NetPlus Alliance, Lockport, N.Y., an industrial and contractor supplies buying group, is focused on expanding key product categories, investing in technology and driving engagement to facilitate partnerships and continued growth for its distributor and supplier members in 2023.
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In 2022, purchases by members from the NetPlus preferred supplier base were $418 million, with 27% growth over the prior year. In 2023, NetPlus purchases are up more than 25%.
- NetPlus added 23 new distributors in 2022, with nine more in 2023, bringing the total to 414 members across 2,500 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
- NetPlus brought on 26 new product and business service suppliers to the group in 2022 and seven in 2023, for a total of 202 partners.
Growth Plus, the NetPlus Alliance joint sales planning program had 23% more active sales plans in 2022, with distributors growing sales at an average rate of 52% within those plans.
NetPlus also hosted five onsite supplier training events in 2022 and two multi-supplier pieces of training, providing hands-on product training for its members. Virtual hands-on training engaged 150 members in 2022.
“These unique and popular online events get our members involved right in their branches by delivering a product kit to each participating company and providing guided education from our supplier expert trainers,” said NetPlus Alliance President Jennifer Murphy.
To continue to build on these successes through the end of 2023, NetPlus is investing in key initiatives that include:
- Expanded training opportunities for employee development of general business skills on the NetPlus Academy, powered by BlueVolt.
- The Category Expansion Committee, a member-driven group that provides the Development team with feedback on suppliers and product categories.
- Supplier Spend Analysis that will uncover opportunities for conversions and consolidation to in-network vendors resulting in a more extensive rebate check for distributor members.
- Financial benchmarking for greater visibility into performance against peers in the group and the industry.
To support these plans, NetPlus Alliance has partnered with two organizations: OpenSesame and CoMetrics.
OpenSesame is a provider of online training courses. NetPlus has invested in the platform to provide members with access to a range of business-related training courses, including business skills, technology, certification prep and more. The complimentary courses will be added to the NetPlus Academy, powered by BlueVolt.
NetPlus partnered with CoMetrics to simplify its Supplier Spend collection process and ensure the security of member data.
