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AI in Distribution

Distributors and Generative AI: Strategies for Maximizing Return While Minimizing Risk

The hot new form of AI is rapidly spreading into the business world. Two distributors describe their AI journeys.
  • Don Davis
  • May 30, 2025
Operations

Redefining Professionalism: A Closer Look at Wholesale Distribution

Regardless of how we got here, what many of us discovered is a career that offers more than just selling and moving boxes.
  • Mark Bray
  • May 28, 2025
Innovation

Leading with Purpose in the Age of Automation

WMS, LMS, OMS, WES, YMS: whatever acronym we use, they’re all tools, but they’ll never replace the need for leadership.
  • Will Quinn
  • May 28, 2025

Upcoming Programs

  • Upcoming Program

Technology Leader Panel: Maximizing Sales Through Online Marketplaces

Join us on June 4, 9 PT/12 ET, as we delve into strategies for leveraging these platforms to boost sales and stay competitive.
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

AI News and Gurus: The Show for Intelligent Distributors

Join us on Thursday, June 5, 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 Pricing and Costing

Join us on June 11, 2025 at 9 PT / 12 ET as we delve into the current state of distributor pricing and costing
Register Now
  • Upcoming Program

Fixing the Data Problem: Building a Digital Supply Chain That Works

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
Register Now
AI in Distribution

Want to Get Started with AI? This Man has a Plan

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.
  • Don Davis
  • May 27, 2025
AI in Distribution

The One Thing Distributors Must Know about AI

Whatever else happens in the world, your competitors will use AI to drive performance.
  • Ian Heller
  • May 21, 2025
Operations

Leading with Purpose in the Age of Automation

In logistics, we track everything: fill rates, dock turns, labor ratios. But leadership? That’s harder to quantify.
  • Will Quinn
  • May 21, 2025

Recent Reports

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

DSG-Report-2025-State-of-Distributor-Profitability-Cover

2025 State of Distributor Profitability: Distributors’ Action Plan

2017 State of Distributor Marketing part 2-Distributors Lack Marketing Differentiation featured
Distribution Marketing

2017 State of Distributor Marketing, part 2: Distributors Lack Marketing Differentiation

Most distribution companies take a similar approach to touting their position in the supply chain, with 80 to 90 percent of distributors believing their
  • Jonathan Bein
  • January 28, 2018
2018 state of distributor marketing move to digital
Digital Strategy

2018 State of Distributor Marketing, Part 1: Move to Digital Continues

While distributors are growing their use of digital vehicles, it may not be quickly enough. Many still rely on trade shows, print flyers and
  • Jonathan Bein
  • January 10, 2018
2017 State of Distributor Marketing, part 1: Distributors Increase Search Marketing Efforts
Digital Strategy

2017 State of Distributor Marketing, part 1: Distributors Increase Search Marketing Efforts

This article examines how distributors across sectors approach marketing, what they consider the most effective channels to be and the frequency with which they
  • Jonathan Bein
  • December 10, 2017
The Amazon Effect
Marketplaces

The Amazon Effect

Amazon is a machine. The online retail juggernaut has recently churned out the world’s richest man and, its tendrils of modernization are slowly reaching
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 13, 2017
Why Distributors Don’t Do E-Commerce
B2B eCommerce

Why Distributors Don’t Do E-Commerce

We have talked to many distributors who are still determining whether to offer an e-commerce store front or not. We hear common themes
  • Jonathan Bein
  • October 18, 2017
eat lunch be lunch or die
Digital Strategy

Eat Lunch, Be Lunch, or Die

What if I told you you are losing 5-10% of revenue a year? Furthermore, you might not have even noticed. In this blog post,
  • Jonathan Bein
  • August 23, 2017
2017 State of E-Commerce, part 2: The E-Commerce Journey Continues to Evolve
Digital Strategy

2017 State of E-Commerce, part 2: The E-Commerce Journey Continues to Evolve

The shift moving towards e-commerce maturity means the journey evolves as well. As noted in Part 1, the top e-commerce priorities are shifting to
  • Dean Mueller
  • May 9, 2017
2017 inside sales survey results
Distribution Sales Strategy

Inside Sales in 2017: Survey Results

69% of inside sales people are spending less than 10% of their time making proactive outbound calls. They are spending the majority of their time
  • Debbie Paul
  • April 22, 2017
2017 State of E-Commerce in Distribution, part 1: E-Commerce Continues the Maturity Journey
Digital Strategy

2017 State of E-Commerce in Distribution, part 1: E-Commerce Continues the Maturity Journey

The 2017 State of E-Commerce in Distribution survey indicates the percentage of respondents with a mature e-commerce offering (at least 10 percent of total
  • Dean Mueller
  • March 31, 2017
How Do You Identify the Top Variables That Help You Sell More
Inside Sales Strategy

How Do You Identify the Top Variables That Help You Sell More?

An analysis of distributor data often identifies a dozen or more variables, or markers, that segment customers in certain ways.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • March 14, 2017
How to Use Analytics to Make Money with Small Customers
Digital Strategy

How to Use Analytics to Make Money with Small Customers

For the best customers, Distributors can devote resources to maximizing the business relationship, while for less profitable and less efficient customers, Distributors can find
  • Robert Kelley
  • February 6, 2017
What to Do About Accounts That Cost You Money
Digital Strategy

What to Do About Accounts That Cost You Money

A surprise for many Distributors is that a lot of accounts they consider “good customers” because of the frequency or regularity of orders, the
  • Robert Kelley
  • January 23, 2017
How and Why to Use Analytics to Segment Customers for Maximum Profit
Digital Strategy

How and Why to Use Analytics to Segment Customers for Maximum Profit

While most distributors learned long ago to avoid managing for top-line sales revenue as a measure of results, many of today’s distribution businesses still
  • Robert Kelley
  • January 9, 2017
What the Executive Suite Needs to Know About Marketing Automation
Digital Strategy

What the Executive Suite Needs to Know About Marketing Automation

To be successful, you need to make the case that your plan serves the company’s – and management’s – best interests. Emphasize results, not
  • Debbie Paul
  • December 28, 2016
How to Make the Case for Marketing Automation
Digital Strategy

How to Make the Case for Marketing Automation

Every organization experiencing success with marketing automation has a different answer to this question. Here are the three that surface most often.
  • Debbie Paul
  • December 19, 2016
Why They Leave Your Website Without Buying
Digital Strategy

Why They Leave Your Website Without Buying

Increasingly, we hear distributors say that their e-commerce site is not getting the revenue traction they expected. The distributor went into the initiative
  • Jonathan Bein
  • December 5, 2016
It’s About Your Customer’s Efficiency
Inside Sales Strategy

It’s About Your Customer’s Efficiency

For many distributors, multi-channel only means adding e-commerce alongside field sales. However, there is more to multi-channel than just field sales and e-commerce.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 28, 2016
Distributor Shopping and Buying Profiles: There Is No Average Joe
B2B eCommerce

Distributor Shopping and Buying Profiles: There Is No Average Joe

When shopping (finding, researching, and evaluating products), three methods are most frequently used including performing online search, going to a manufacturer website, and going
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 21, 2016
How Millennials Shop and Buy in a B2B Setting
Digital Strategy

How Millennials Shop and Buy in a B2B Setting

Millennials now outnumber Boomers and GenX in the work force (see Figure 1.)  In 4 years they will significantly outnumber Boomers and along with
  • Jonathan Bein
  • November 2, 2016
The Electronic Postman Always Rings Much More Than Twice
Digital Strategy

The Electronic Postman Always Rings Much More Than Twice

In the research we performed with over 3500 customers of distributors, we learned that three methods for purchasing (email, web, phone) were significantly more
  • Jonathan Bein
  • October 18, 2016
2016 state of distributor marketing
Digital Strategy

2016 State of Distributor Marketing

Only 4 percent of respondents to the joint MDM-Distribution Strategy Group annual marketing survey said they are extremely satisfied with the results of their
  • Jonathan Bein
  • October 14, 2016
results-from-the-2016-distributor-marketing-survey---featured
Digital Strategy

Results from the 2016 Distributor Marketing Survey

Distribution Strategy Group conducted an electronic survey with Modern Distribution Management in September 2016 of 425 participants to better understand trends in distribution marketing.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • October 10, 2016
The Good News and Bad News of B2B Customer Shopping: We Are Number 3.
Digital Strategy

The Good News and Bad News of B2B Customer Shopping: We Are Number 3.

Going to a distributor website to find what to buy is more popular than talking to a sales rep, customer service rep, or looking
  • Jonathan Bein
  • September 21, 2016
2016 State of E-Commerce in Distribution E-Commerce Races to Maturity
Digital Strategy

2016 State of E-Commerce in Distribution: E-Commerce Races to Maturity

This article examines the results of the 2016 State of E-Commerce in Distribution Survey and how the industry’s e-commerce offerings are maturing.
  • Jonathan Bein
  • April 24, 2016
2016 State of E-Commerce in Distribution E-Commerce Races to Maturity
Digital Strategy

2016 State of Distributor E‐Commerce: Survey Results

Results for the 2016 state of distributor e-commerce survey
  • Jonathan Bein
  • April 1, 2016
2015-state-of-distributor-inside-sales---featured
Inside Sales Strategy

2015 State of Distributor Inside Sales

Distribution Strategy Group, in partnership with Modern Distribution Management recently completed a survey about inside sales teams. The survey was designed to understand the
  • Debbie Paul
  • January 7, 2016
2015 Distributor Marketing Survey Results
Digital Strategy

2015 Distributor Marketing Survey Results

Results from the 2015 distributor marketing survey
  • Jonathan Bein
  • December 10, 2015
2015 state of distributor marketing
Digital Strategy

2015 State of Distributor Marketing

Opportunities remain for distributors to improve marketing plans and measurement as a means to increase marketing effectiveness. The 2015 distributor marketing survey covered several
  • Debbie Paul
  • November 10, 2015
E-Commerce Platform Considerations for B-to-B Distributors
B2B eCommerce

E-Commerce Platform Considerations for B-to-B Distributors

The type of products sold online have a factor, with MRO products generally having higher online adoption. However, the biggest and most important factor
  • Dean Mueller
  • September 30, 2015
The-roi-case-for-ecommerce
B2B eCommerce

The ROI Case for E-Commerce

Research from the previously published annual 2015 State of E-Commerce Study indicates that more than 41 percent of distributors are generating less than 5
  • Dean Mueller
  • September 9, 2015
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