The Pandemic Revenue Index of 10 distributors shows year-over-year sales declines of 7.6% for the week of July 20 to 24, with three companies recording sales gains. "The index has presented an unnerving sense of stability during the month of July, and this is probably what we can expect until COVID-19 is behind us," writes Mike Emerson.

Google will cut commission fees for merchants that sell via its Buy on Google program and open its platform to PayPal, Shopify and other third-party providers in its latest push to compete with Amazon on e-commerce. It's likely to be an uphill climb for Google, as Amazon has secured loyal customers through its shopping experience and with programs like Amazon Prime, Andria Cheng writes.

Frequent software security updates and awareness campaigns for employees are among the first steps organizations should take to guard against ransomware attacks, experts advise. Also helpful is behavioral monitoring to track "certain behaviors on a regular basis in order to recognize what is normal for users and devices on the network," says Richard Cassidy of Exabeam.

Marketers increased their usage of SMS messaging by 8.5% from February to March and another 20% in April, according to Infobip research. The communications platform attributes the rise in brands' desire for timely communications amid the pandemic related to product pickups and changing hours of operation and a desire for more personalization.

Jacqueline Dooley explains five common problems with business-to-business content marketing and describes how to fix them for optimal performance. She covers writing a content strategy, creating customer-centric messaging, linking content to the customer journey, appointing a content champion and the steps for managing content throughout its life cycle.

Leaders who feel overwhelmed can try the R.E.A.C.T. method espoused by retired Navy SEAL Jason Redman and Brent Gleeson, which includes clearly seeing the problem, evaluating your options and taking decisive action, "even if it's painful." The method moves you toward doing something positive, which creates "a victory over apathy and paralysis," they write.

Cambridge Air Solutions CEO John Kramer Jr. regularly asks his senior staff to share how they and their families are doing, and he also encourages more junior leaders to lead meetings and share problems. "The result, after a few years, has been increased trust, candor and commitment," Dan Bigman writes.

Are you ready for the technology that is transforming distribution? With the influx of new competitors and new technologies, changes are happening at warp speed. In this NAW series of seven research reports and seven accompanying webinars in seven months, distribution expert Ian Heller will help you to gain the intelligence you need to formulate new strategies and ensure that your company thrives through this era of technology transformation. You've got seven months, so let's get started. Sponsors include Unilog, SAP and Conexiom.

NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence author Senthil Gunasekaran writes, "As distributors respond to COVID-19, they are noticing the limitations of traditional recessionary responses such as cost reduction and working capital preservation. These responses may not be optimal due to the inherent constraint of this recession: social distancing. This constraint directly affects face-to-face sales. Transitioning sales teams to work successfully in this new environment is key to revenue recovery." Read his post.

Distributors have made progress in navigating through this unprecedented disruption, but much more is needed. Replay this July 16 webinar with Michael DeCata, President and CEO of Lawson Products, as he discusses how he is navigating through COVID-19 and how it has accelerated his plans around innovation. He is joined by Mark Dancer, author of NAW's "Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change Series," and Richard Blatcher of PROS. Sponsored by PROS.