Must Read | The State of Innovation 2024 Distributor Benchmarking During the spring, PPAI Media asked industry distributors of all sizes a series of questions to assess their status on a number of technological fronts. The following survey questions, which were also used to score the 2024 PPAI 100’s Innovation category, reveal how distributors at multiple competitive levels in the marketplace compare to one another. (All percentages have been rounded up.) The 2024 PPAI 100 is built on member feedback from the inaugural ranking. Among the suggestions that we’ve implemented to improve the program is grouping respondents into smaller competitive levels in the marketplace to produce more accurate data. After all, to paraphrase one respondent from last year, a distributor generating $50 million in revenue is very different from a distributor making $250 million in revenue. Distributors: How does your firm stack up to the competition, and are there areas you can improve or update? TABLE 1: Is your ERP or order management system receiving inventory feeds from 10 or more suppliers? Yes No I Don’t Know/ Other PPAI 100 Distributors 72% 21% 7% Distributors $100M+ 90% 5% 5% Distributors $50M-$100M 67% 33% 0% Distributors $25M-$50M 75% 25% 0% Distributors $5M-$25M 50% 39% 12% Distributors $1M-$5M 50% 50% 0% Distributors Under $1M 32% 48% 20% Amy Brown, vendor relations coordinator at American Diversity Business Solutions – the No. 76 distributor in the PPAI 100 – says she’s surprised by the “low” percentage in the $50M-$100M range. “Inventory feeds in your ERP system allow you to stay relevant and can drive profit margins,” Brown says. “Relevancy is an absolute must in the customer’s eyes. Happy customers plus happy sales associates equal a successful distributor.” TABLE 2: Do you offer a secure online payment portal for customers to pay bills securely? Yes No I Don’t Know/ Other PPAI 100 Distributors 86% 10% 3% Distributors $100M+ 95% 5% 0% Distributors $50M-$100M 70% 30% 0% Distributors $25M-$50M 100% 0% 0% Distributors $5M-$25M 85% 8% 8% Distributors $1M-$5M 100% 0% 0% Distributors Under $1M 67% 29% 4% “Offering online payment portals is a complete no-brainer, and, looking at these percentages, the proof is in the pudding,” Brown says. “It’s a win for the customer to be able to choose what invoices to pay and is most efficient by alleviating reconciliation work, as well as data-entry busy work. Ultimately, it’s an investment that will easily pay for itself.” 36 • OCTOBER 2024 • PPAI
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