July's Fastener Distributor Index from FCH Sourcing Network and R.W. Baird came in at 59.6, up from 55.8 in June. The index's Forward-Looking Indicator dropped to 65.3, the fourth consecutive monthly drop.
WESCO reported second-quarter net profit of $119 million after losing $34 million in the year-ago period, with sales of $4.60 billion, an increase from $2.09 billion. "We are seeing accelerating sales and margin momentum in each of our strategic business units driven by three factors: the continuing economic recovery, our significantly increased scale, and our mix-shift into higher growth markets," Chairman, President and CEO John Engel said.
Lineage Logistics has acquired Hanson Logistics, which has a network that includes seven distribution facilities that serve more than 60% of people in the US. Hanson's network features 46 million cubic feet of capacity in Indiana and Michigan.
A hybrid cloud strategy offers advantages for protecting data, writes Stephen Gilderdale of Dell Technologies. In this commentary, Gilderdale offers three principles: scalable and efficient architectures, well-defined policies for data protection and simplifying solutions while guarding data wherever it is housed.
Distributors should recognize the value of micro-conversions, or "smaller actions and events that take place on a site, but may not immediately result in sale," writes Scott Frymire, senior vice president of marketing at Unilog. E-commerce platforms should have features such as live online chat to encourage these actions and increase sales, Frymire writes.
Just 17% of marketers think they track customer lifetime value "extremely well" or "very well," and the biggest challenge is "aggregating the right data for a robust view of the customer," according to a study by the CMO Council and Deloitte Digital. The most popular metric for customer lifetime value is revenue per user and the top three channels for customers signaling their needs are email, social media and web forms.
The answers to seemingly new or unique problems are often available if we only stop to look, writes Frank Sonnenberg. "When you reinvent the wheel, you lose the chance to build on the strengths of prior efforts and to identify their weaknesses," he writes.
Join the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence and our partners, Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein of Distribution Strategy Group on, Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. ET for a free webinar. During this webinar we will review a variety of IT architectures based on various distribution business models, sizes and markets. We will also summarize the importance and potential of several emerging technologies to help your team prepare for what is coming next. Register today.
It has been a long time but, finally, we will be together again! Designed for C-suite executives, these roundtables provide actionable strategies that will increase your company's competitive advantage. Companies belonging to this community are from distribution firms that exceed $1 billion in annual sales. You'll engage in thought-provoking conversations with your peers and hear from industry experts on topics that will ultimately increase your profits! Register today.
