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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
DISTRIBUTION ONE
4004 Church Road, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
TEL 856-380-0629 FAX 856-222-0061 EMAIL info@distone.com WEB www.distone.com
UN-LIMIT YOUR DISTRIBUTION SALES AND
SUSTAINABILITY WITH E-COMMERCE
Looking to ensure your long-term distribution success?
Implement an E-Commerce plan today.
Before the internet, distributors worked tirelessly
to cultivate relationships with the goal of sustaining a
reliable network of returning customers. Being able to
depend on customer “stickiness” enabled distributors to
establish successful territories for themselves.
Today, however, modern distribution is trending away
from this model thanks to substantial competition from
companies like Amazon and the simple convenience of
internet searches. Though internet selling opens your
products up to large new markets, it also removes
the need to engage another human directly. Strong
relationships can certainly still be built, but customer
stickiness often becomes less... sticky.
Because the internet provides so many buying
choices, your customers may be more receptive to
testing the waters with unknown vendors based upon
positive online reviews. In fact, many buyers prefer the
convenience of purchasing from an online cart than
exchanging emails or sitting through a sales meeting. So
how then do you build customer stickiness in the current
climate?
Distributors need to implement an E-Commerce platform
that incorporates proven user experience tactics for modern
buyers. Let’s internalize this for a moment. Consider your
own personal preferences when buying products on the web:
You want to easily access product information; you want the
best price available; and you want it delivered quickly. So
with that in mind, do you like to...
¤ Flip through a large paper catalog? Your
customers don’t want to do this either. Your products
must be listed on an E-Commerce website that provides
fast search results with product images and descriptions
along with intuitive product recommendations.
¤ Call a salesperson for quantity and availability?
Don’t make customers jump through hoops. Your
E-Commerce solution should display accurate, realtime
stock information onscreen. It should also provide
fulfillment estimates in-line with what competitors are
offering. Moreover, your customers should have insight
into recent order statuses and order history.
¤ Sit through a sales meeting to learn pricing?
Not for every purchase. Your E-Commerce platform must
speak directly with your ERP business software to display
your product costs and associated pricing breaks.
¤ Use a computer or mobile device? Both are
crucial to E-Commerce success. Buyers currently research
on mobile (53% of traffic with 32% of revenue) and
purchase on desktop (37% traffic with 56% of revenue) 1 .
Furthermore, your E-Commerce platform must be fully
mobile responsive to satisfy younger users. “Users who
have a negative experience in your mobile store are 62%
less likely to purchase from you in the future.” 2
As a distributor, your inventory is already loaded
with salable products. So why not make those products
available to the widest audience possible through new
E-Commerce channels?
BUSINESS FOCUS ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 174