Ace Hardware said this week that its first-quarter success carried into April, which saw a 580% increase in online business and 26% jump in same-store sales. The company set a record for quarterly revenue with $1.43 billion, and first-quarter profit was $36.2 million, up by 60%.
Performance Foodservice delivery driver Corey Webster has seen at least a third of his customers in the Norfolk, Va., area close due to the coronavirus pandemic. Still, he notes that corporately owned restaurants and local ones offering curbside carryout are doing well, and orders for gloves and cleaning supplies have increased.
Amazon continues to expand product availability from brands it owns, according to an analysis, with growth seen in areas such as home and kitchen. Women's merchandise constitutes the majority of Amazon's apparel and accessories offerings, and the broader apparel category retains a 54% share of all Amazon private-label products.
[Webinar} The Key to Digital Transformation As the world faces unprecedented change, distributors must find a way to survive and thrive. It is critical today more than ever to reduce operational costs, scale your business, maximize data security and increase your revenue. Building your ERP solution using cloud architecture with capabilities specific to the distribution industry will position your business to stay on track to reach (and exceed) 2020 goals. Watch on-demand.
Distributors are facing rapid changes in their industry, and they need to avoid copying competitors, treating all customers the same and other standard mistakes, writes Robert Sabath. Distributors shouldn't stick to just their base customers, but they shouldn't take on bad business just to create relationships, he argues.
The pandemic has driven huge sales for grocers, but new data and industry sources say the spikes have been uneven and constantly changing, driven initially by the rush to stock up and now governed by new shopping patterns that reflect social distancing measures and spending of stimulus checks. As the economy starts to reopen in many places, what some observers are calling the "new abnormal" will likely alter the shopping landscape again, forcing grocers to pay close attention to new trends and be nimble in their responses.
Fifty-seven percent of US business-to-business decision-makers say the pandemic has led to decreased marketing budgets, and 50% believe the economy will rebound in two to three months, down from 55% in early April, per McKinsey. Additionally, 65% of B2B enterprise buyers and 63% of B2B buyers from SMBs say digital interactions from vendors are more important than traditional ones, and both groups say live chat is the most helpful tool for buying research.
Business-to-business companies that want to adopt tailored and flexible e-commerce platforms should choose ones that allow easy technology integration, personalization and other applications, and cloud-based service that enables easy upgrades, according to a Forrester Research report. The firm evaluated offerings from 13 vendors.
Crafting thought-leadership articles in your industry positions you as an expert, so Deborah Sweeney of MyCorporation outlines how to succeed with this strategy. "This is an unprecedented time where most individuals feel scared, worried and unsure of what lies ahead in the future," she notes, emphasizing the value of fact-based messaging.
As employees return to work, many have questions about regulations and their rights. These can range from questions about their own health, the use of safety equipment and issues around child care -- and there are often federal guidelines that address these situations.
NAW will partner again with NAW Senior Economic Advisor Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics to produce a second critical economic forecast webinar. Are we at or near the general economic bottom? What is happening in various wholesale distribution market segments? What are the stock market and interest rates doing now and in the near term? "Distribution Post COVID-19 Outlook" will be Thursday, May 28, 3 to 4:30 p.m. EDT. Seats are limited, so purchase yours here.
NAW Institute Fellow Mark Dancer writes, "Distributors are a strategic go-to-market asset for manufacturers and many are stepping up to reinvent the traditional distribution business model for the digital age. However, many suppliers have not noticed, and very few have actively engaged with, even their most influential distributor partners. The partnership between distributors and manufacturers remains as crucial as ever, but it will die without proactive collaboration around emerging innovation opportunities." Read his post.
