UFP Industries said its retail division's sales increased 47% year over year in June, with lack of supply preventing even more sales, said CEO Matthew Missad.

Supply chain digitization will succeed when there is clarity and transparency in the data, writes Michael Schrage. "Digitalizing supply chain process improvements without deliberately defining, collecting, and labeling essential data computationally codifies blind spots," he writes.

The rise in remote working during the coronavirus pandemic has increased organizations' vulnerabilities to cybercriminals, Aon and CyberCube say in a report. Among the risks are the blurring of personal and work email usage, greater use of devices with weak passwords, and an increased likelihood of app usage that would be prohibited in an office, the report says.

The growth in business-to-business e-commerce spurred by the coronavirus pandemic is likely to continue, requiring a corresponding response by distributors, writes Jonathan Bein of Distribution Strategy Group. A digitally minded distributor has "website ordering, EDI, punchout and email/fax order automation, along with an aligned team that is incentivized to drive revenue to these chan­nels," he writes.

Azoya International's Franklin Chu explores the opportunity of blending e-commerce with social media, looking at how the success of WeChat in Asia could be replicated for US marketers, and be even more lucrative, via Facebook Shops. Chu emphasizes the importance of social content to drive brand and product discovery and highlights that social e-commerce could particularly appeal to American consumers who are used to purchasing directly from brands instead of via online marketplaces.

The pandemic has wrecked corporate forecasting, and companies must adjust by thinking about where demand will be unleashed, how buying patterns will change and how demand will differ by location, writes PredictHQ CEO Campbell Brown. "The pandemic has taught the world that the conditions driving demand are far from uniform," he writes.

To reduce burnout and the feeling that you're not accomplishing much at work these days, leadership consultant Mark Murphy says to ask this question each morning: "What are the 1-2 things that I need to achieve today in order for this to be a successful day?" He writes, "If I commit to achieving these one or two activities, and I know that they're going to lead to my feeling that today was a successful day, I must control whether I succeed or fail at achieving those activities."

Based on original research conducted in July with wholesaler-distributors in many lines of trade across the industry, author Ian Heller of Distribution Strategy Group will reveal on this webinar how distributors evaluate and respond to emerging technologies. Is Artificial Intelligence a threat, an opportunity, or both? Find out how distributors plan to incorporate new technologies to build their competitive advantage. Register now. Research report with more intel is coming in early August. Sponsored by Unilog, SAP and Conexiom.

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 Author Pradip Krishnadevarajan in his first NAW Blog post writes, "Each of your customers brings value to your business. Some already provide a considerably high value that your business relies on, while others have significant potential that you haven't fully tapped. Then there are the customers who cost more to serve than they provide in value. The question is: Do you know which customer is which? And are you adjusting your approach accordingly?" Read his post.