Americans plan to spend more on holiday gifts this year than last year, according to a TransUnion survey. Among respondents to the Holiday Shopping Survey, 29% plan to increase holiday spending and just 16% plan to spend less. Despite declining savings among Americans, more than 80% of respondents plan to spend $500 or more, up from 62% last year, with 21% of survey respondents planning to spend more than $1,000 on holiday shopping, up from 14% a year earlier.

Viking Electric, a subsidiary of Sonepar, is expanding into the Chicago area through its acquisition of Sunrise Electric Supply. Sunrise has "strong technical expertise in distribution equipment and excellent customer relationships," said Rob Taylor, president of Sonepar North America.

Foundation Building Materials has acquired A&D Supply, Studs Unlimited, Henrietta Building Supplies and KCI Doors and Hardware. The acquisitions expand Foundation Building's reach to 11 new locations including Oklahoma, Texas, New York, Arkansas, Tennessee and Arizona.

Amazon is testing how it can use Agility Robotics' humanoid robot, Digit, to increase warehouse automation, with the initial task of assisting workers in consolidating empty totes. Amazon invested in Agility Robotics last year, and the bipedal robot that can squat, bend and grasp items using clasps is just one of several robotic technologies that the ecommerce giant is testing in warehouses.

A digital supply chain prioritizes data for more rapid procurement and supply chain systems work best when integrated within the larger system, says Ron Lee, chief product and marketing officer for 3G. "When data flow is practically immediate ... nobody has to wait for information to take action," Lee says, noting that improving execution -- the connectivity and interoperability -- is the key to making collected data truly useful.

Resiliency, redundancy and agility are key to supply chain optimization, and procurement teams can get there through clear goals, a multiyear approach and a effective inventory flow, among other things, writes supply chain expert Charan Lalwani. Scrutinizing the physical network footprint and making labor strategies more versatile can help as well, Lalwani notes.

Sales managers should require each team member to self-report their activity and outcomes, but targeted sales meetings will increase individual accountability further, writes sales consultant Anthony Iannarino. Managers can glean more information and help better guide team members with separate meetings for territory and account plans and a different twist on pipeline meetings to focus them on successes, among other one-on-ones, Iannarino says.

Business-to-business marketers say insufficient resources present their top situational content marketing challenge, while content creation, consistency and differentiation are also difficult, a study by the Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs and Brightspot reveals. In addition, 72% of B2B marketers use generative AI but 61% say their company has no guidelines for the technology's use in content.

Resilient consumer spending has prompted economists to boost growth predictions for the economy through early 2024. A Bloomberg survey in October shows economists expect 0.7% growth in the fourth quarter, up from a September prediction of 0.5% growth, with projected odds of a recession also lowered.

The Federal Reserve's latest "Beige Book" report, released Wednesday, indicates US economic activity remained mostly unchanged over the past month and a half. Labor market tightness continued to ease and prices increased at a modest pace, with five of the 12 regional Fed districts reporting modest growth and four describing modest contraction. The Fed report also highlighted the divide between "hard" data suggesting a strong economy and anecdotal accounts from the districts portraying a far-softer environment.

NAW's Billion Dollar Executive Roundtable event November 8-9 in Dallas offers an opportunity to join other wholesaler-distributor executives in discussions about topics that matter to you and your company. Attendees will hear from leaders in the industry and expand their networking circles. Learn more about this invitation-only event here.

Get ready to supercharge your organization at the Innovators Summit in Austin, TX, from November 1 to 16! Join us to connect with tech innovators, explore emerging trends, and harness cutting-edge technologies that will propel your organization to new heights of growth and transformation.

Experience three days of excellent networking opportunities, cutting-edge content, and educational programming for leaders in the wholesale-distribution industry at NAW's Exective Summit Jan. 30 - Feb. 1. Hear from world-class speakers and explore issues critical to the industry. Be prepared for what's next and learn new strategies to get there first. View agenda and registration information here.