Distribution Events
Thought Leadership and Software for Wholesale Change Agents
Business Strategy & Innovation
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When It Comes to Product Recommendations, B2B vs. B2C Matters
Many distributors are using product recommendation engines on their ecommerce websites originally designed for B2C. This isn’t sufficient for a distributor’s business model.
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How Johnstone Supply Built Company Culture Over Zoom: A Conversation with President and CEO John Tisera
Johnstone Supply saw its largest sales month in company history in June 2020 after responding to the pandemic with innovations at a local level to improve customer experience and focus on company culture.
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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 a high-tech model isn’t the answer either.
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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, hitting their top line goals.
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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.
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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.
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Burned But Not Destroyed: How Crises Foster Innovation
Recently, the Atlantic posted a story about the resilience of human societies in the face of disaster. The author made a strong historical argument that disasters have, in fact, stoked the development of modern cities.
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Blockchain in Supply Chain Management: Why You Should Care
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 technology will transform the wholesale distribution industry.
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HD Supply White Cap-Construction Supply Group Deal is a $4B Look into the Future of Distribution
If you’re a distributor, keep an eye on White Cap, which – thanks to the help of CD&R and The Sterling Group – is modeling one of the only viable paths to a successful future.
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Real Advice About AI in Distribution: Get Ready for the Next Tech Revolution
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just “advanced technology” – it’s a learning technology that improves on its own without human intervention. AI relies on big pools of data that are fed into machine learning algorithms (math formulas) to continually make decisions, evaluate their own performance and get better over time.