Pharmapacks, one of Amazon's biggest third-party sellers, will hold its initial public offering this fall, emulating Anker, which also started on Amazon and now sells via large retailers including Walmart. The companies could signal a trend of Amazon-native brands that grow big enough to stand alone.

Distributor success in e-commerce requires supply chain resiliency and end-to-end visibility if they want to succeed with e-commerce, write Mark Jordan and Susanne Adam of SAP. "The journey includes integrating front-to-back-office systems to connect business processes, applications, and data to effectively manage customer experiences, reduce costs, and increase margins," they write.

Suppliers are updating contracts with manufacturing and retail customers to account for rising costs and delays caused by the pandemic. Changes include a new emphasis on force majeure, which legally excuses suppliers in cases of unforeseen circumstances, as well as the inclusion of dynamic pricing, according to industry experts.

B2B sellers can fulfill buyers' desire for online features by using artificial intelligence to make product recommendations, providing salespeople and customer service representatives with digital tools and making organizational changes if necessary, writes Proton.ai founder Benj Cohen. "Technology and humans working in tandem give B2B buyers the best of both worlds," Cohen writes.

Fifty-two percent of business-to-business buyers have been frustrated with online purchasing, 61% have been dissatisfied with the functionality of supplier sites and 41% have cancelled purchases due to slow delivery, according to a Wunderman Thompson Commerce study. "Buyers want a digitally-capable supplier, [which] offers them the ability to dip in and out of the digital and physical channels at will," says Wunderman Thompson Commerce's Hugh Fletcher.

Just over 50% of mobile users say purchasing via an app is faster than via a website and 40% think there are more offers and discounts available on apps, according to an AdColony study. "Brands must keep in mind that mobile apps are not only where consumers are spending more time each day, but where they can make fast, informed decisions and go from awareness to conversion in a matter of seconds," AdColony's Jean Ortiz-Luis writes.

Many managers either default toward people or results, and both approaches have merit, especially if leaders understand their preferred style and combine the best elements of both approaches, writes Jacob Kaplan-Moss. "You can build great results by focusing on people, and you can build a happy team by focusing on the team's results," he writes.