Over the past few weeks, I’ve been observing the quarterly reports and other communiques by distributors in a number of industries – Sonepar, Rexel, Watsco, Fastenal, Grainger, Ferguson and similar – and there has been a recurring trend … growth […]
When it comes to launching a commerce-enabled websites, frequently distributors get concerned about: Product content Pricing Integrating with their ERP for “real-time” information. These are perceived as “daunting” and can frequently create paralysis in the decision-making process, especially if the […]
That’s the question many senior executives ask themselves regularly about eCommerce. They’ve invested much into their website. They’ve invested into product data. They’ve invested into people. They ask, does anyone care? Are we getting an ROI? I know I’m being, […]
With everything becoming more “digital” and analytics driving much, the role of product data has become more important to the electrical industry. And it is not just the historical issue of descriptions and assets. It is the underlying foundation of […]
For years I’ve talked to clients and communicated on ElectricalTrends that eCommerce is not about buying online via a website. That it is about is doing commerce (business) electronically. It’s not a branch (some used the term eBranch and tried […]
While eCommerce, defined as orders placed via a website (online sales), for electrical distributors has been low according to the NAED PAR report, it should not be taken to mean that electrical contractors and industrial buyers are not seeking eSolutions. […]
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. […]
According to the latest NAED PAR report, electrical distributors generate 5.2% of their sales via their websites (the median is 2.2%). The data is from about 100 companies, and most would say this is overstated. The report shares that distributors […]
There was a phrase years ago that is attributed to EF Hutton, which was a financial advisory firm that goes “when EF Hutton speaks, people listen.” The inference that they had a wide reach, and somewhen influence. The same goes […]
In the realm of electrical manufacturing, the potential of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be a competitive advantage. One of the critical components underpinning the effectiveness of AI is structured data. Structured data refers to organized information that is formatted […]
