Avnet's storefront on Alibaba marketplace 1688.com will allow the distributor's existing Chinese businesses to sell to a larger group of small and midsized businesses, according to Nishant Nishant, Avnet vice president and global head of digital. The marketplace "has over 37% of market share in B2B commerce, making it an ideal fit for us to reach SMBs in the market," Nishant said.

The General Services Administration has issued a request for proposals from e-commerce marketplace platform providers to improve its upcoming Commercial Platforms program. The GSA program, which was created to update the method by which federal agencies procure commercial products in the open market, is expected to start in 2020 with testing by a small group of federal agencies.

Demand for warehouse spaces of between 70,000 and 120,000 square feet has grown rapidly with the rise of e-commerce, and average rents for those spaces have surged over 33.7% since 2014, according to CBRE Group. The smaller spaces are in demand as retailers try to put goods closer to customers for faster delivery of online orders.

Distributors must avoid the temptation to view innovation and disruption through a narrow lens and should instead focus on how they can use the talent they have to create and retain customers, writes Thomas Gale. "True innovation takes the distraction out of disruption, and is a core capability that distributors -- with the right talent and culture -- have to develop to create and keep customers," he writes.

Sudden Compass co-founder Matt LeMay offers five tips to marketers for creating an agile working environment, which should be about fostering collaboration among employees instead of implementing software or processes. Keep meetings focused by asking attendees to stand, talk to other departments about their own agile practices and cut down on wasted time with a "one page, one hour" commitment when it comes to updating colleagues, he advises.

Criticism can sting, and sometimes it's warranted, but most of the time you can shrug it off and focus on your goal, Ken Downer says. "Instead of focusing on their negatives, we can just focus on our positives, and take another step," he writes.

Mark Dancer, author of NAW's upcoming "Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change Series," will share insights, ideas and tools from the study that he gathered through extensive research and creative brainstorming with distributors and other thought leaders and innovators. Mark will discuss how distributors can take the lead in the emerging age of B2B innovation, defeating disruption and reinvigorating our business economy through digital transformation. Register today! Sponsored by PROS.

"Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change Series" is different from the previous 11 editions. It's less a report on trends and more of a roadmap for innovation. It's about helping distributors connect the dots between the forces of change and how distributors can change their business to capture opportunities ... and defend their business when necessary. The best innovations are about getting ahead instead of catching up. Let "Innovate to Dominate" show you the way.

There's no denying the growth/demise ratio of Amazon versus brick-and-mortar operations. The "Amazon Effect" is causing businesses to literally shut down, leaving their creditors at a loss. NAW's strategic partner Cortera wants wholesaler-distributors to be ready. For a limited time, Cortera is offering wholesaler-distributors a complimentary Portfolio Analysis, CFO Report and unlimited Boost. Take advantage of this offer.