Walmart's membership program, Walmart+, has grown to approximately 32 million households in the US since debuting about a year ago, per research from Deutsche Bank. The program, which launched to compete with Amazon Prime and offers perks including free grocery delivery and prescription discounts, is increasingly appealing to younger and more affluent consumers.
Banks started marketing a $7 billion financing package on Wednesday to fund the private equity buyout of Medline Industries, the biggest leveraged loan deal since the financial crisis. Investors' search for yield at a time of historically low interest rates is driving much of the demand for the debt.
Distributor advisory councils can help manufacturers and distributors collaborate and better understand end users, as well as showcase unique services that distributors can offer, writes James Hlavacek, chairman of The Corporate Development Institute. "Rather than act as a legislative body, a DAC openly discusses common matters of importance to users, distributors and manufacturers, as well as presents feedback on a manufacturer's proposed or existing policies," Hlavacek writes.
E-commerce continues to be a growth area for distributors, even as things like rich product data and a good buying experience remain challenges, says Jay Schneider. "While things like personalization sound like B2C concepts, we need to understand how these concepts may be incorporated into B2B -- like segmentation," Schneider says.
Anxious sellers often struggle during negotiations, while well-prepared salespeople feel ready for anything and are planning to succeed, writes Mike Schultz. Set a clear agenda before each meeting, make the first offer when possible and be ready to make tradeoffs when necessary, Schultz advises.
Marketers are starting to look toward Generation Alpha -- born between 2010 and 2024 -- as the latest demographic with brand influence, writes Adrianne Pasquarelli. Executives agree that marketers reaching this cohort need to consider more contemporary issues such as brand purpose, gender neutrality and product personalization and customization.
Crenshaw Communications' Taylor Carroll offers five tips to help professionals build their LinkedIn reputations, such as updating your profile with keywords that describe particular expertise and generating engaging, timely and evergreen content. Carrol also suggests carving out 15 minutes each week to build your network and "set metrics and track engagement and new followers to see if you're making headway."
In this free NAW webinar on Sept. 23, at 2 p.m. Eastern, Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein of Distribution Strategy Group will identify best practices for developing, implementing, monetizing and managing services. Register now! Sponsored by Oracle Netsuite and Enable.
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