Category Archives: LIPA

114. Reviews on Best Distributor Web Sites: MSC Industrial, Crescent Electric, Essendant, Hajoca, et. al.

AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

Must-Read Blog Series

Go to this link for an article on MSC Industrial and Crescent Electric:

digitalcommerce360.com

Pay attention to the specific features, benefits and design guidelines that are reported. Consider doing the same for the reviews for: Essendant’s (8/9); Hajoca’s (8/28); Cardinal Health’s (8/31); Univar’s (7/30); and Blair Candy (7/25: small-firm story!) Continue reading 114. Reviews on Best Distributor Web Sites: MSC Industrial, Crescent Electric, Essendant, Hajoca, et. al. →

113. It’s Human Nature to Resist Analytical Opportunities

AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Core Renewal, Cost-to-Serve Math, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

Moneyball and Astroball Lessons

The book Moneyball was published in 2003. At the time, Major League Baseball (MLB) managers despised it, because the book made them look like old-school ignoramuses. A highly-recommended new take published in July 2018 and titled Astroball, summarizes the league’s transition since 2003.

Here are a few key points from the book: Continue reading 113. It’s Human Nature to Resist Analytical Opportunities →

110. Know and Partner Your Top 2% Highest Profit Value Accounts

Big Data, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

Big-Accounts Range Widely in Net Profitability

Distributors! When you rank your customers by net-profitability, and then keep segmenting, you can find some amazing facts:

    • Pareto’s law applies to big accounts, but only for margin dollars, not for profits! The biggest 20% of companies will contribute around 80% of gross-margin dollars.
    • Only a third of the big accounts are net-profitable, and they range from amazingly so to modestly so.
    • The middle third will be around break-even before deducting sales commissions and modest losers after deducting commissions.
  • The bottom third are losers before commissions due to excessive activity costs for, usually for small-dollar picks and orders
  • A few may be shockingly unprofitable.

Continue reading 110. Know and Partner Your Top 2% Highest Profit Value Accounts →

109. Astroball: Taking Lessons from the Analytical Champs

Big Data, Core Renewal, Cost-to-Serve Math, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

Baseball’s Begrudging Adoption of Analytics

Since the book Moneyball was published in 2003, all professional sports have embraced analytics, but none more than baseball.

Baseball executives initially hated the book Moneyball because it made them look incompetent. Then, one-by-one teams started to experiment with analytics; in particular, two teams with new owners who had gotten rich using analytics elsewhere. Continue reading 109. Astroball: Taking Lessons from the Analytical Champs →

108. Amazon Business Has a Secret Plan

2020 Companies, AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Cost-to-Serve Math, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

Distracting Stats v Strategic Profit Intent

Amazon is secretive, even deceptive. For instance, it trumpets amazing stats in press releases that can distract us from seeing their strategic goals. Maybe this is part of the plan. Why spark early competitive responses?

Consider AMZ-Biz. The last official numbers we saw for sales, resellers, and buyers were at year-end 2016. Wouldn’t you brag on growing 20% per month?

So what final profit streams is AMZ-Biz envisioning? How about fees from: Continue reading 108. Amazon Business Has a Secret Plan →

107. Friends, Your Input Please. One-Day Fall Seminar Series

AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

THE VISION

I will start conducting one-day seminars in larger cities in North America this fall. The working title: “Analytics for Defending Against, Partnering, and Out-Niching Amazon”.

The content is radical. Download the seminar summary for the full story, including:

  1. An “Overview”
  2. Who should attend and what you’ll learn and (hopefully) act on
  3. How your distributor affiliation groups, trade associations, buying groups, ERP vendors – can become co-sponsors to earn their constituents a discount from an already affordable fee
  4. A summary of my AMZ-oriented blogs to spark team discussions
Get the summary here:
Grand Summary of Fall Seminar Series

THE CITIES

Already booked due to local co-sponsor support:

  1. St. Louis on 10/16 with St. Louis University’s Center for Supply Chain Management as a co-sponsor and host for the presentation.
  2. Montreal on 11/5
  3. Toronto on 11/7

Other Prospective Cities: Chicago, Boston, NYC/N. NJ, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, LA, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma. And, wherever else enough bottom-up interest may arise.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

  1. Email me your interest. On a 1 to 5 scale: 1 is “No Way. AMZ is a fad.”; 3 “Maybe” and 5 “Will be there”.
  2. If not a “5”, any changes to boost interest to assure your attendance?
  3. Alert your affiliation group about being a co-sponsor. I will be contacting many directly too.
  4. If you are in one of the target cities, can you suggest a best logistical place to run an 8am to 4pm seminar?
  5. If you would like the seminar to run in your unlisted city (or sponsor your own private seminar), be in touch to brainstorm on making that possible.
  6. I’m also amenable to doing one-hour, highlights, free webinars for affiliation groups.

The St. Louis University (SLU) Model In Other Cities?

From previous experiments at SLU, the Supply Chain Center discovered that by hosting this seminar:

  1. Their MBA students can attend all or part of the seminar for free and network with distributors for consulting/employment opportunities.
  2. Attending companies get exposed to the Center’s offerings.
  3. The Center can invite their own community supporters for a 50% discount (as a co-sponsor): a good outreach benefit.

If any readers have a hometown MBA/Supply Chain, university connection that could be a co-sponsor like SLU, please request an e-introduction of your SC Head to SLU’s Center Head: Cindy Mebruer.

Here’s hoping I’ll see you this fall and into next year for a provocative educational experience!

Sincerely,

Bruce Merrifield

[email protected]