The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors' 2021 Digital Summit on Jan. 27 and 28 "won't be just another Zoom meeting," NAW President and CEO Eric Hoplin says. The digital format will allow more people to attend, where they will experience exclusive content; "interactive elements like polling and chat forums with speakers;" and "valuable opportunities to engage, learn, listen and talk with peers," Hoplin says.

Indian River Consulting Group's Pandemic Revenue Index of 14 distributors rose by 18.4% the week of Jan. 4-8. The jump follows two holiday weeks that also saw increases.

Starting this spring, Walmart will test a new contactless home delivery method that uses a temperature-controlled smart box placed outside homes to store items, allowing deliveries 24 hours a day. The pilot will be conducted in Walmart's hometown of Bentonville, Ark., using containers made by HomeValet, which feature three temperature zones for storage of pantry, refrigerated and frozen products.

Warehouse rent increases are expected to be lower this year than in 2020 due to higher vacancy rates and planned industrial facility construction, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. Orange County, Calif., Nashville, Tenn., and Central New Jersey are among the areas with the lowest warehouse vacancies, while rent increases are highest in the Northeast, the report says.

CrowdStrike researchers have discovered a third malware tool called Sunspot that was used to breach SolarWinds' internal network in September 2019. Attackers reportedly dropped Sunspot in the build environment of SolarWinds' Orion software, where it injected a Sunburst backdoor by replacing the company's source code files without being detected by internal alarms.

One of the best ways to help struggling salespeople improve is to have top performers mentor them, writes Colleen Francis. "Coaching from a sales leader is great, and shouldn't be neglected, but often the best coaching can come from a colleague who is 'in the trenches' with a struggling seller and is still creating great results," Francis writes.

Forward-thinking companies have clear goals, can adapt quickly and seek innovation regardless of origin, according to an analysis of 30 top companies from McKinsey. One key highlighted by the research is that old ways of organizing people and hierarchies won't work today, nor will approaches that don't prioritize talent.

Well-structured, thoughtful, longer meetings can engage employees and let everyone contribute ideas. Such meetings can also save time later by reducing follow-up questions.

Don't miss NAW's first-ever Digital Summit, Jan. 27-28. Register by Jan. 15 and receive a special gift box from NAW that includes items for you to use on each day! The NAW Digital Summit is focused on helping you lead through a time of transition. You'll hear from distribution CEOs, network with your peers, get the 2021-22 economic forecast, find out what the Biden agenda means for distribution, plus much more. Use special 5- and 10-pack registrations to bring your team!

In this capstone webinar for the NAW Series: How Technology Will Transform Wholesale Distribution, Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein will summarize what they learned from the research conducted with distributors, suppliers and customers. They'll provide a roadmap forward: a specific set of recommendations on the strategic actions that the distribution industry -- and individual companies -- should take to fend off competitors, outflank the disruptors and prepare to take market share and improve profitability. Register for this free Jan. 21 webinar at 2 p.m. Eastern. Sponsored by Unilog and PROS.

Are you well-informed about different best practices and knowledge in our industry? If not, NAW's Top 10 E-book List can help get you up-to-speed quickly so you and your business can stay competitive in these challenging times.