In the words of a manufacturer and echoed at an industry advisory council Channel Marketing Group recently facilitated, “COVID has accelerated manufacturer and distributor e-commerce initiatives by three years.”

Further, in a recent survey conducted by Channel Marketing Group, more than 30% of distributor respondents shared that their e-commerce activity (website visits and sales) were up. And this is with 50% of respondents stating that their website is not commerce-enabled.

Manufacturers are also investing more into driving sales via technology. They are spending more on digital marketing than ever before, are investing in syndicating content to distributors who request (and those whom they want) customized, or more, content and, in some cases, manufacturers have personnel dedicated to supporting selected customers’ e-commerce initiatives. What this means is that manufacturers are differentiating their support between those who have invested in digital initiatives and those who have not.

With this as a background, beginning or accelerating, an e-commerce initiative is more critical than ever…if you desire to grow your business long term.

We are not saying those who do not will go out of business. Their goals may be different—to continue to serve their local market, serve existing customers and make a nice living while supporting their employees. There is nothing wrong with this if this is ownership’s goal.

For others, COVID should essentially be the starter’s gun to evaluate your e-commerce strategy.

First, e-commerce is not all about a webstore and “hunt and peck” ordering. E-commerce is about helping your team, inclusive of your customers, electronically conduct commerce.

For distributors it is about:

• Developing an omni-service approach, enabling your customers’ access to information how and when they want.
• Providing robust product content to support their product searches, answering technical questions, downloading spec sheets to support their bids, providing access to supplier videos and so much more.
• Embracing multiple electronic ordering platforms that your customer may desire, such as e-procurement and other system-to-system capabilities that are being deployed. Inclusive of mobile ordering as well as text ordering.
• Enhancing your sales outreach by digitally marketing the benefits of doing business with you, highlighting your services and successes and reinforcing products that add value to customers.
• An informative website that has new product information, videos and customer service via chat, and highlights your services and showcases how you have helped others profit.
• And if your ERP system is capable, making access to account management services easier.

Additionally, depending upon your business model, it can enable the creation of new services that can help you help your customers increase sales, enabling them to offer replenishment services.

For suppliers, e-commerce represents different opportunities.

Most suppliers have concluded that trying to disintermediate distribution via e-commerce is not a winner. While the allure of picking up a 20-25% distributor gross margin is appealing, when they recognize the cost to pursue this business as well as the risk of what they would lose, practically all realize it is not worth it.

Instead, suppliers are investing in:

• Syndicating content to those who request/have invested into robust e-commerce offerings.
• Working closely with commerce-enabled “preferred” distributors to develop special promotions.
• Developing e-marketing content for e-newsletters as well as social media, much of which can be co-branded with the distributor.
• Expanding their channels to market to pursue customers who are choosing to purchase online or search for material. In some cases, this is sales driven; in others the primary goal is increased brand awareness and sharing product content.

The role of a supplier’s business strategy is to ensure that the company is visible where the customer wants to make a purchase. A sales organization devoted to a channel wants that channel to win. Senior management, however, needs to ensure that their company wins.

For distributors there are considerations regarding development of a technology stack to support e-commerce.

Assuming you have a “brochureware” website, the most basic next step is having an e-newsletter and perhaps a social marketing strategy (at least a presence).

Next comes identifying opportunities to commerce-enable your business or, at a minimum, offering an online catalog. Few distributors are generating a signifi cant percent of sales via their website. Those reporting double-digit e-commerce percentages are typically including other “system-to-system” capabilities. The key question here, for most, is “can the system integrate with my ERP system?” If it cannot, quickly and cost-effectively, then consider alternative solutions if an e-commerce system is a “nice to have” and not part of the longer-term strategy for your business.

And, as an aside, you probably do not know what business you are losing to others online because your sales organization is not asking, and most customers will not tell you. We recently conducted an online focus group for a distributor who was not doing much business online with the partici-pants. Without the distributor present, all admitted that they buy online from the sponsor’s primary competitor, as well as other online distributors.

The most important part of your website is your product content as basic site functionality is assumed. Whether you use BigCommerce, WooCommerce, ES Tech Group, Second Phase or more expensive packages, they will all accept an order. The key is building a robust presence powered by much content (after all, there is a reason why leading distributors typically have more than 150,000 SKUs on their site).

You want:

• Content sourced directly from your manufacturers.
• As much content as you can get (none of this 80/20 stuff!Do you want to tell your customer, we only want to serve 80% of your needs for this project? Are you going to send them to your competitor’s website?).
• Content that has all the suppliers’ available pdfs, images, videos, MDSD sheets, long descriptions, CAD files (if applicable) and more.
• You want the content sent to you to ideally be matched to your supplier list.
• You want to easily ingest it into your e-commerce platform, so the data feed must be customized.

Consider product content as your virtual sales organization. It needs to answer customer questions when a salesperson is not available.

For suppliers, this means you need to unleash the power of your content to make sure that it is on as many distributor websites as possible.

While a vaccine for COVID is on the horizon, its impact will be lasting. Curbside pickup is here to stay. Customers are recognizing that they added hours to their day by no longer entertaining salespeople doing milk runs. Our comfort level, driven by experience in our personal lives, for searching online for products, and ordering them, will all remain. This, coupled with a desire for increased productivity and accuracy (hence system-to-system ordering) and generational workforce changes, means that the importance of e-commerce will only accelerate. If you want to grow longer-term, e-commerce needs to be part of your strategy.

DDS Delivers for Distributors

DDS, an IMARK member service provider and the leading provider of e-commerce product content to the electrical, plumbing and other construction-related distribution industries, specializes in delivering the content that powers distributor websites.

DDS works directly with industry-leading manufacturers and has developed technology-driven solutions to help simplify how distributors receive their product content, as well as helping manufacturers deliver their content throughout their channels.

COVID has accelerated the demand for product content online as well as its utilization. Content is key to a successful e-commerce offering by way of:

• Delivering better experiences for customers trying to research products and make purchasing decisions.
• Sales enablement to help you stay connected with customers, as it ensures you as a reliable source of complete and current information.
• Driving sales, whether direct (via webstore) or indirect (via sales calls and counter visits, where the customer has likely benefitted from online information).

DDS has more than 500,000 SKUs from 90+ manufacturers/brands, adding more weekly, and their SaaS-based model gives distributors unlimited content that is regularly updated for a fixed monthly cost. And if a distributor needs additional suppliers, DDS will work with them to source those, at no additional charge.

DDS is proud to work with IMARK members like Wiseway Supply, General Plumbing and Republic Supply, as well as many IMARK Electrical members.

To learn how DDS delivers, check out the company’s blog series titled “Top 10 Reasons Distributors Choose DDS” at distributordatasolutions.com/top-10.