5 KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR MATERIALS DISTRIBUTORS
Changing customer behavior is accelerating the migration to digital commerce – the
omnichannel buying experience is the new battlefield for materials distribution and
services companies. To win, materials distributors must focus on these 5 opportunities:
1. Optimizing the Omnichannel Experience: COVID-19 and the dynamic market
environment has highlighted the need for materials distributors to offer a digital
buying experience, with optimized pricing, that ensures immediate wins.
2. Improving Margins: With supply chain disruption and increasing costs of raw
materials and other inputs, materials distributors must facilitate margin growth at a
granular level and dynamically update pricing.
3. Gaining Power Over Pricing & Discounting: As competition intensifies, materials
distributors must gain efficiency, flexibility, and power over pricing and discounting.
4. Maximizing Win Rates: In the materials business, ultra-competitive customers are
won through fast and reasonable responses to their inquiries. To do so, salespeople
must be armed with pricing guidance and a streamlined quote-to-cash process.
5. Streamlining Negotiations & Agreements: Materials distributors must replace
legacy processes and systems with new, innovative, scalable solutions, ultimately
saving them time and money. Those that don't do so will get left behind.
Unfortunately, due to lack of understanding, expertise, and capabilities, many distributors
are missing the mark on these opportunities and are already far behind.
TOP 3 INSIGHTS
1. 70% of B2B distribution
customers report that their
vendor preferences have
changed with the accelerated
move to digital channels, post
COVID-19
1
.
2. 39% of B2B distribution
customers expect to make the
majority of their purchases
digitally post COVID-19
2
.
3. Even though 80% of companies
believe they deliver "superior
experiences," only 8%
of customers agree
3
.
1. Hanover, Distribution Industry, 2020
2. Hanover, Distribution Industry, 2020
3. Bain
AI-Powered
Insight
Margin and Revenue Optimization
in the Materials Distribution and
Services Industry
with
E
X
E
C
U
T
I
V
E
B
R
I
E
F
