Fastenal's "total digital footprint," which consists of e-commerce and the Fastenal Managed Inventory programs, accounted for a bigger share of total sales in the second quarter compared to the previous year, and the distributor expects digital will continue to fuel future growth. Digital also generates data that "enhances product visibility, traceability, and control that reduces risk in operations and creates ordering and fulfillment efficiencies for both ourselves and our customers," the company said when announcing its Q2 results.
Core & Main earned $115 million in the second quarter, more than four times the $27 million it earned a year ago, on net sales of $1.86 billion, up from $1.3 billion. "We remain confident in the long-term stability of our business and end markets, as roughly 50% of our net sales is driven by non-discretionary repair and replacement activity," CEO Steve LeClair said.
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The network effect, innovative transportation management systems and autonomous trucks, robots and drones are among the technologies set to make major changes to supply chains, writes Chris Cunnane. Time slot management will also promote transformation by minimizing the impact of shipping disruptions, Cunnane writes.
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Integrating sales data is a win-win for both sales teams and customers, and data integration with other teams such as marketing and finance will boost revenue, writes Eric Madariaga, chief marketing officer and co-founder of CData Software. "When you integrate all of your sales data, your teams gain a 360-degree view of your business and your customers, enabling deeper insights that can lead to better customer success, more closed deals, and ultimately, increased revenue," Madariaga writes.
A survey from Snap and Ipsos found that approximately 60% of people in the US and nearly all social and communication app users expect to use augmented reality by 2025, while 84% of respondents have interest in using AR to make purchase decisions. There's a large gap between the experience brands are delivering and those that consumers desire, according to the survey report, which also offers five tips to help marketers gain a competitive advantage.
The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has hired at least five partners and a dozen other lawyers from prominent law firms since July 2021, which could signal an effort by Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter to bring more major cases to trial, experts say. Kanter said in January that the division had 350 more employees in the late 1970s than it does now, while more than 3,500 merger notifications were filed with the department last fiscal year, a new record.
Companies can improve their hiring practices and uncover problem areas in their culture and processes that prompt employees to leave by holding exit interviews, write Kelly Knight and Mark O'Donnell of EOS Worldwide. The information gathered as employees leave can be used to formulate interview questions to find the right new hires, they write.
Creating jobs that provide employees a sense of connection is a key way to keep and attract talent, writes Michael Lee Stallard, discussing research from Gallup. Stallard offers three strategies for companies, including training managers on how to build good relationships with their teams and using employee engagement surveys to uncover areas that need improvement.
NAW announced the launch of a new public affairs campaign in support of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, or US Senate Bill 2992. The campaign pushes back on Amazon's anticompetitive behaviors on their marketplace platform and its poor treatment of third-party sellers. Learn more.
The NAW Large Company Roundtables are an exclusive community of thought leaders from Large Company distribution enterprises who congregate to network with noncompeting peers in multiple lines of trade on key issues. The companies invited into this community are from distribution firms with annual sales between $100 million and $999 million. Register today!
