Managing your inventory is the key to driving both top-line sales and gross margin performance in 2025. I had a discussion last week with Brent Johnstone from ACTvantage for an article I wrote for our sister HVACR Trends publication about […]
Last week Prudence Thompson shared / confirmed, and we’ve reconfirmed a few other ways, that a prominent distributor had a significant layoff … 200 people. And reportedly they are closing some branches. Unfortunately, they are not the only company parting […]
Earlier this month Kansas City hosted over 200 people from the electrical industry for the LEAD conference, which I designed to support emerging industry leaders and provide them additional industry insights. A number of Channel Marketing Group clients had staff […]
Nowadays it’s difficult to open a publication or have a meeting where the terms digital, AI, or eCommerce are not mentioned. The reality is that all are increasing in importance to the efficiency, some say viability, of an electrical distributor. […]
I was with a manufacturer last week and we discussed distributor acquisitions and “the why?” One of the data points we discussed was the declining net profitability of the business as a percent of sales and the corresponding increase in […]
There’s much talk, and some movement, on AI for distributors. Progressive, albeit larger, distributors are discussing and seeking opportunities to embrace, or test, AI in different aspects of their business. Some have stepped their toe in. Larger companies are dedicating […]
The data center market, as many know, continues to boom. According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 33% of the new construction office spend in May was by data centers! There are data center industry reports […]
Electrical distributors, manufacturer representatives, and lighting agents face a continuous challenge with project quotations … the need for speed. Contractors, and specifiers, want everything yesterday. And once they finally place an order, they want the submittal information “yesterday.” In addition […]
The “go-go” days of post-Covid are gone. We’re back to pre-pandemic industry growth rates of 3-5% organic growth. Maintaining, and improving, net profitability in the face of slowing growth, increased cost structure, and stagnant (if not decreasing) margins, requires improved […]
Everyone wants growth and loyalty. While companies strive to achieve this with quality products, service, and people (relationships), frequently the role of incentives to drive growth and/or engender loyalty come into play. I’ve been involved in the incentive industry since […]
David Gordon
Channel Marketing Group
919-488-8635
