Applied Industrial Technologies reported $882.7 million in revenue and $39.8 million in earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. The industrial distributor also agreed to purchase automation solutions provider Olympus Controls.

Distributors have begun viewing Amazon Business as a serious competitor, with 15.5% of distributors in a recent B2BecNews survey citing competition with the company as one of their biggest e-commerce challenges. Just over 40% of business-to-business companies said they sell on Amazon or other online marketplaces.

Consumers and businesses generally expect on-time delivery, free or cheap shipping and excellent customer service when buying online, with some of this expectation formed by on-demand delivery apps, according to a survey by project44.

True Value's $150 million revamping of its distribution network is an example of how distributors have been working to provide faster fulfillment as they compete with Amazon Business and other e-commerce entities, Bridget McCrea writes. Some distributors have used creative methods to improve their customers' experiences, such as Rexel's installation of outdoor lockers to facilitate after-hours pickup.

Tom Shapiro describes how video can help business-to-business marketers engage more personally with prospects and boost LinkedIn engagement. He shares five examples of B2B brands nailing video, including HubSpot's strategy of celebrating customers' success, robotics firm Kuka's use of influencers and Virtual's spoof of "Game of Thrones" to simply say CEO Andy Freed would be going on vacation.

Internal innovation has a better chance of success when customers are enlisted for specific feedback, writes Vicki Huff. "The result of listening with empathy and emotional intelligence is that you will be able to not just mostly fulfill a customer's needs but truly fulfill them," she writes.

Instead of asking for trust, earn it by being open and deliberate in your communication, admitting mistakes, being quick to listen and slow to jump in, writes Liz Kislik. "There are thousands of actions, communications, and interchanges that can build trust -- and probably tens of thousands more that can undermine it," she writes.

NAW's groundbreaking research study, "Optimizing Channel Profitability: A Playbook to Align Manufacturer-Distributor-Customer Relationships," is distributors' key to implementing channel management best practices. Purchase copies for not only your internal team, but for your manufacturer partners, too. You'll find 24 best practices on channel design and management from actual distributors and manufacturers, 44 ready-to-implement action steps, and 38 real-world distributor and manufacturer examples to benchmark against. Act by Aug. 31 and you'll save 10% on every copy.

NAW's 12th edition of "Facing the Forces of Change," the most respected research study of wholesale distribution industry future trends since 1982, will be published in November. Because NAW is the only national wholesale distribution organization that represents companies in all lines of trade, this celebrated report is the most comprehensive study covering the future of wholesale distribution. If you want first notification when this research study is ready to preorder, click here.

There's no denying the growth/demise ratio of Amazon versus brick-and-mortar operations. The "Amazon Effect" is causing businesses to literally shut down, leaving their creditors at a loss. NAW's strategic partner Cortera wants wholesaler-distributors to be ready. For a limited time, Cortera is offering wholesaler-distributors a complimentary Portfolio Analysis, CFO Report and unlimited Boost. Take advantage of this offer.