Manufacturers are increasingly investing in or acquiring e-commerce marketplaces and platforms to compete directly with distributors, and distributors need to respond by making their own investments and offering "a broader, more holistic array of products," says Alex Moazed, founder and CEO of Applico. Distributors should also look for ways to offer last-mile delivery, such as by working with startups, Moazed says.

Winsupply is about to dedicate its Richard W. Schwartz Center for Innovation in Moraine, Ohio, which will both provide more space for Winsupply of Dayton and training and innovation opportunities for Winsupply's local companies around the US. "It's important for us to get it right before we push it out to the rest of our local companies," said Bill Tolliver, vice president of real estate services and in-house counsel at Winsupply.

SpartanNash plans to spend up to $14 million on a merchandising initiative geared toward automating promotions and pricing, and improving merchandising capabilities and category management. "We have always had a robust process for negotiating price, but we are doubling down on these efforts due to the unprecedented inflation," said CEO Tony Sarsam.

American Eagle Outfitters' Quiet Platforms subsidiary and Walmart are offering last-mile delivery to other retailers to compete with Amazon's increased offerings. Target is also adding facilities to handle e-commerce orders, which account for roughly one-fifth of its sales.

Google has combined its artificial intelligence language and robot projects to help robots understand commands from humans beyond simple phrasing. In its PaLM-SayCan system (where PaLM stands for Pathways Language Model), robots comprehended human commands 84% of the time.

Sales managers should think twice before assuming their staff is already adept in certain areas, since "massive gaps" exist between "the areas that most influence buyers' purchase decisions and seller effectiveness," according to the Rain Group's Center for Sales Research. Mary Flaherty details more than two dozen key training areas -- from overcoming objections to inspiring buyer action and change -- and notes that almost three-quarters of top-performing sellers rate their sales training as very or extremely effective, compared with less than half of other sellers.

Agency executives talk about the potential of podcast advertising and persuading brands to invest in the medium. Podcasts, says Big Village's Kyle Krueger, let "brands find and scale listeners with a richer composition of their preferred target audience and address messaging against the listener's interests."

Companies can improve the employee experience by creating a positive atmosphere that gives everyone a sense of belonging, empowerment and value, writes LaRae Quy. "When daily wellbeing habits infuse the culture of the company, it nurtures a fertile climate for ongoing employee development, engagement and motivation," Quy writes.

It's important to review the effectiveness of exit interviews, status meetings and performance reviews and consider whether they are delivering the necessary results or if they should be replaced with other approaches, writes Kevin Eikenberry. "Leaders need to have a sense of how people are doing, how they are feeling, and what they need," Eikenberry writes.