Raleigh, NC, October 17, 2017: Channel Marketing Group’s received input from over 230 construction & industrial distributors regarding eCommerce. The result was a 2017 State of eCommerce, Distributor Perspective Report.
Respondents were asked how they defined eCommerce, what percent of business each eCommerce initiative contributed to sales, their experience, what is needed to improve their sites and the impact of Amazon Business on their business.
While percent of sales are low, it is also projected that Amazon Business will not dominate these industries but may be used more for reverse showrooming and price negotiation with distributors. Amazon is viewed by distributors as a threat to their business and hence has been an impetus for investment as well as accelerating the pace of decision-making in many distributors as well as “opening eyes” to a more digital sales and ordering process.
Most distributors have invested much into eCommerce with few receiving an ROI based upon incremental revenue generation. Most now recognize that these necessary investments are needed to meet an emerging buyer profile as well as providing customers with customer service tools such as transparent customer-specific pricing for budgeting, access to local inventory information, product specification information and more.
While significant dollars have been invested into software, many times much more is invested into product catalog development and more successful companies are recognizing the need for an investment in people.
The 41-page report shares results from the survey, verbatim input from open-ended questions as well as insights from the two dozen distributors that were interviewed. Primary distribution industries are the electrical industry, industrial supplies, contractor supplies, plumbing and HVAC industries.
The complete report is available for only $79. It can be purchased at www.electricaltrends.com in the Research Report section.
About Channel Marketing Group
Channel Marketing Group helps distributors and manufacturers in the construction and industrial trades accelerate growth. The focus is in the areas of strategy, marketing and market research. CMG also offers a digital experience survey for distributors as well as strategies to gain additional customer insight. For more information visit www.channelmkt.com, email David Gordon, President, at [email protected] or call 919-488-8635.