution Industry Analysis

The Minefields of Building Companies through Acquisition

A study of both successful and disastrous consolidations finds 10 common mistakes that drive employee misunderstanding and mistrust after the deal.
  • Bill Wade
  • November 4, 2020
Why Distributors, Their Suppliers and Customers All Believe Disruption is Real
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Why Distributors, Their Suppliers and Customers All Believe Disruption is Real (November 4, 2020)

Everyone recognizes the effects of emerging technologies, as well as well-capitalized competitors, on the channel and on their businesses.
  • Ian Heller
  • November 4, 2020
2 Trends to Watch in B2B: Item Recognition and Voice Ordering
Digital Strategy

2 Trends to Watch in B2B: Item Recognition and Voice Ordering

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
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 2, 2020
Distributors’ Quarterly Checkup: Notable Results, Surprises and Market Moves
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change: Distributors’ Quarterly Checkup: Notable Results, Surprises and Market Moves (October 28, 2020)

Wholesale Change hosts Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein dig into public distributors’ earnings reports from across segments to bring you insights into how your
  • Ian Heller
  • October 29, 2020
Pull Your eCommerce System Back from the Jaws of Defeat
B2B eCommerce

Pull Your eCommerce System Back from the Jaws of Defeat

The increase in digital buying behavior is here to stay, pandemic or no – especially as the number of millennial decision-makers rises. If your
  • Dean Mueller
  • October 28, 2020
A Conversation with John Caplan, President of North America & Europe, Alibaba
Wholesale Change Show

Wholesale Change Show: A Conversation with John Caplan, President of North America & Europe, Alibaba (October 21, 2020)

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.
  • Ian Heller
  • October 22, 2020
How to Fend Off Amazon with AI Strategies of Your Own
B2B eCommerce

How to Fend Off Amazon with AI Strategies of Your Own

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
  • Benj Cohen
  • October 22, 2020
When Your Sales Team Sabotages Your eCommerce Initiative
B2B eCommerce

When Your Sales Team Sabotages Your eCommerce Initiative

When salespeople are slow to embrace ecommerce, they miss opportunities that not only hurt the company, but the customers they are trying to help.
  • Dean Mueller
  • October 19, 2020
Local SEO for B2B: How Distributors Can Optimize for Local Search
Digital Strategy

Local SEO for B2B: How Distributors Can Optimize for Local Search

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
  • Dean Mueller
  • October 16, 2020
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