United Natural Foods has deployed several tools to shorten delivery times for fresh produce, including the Share-ify cloud-based quality control platform, which is being rolled out at the company's produce distribution centers. UNFI has also partnered with CoupDog to introduce a system that allows independent grocery retailers to accept digital coupons.

MSC Industrial Supply had $646.3 million in e-commerce sales in its fiscal fourth quarter, up 29.7% from the year-ago period. That figure accounted for 63% of total quarterly sales, compared with 60% a year ago, and President and CEO Erik Gershwind said the distributor is prioritizing additional e-commerce growth.

Shippers and manufacturers will be able to negotiate better rates from freight carriers as the sector enters a "freight recession," according to Anthony Smith, chief economist for FreightWaves. Smith also predicts that warehouse rates will remain high and will increase more for distributors and wholesalers than for retailers.

Yard management systems act as "a bridge" between warehouse management and transportation management systems, working in tandem to increase productivity, reduce costs and provide crucial visibility into facility yard operations, writes Chris Cunnane. A YMS can also support worker safety by eliminating the need for people to be in yards to check things, Cunnane writes.

Sales productivity metrics, otherwise known as performance indicators, offer insight into each sales team member's efforts, and usage statistics for customer relationship management software are a key indicator. HubSpot editor Jay Fuchs details this and four other top metrics and shares ideas for ramping up efforts for each.

Some 91% of US business-to-business marketers feel confident about their plans for the next six months, and the top priority for B2B marketers globally is brand-building, according to LinkedIn's B2B Marketer Sentiment report. In addition, 56% said creativity is the top skill required in the next six months to foster trust with customers and boost brand relevancy.

Becoming a thought leader who publishes articles, videos and other online content in their area of expertise can position both a leader's employees and company for growth, writes Becky Robinson, CEO of Weaving Influence. Robinson outlines five steps to identify, gathering and repurpose content that leaders may have already produced and explains how to publish it in different formats and platforms for the widest influence.

Leaders who see their employees as human beings in need of development, nurturing and job security instead of "assets" that can be shed when needed will build a company that top talent will want to work for, writes Steve Keating. "It means that when you get to the last resort of having to separate with some of your people it will truly be a last resort," Keating writes.

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!

A summary in Friday's issue of NAW SmartBrief mistakenly referred to MSC Industrial Direct's third-quarter profits, when those figures were actually for the company's fiscal fourth quarter. SmartBrief regrets the error.