American consumers are pushing back major household purchases and home improvements as high inflation and interest rates weigh on their spending plans, according to corporate executives and industry data. This spending slowdown could signal to the Federal Reserve that its interest rate hikes are effectively cooling the economy, potentially paving the way for future rate cuts. "What they tell us is they're just simply deferring these projects as given higher rates, it just doesn't seem the right moment to execute," says Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail.

More than 100 distribution executives attended the National Association for Wholesaler-Distributors' Executive Roundtable event in Dallas, Texas, last week. The two-day spring session included a scenario-based simulation and strategy sessions covering industry trends and challenges.

Imperial Dade announced two deals last week, bringing its acquisition total for the year to 10. The foodservice packaging, industrial and JanSan distributor acquired Ontario-based Canpaco custom environmental packaging firm and Rochester, N.Y.-based 3G Packaging industrial packaging firm.

Most distributors take a "Wild West" approach to pricing, letting sellers take their own approach as they see fit, a tactic that will hamper profitability and growth metrics and is what SPARXiQ CEO David Bauders calls Stage Zero of the distributor pricing journey. Five stages of the pricing maturity model include random pricing, informal, formal, systematic and integrated and adaptive models, and each stage progression can allow distributors to capture 100 basis points or more, Bauders writes.

Distributors seeking to implement AI should begin by first applying the technology in small and manageable areas where it can offer quick wins by solving specific problems or making existing processes more efficient, then share successful results widely and train generative AI tools on existing content to capture the organization's voice and values, writes Nick Pericle, vice president of technology strategy and solutions for ProfitOptics. These quick-win areas include data entry and processing, addressing customers' low-level support needs, and generating transcriptions, meeting notes, summaries, memos, emails and next steps for projects, Pericle writes.

By strategically optimizing supply chains, procurement analyst Sylvia Zhou cut operational costs by 13% for Silvia Mix and boosted profits by 33% after the optimization. "By partnering with suppliers aligned with our operational goals and technological capabilities, we could streamline processes and cut costs," Zhou said.

Customer segmentation analysis can help salespeople better understand customers, writes Alwayne Powell, a performance marketing leader. Powell recommends segmenting customers by demographics, behavior, transactions and psychographic traits such as lifestyles or personal values.

Business-to-business brands that communicate a customer promise are almost three times likely to increase their market share compared to those that don't, per an analysis by LinkedIn's B2B Institute and Warc, which spotlights the importance of brand-building. "We have this idea in B2B that brand is an optional thing if you have a bit of extra money," says the B2B Institute's Mimi Turner, adding, "I'm absolutely of the belief, however, that brand is 100 times more important in B2B than it is in B2C."

The economy appears to be cooling slowly, according to Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, noting that "my outlook is that inflation will continue to fall for this year and into 2025." Meanwhile, Michael Barr, Fed vice chair for supervision, said that inflation numbers were "disappointing" in the first few months of the year and that they "did not provide me with the increased confidence that I was hoping to find to support easing monetary policy."

When employees set at least four daily small goals over the course of a week, 34% were more likely to hit their key performance indicators and reported improved morale, according to a PwC study. Help your teams create a goal-setting habit by teaching them how to make specific and achievable goals, supporting their efforts and celebrating small wins, writes PwC's Nele Van Buggenhout and Jamie Ellis.

The NAW Company Roundtables are an exclusive community of thought leaders from Billion Dollar and Large Company distribution enterprises who congregate to network with non-competing peers in multiple lines of trade on key issues. Learn more about the many Roundtable event opportunities we offer, and how your leaders can get involved. Learn more.

Interested in membership with NAW? Reach out and let us know how we can help you.