Shareholders approve Tech Data sale to Apollo | Amazon Flex drivers use bots in bid for better shifts | 5 years on, Amazon Business continues to expand
Tech Data shareholders on Wednesday approved a deal to sell the company to Apollo Global Management for $6 billion, or $145 per share. Tech Data has said CEO Rich Hume will continue on after the deal closes.
More of Amazon's Flex drivers are using bots and third-party apps to give them an edge when seeking shifts, a practice that violates their work agreement. Flex drivers must be quick to claim available shifts through a company app before other employees do.
Five-year-old Amazon Business now operates in nine countries after adding Canada late last year, and Amazon is also developing a line of private-label commercial products, writes Jack Keough of Keough Business Communications. "In fact, just last year an Amazon executive said that its B2B operations were growing faster than its consumer business, which is an astonishing comment," Keough writes.
State of the Wholesale Supply Chain Industry in 2020 For the third straight year, Blue Ridge asked wholesale supply industry leaders about their challenges, how they're thinking about solving them and how they're dealing with the pace of technological change. One key finding for the 2020 survey is the adoption of new machine learning, such as A.I., is on the rise as a strategy to combat supply chain disruption. Get the report to read more.
Machine learning is demanding the attention of distributors for its potential in areas such as automating processes and predicting needs, writes David Gordon, president of Channel Marketing Group. He examines the ways machine learning and artificial intelligence have made inroads in distribution and what the near future may hold.
B2B buyers have been shaped by their personalized online shopping experiences, so "they want to buy when they find it most convenient, and that can be from any channel," says Mary Shea of Forrester Research. This means more research conducted online and less desire to deal with a sales representative.
Maddy Osman reviews 2019's biggest updates in social media and explains how they affect marketers, such as the rise of microinfluencers and the Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guidelines and crackdown on fake followers. She also looks at LinkedIn's additions of live video and reactions, the way Facebook has tackled harmful content and Instagram's changes regarding likes.
Assuming a powerful, grounded stance during a presentation, with your feet at shoulder width and parallel, creates a strong presence that engages an audience, writes Gary Genard. "When you look centered and strong, whatever you're saying has more authority behind it," he writes.
To assist your leading-edge company in transforming your social selling practices, the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence and Texas A&M University are holding a third kickoff meeting on Oct. 1 for the brand-new "Digitizing the Sales Process" consortium. If your company wants to be on the cutting-edge of creating and implementing a digital selling strategy that guides your organization and ensures that technologies are aligned with your other business processes, please register for this consortium now! To learn more, email NAW's Patricia A. Lilly.
Designed for C-suite executives, these roundtables provide actionable strategies and best practices that will increase your company's competitive advantage. Member companies belonging to this community are from distribution firms that exceed $1 billion in annual sales. Participating in this 24-hour, results-focused business meeting is one of the best ways to learn from your C-suite peers in distribution -- who aren't competitors! Register today.
Are you well-informed about the latest knowledge in our industry? If not, NAW's Top 10 Best Sellers list provides the best wholesale distribution knowledge all in one place. These top 10 are what distributors across the industry are reading right now. Which of these top picks should be on your 2020 reading list? Quantity discounts start with two copies ordered.
