Hy-Vee bolsters digital capability with new partnership | Best Buy reveals plans to adapt store employee roles | Distributors' satisfaction with tech varies by type
Hy-Vee has kicked off the Hy-Vee Digital Media Network through an expanded partnership with digital media company Quotient. The network will give brands additional access to sales data that can be used to more efficiently track promotions and sales campaigns, as well as help personalize their interactions with Hy-Vee shoppers.
Best Buy has begun experimenting with deploying some store employees for same-day delivery of online orders using company vehicles. The retailer also plans to prepare some staffers to perform virtual consultations and other services that will require specializations.
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Many distributors are satisfied with enterprise resource planning, email marketing/marketing automation and warehouse management/warehouse execution systems, write Jonathan Bein and Robert Kelley of Distribution Strategy Group. They note that fewer distributors are satisfied with business intelligence/analytics, e-commerce and customer relationship management platforms.
Transportation companies are providing dedicated fleet options to shippers looking for efficient, affordable trucking, writes Katerina Jones, vice president of marketing and business development at Fleet Advantage. The advantages of private fleets include newer trucks and more committed drivers, Jones writes.
B2B marketers should embrace creativity in their campaigns, much like B2C marketers do, to stay competitive, raise brand awareness and better serve customers, writes Dana Barakat, vice president of marketing and communications at New York Interconnect. The only thing holding back B2B marketing's creativity is cultural inertia, Barakat writes.
Case studies provide business-to-business buyers with coveted social proof and have high engagement potential through storytelling, writes Henny Maltby. Maltby provides a step-by-step guide to creating the most effective case studies and highlights best practice examples.
Strong performers who are bad teammates present a thorny challenge for managers, who should give feedback and coaching but recognize that the employee has to change or be removed, argues Art Petty. "Just don't rationalize maintaining or sustaining the individual in this environment at the cost of destroying it for everyone else, along with your credibility as a manager," he writes.
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Suppliers are increasingly selling direct, customer demographics are skewing younger and many distributors are struggling to keep up. Distributors are grappling with fundamental changes in the expectations of their supply chain partners. Suppliers continue to report frustration with their distributors' poor digital capabilities. Join NAW on June 29 at 2 p.m. for this free, live webinar with Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein of Distribution Strategy Group, who will recommend actions distributors should take to address this growing channel conflict. Register today.