WESCO, Rexel and AD recently shared their Q2 performance and, while they all reported growth, the market appears uneven with Rexel reporting strong performance in the US and WESCO and AD sharing low single digit growth. WESCO and AD highlight […]
Grainger frequently is a good bellwether for the industrial market given their MRO focus on Fortune 500 industrial accounts. Grainger’s performance highlights that the industrial MRO rate of growth decelerated significantly. Q2 Report From their quarterly report and slide presentation: […]
Competing on price is a “no no” for many distributors. Few want to say “the reason why people buy from me is price.” But, do all of your customers want to buy from you for your service, people or your […]
ABB recently launched a new initiative, eFinder, that enables visitors to its website to purchase material online. But they are not disintermediating the channel. Instead they are providing distributors with the opportunity to generate incremental business online. And at the […]
Many industrially-oriented distributors lament that they can’t compete versus Grainger for MRO business at their accounts. They say “we now the ‘decision’ makers and can beat them on price but we can’t get the business. The same occurs with large […]
We now have insight into the Q2 health of the lighting market based upon feedback from over 200 electrical distributors, manufacturers and reps through our Pulse of Lighting survey. And it appears that an apt description may be “an interesting […]
This week WESCO is taking 800+ people on an Alaskan cruise as part of their WESCO VIP incentive program. It looks like an exciting adventure (check out this pre-program video and follow them on their program Instagram page or on […]
3M’s recent decision to terminate most, if not all, of its remaining manufacturer reps may have represented the culmination of a decision to drive the business in a different direction where the company believes that its brand is strong enough […]
Serious about utilizing technology in your business? Then you need to be at IDEA’s eBiz. Technology is becoming more and more a critical component of a distributor and manufacturer’s business. Not only is it the software and hardware, it is […]
During recent calls with distributors to get the pulse of the industry, one area we touched on is eCommerce and specifically the activity that they are seeing from their customers, the investments that they are making and how it is […]
