TABLE 3: Do you have multi-factor authentication implemented across your systems? Everywhere Most About Half Some None Suppliers $100M+ 54% 38% 0% 8% 0% Suppliers $25M-$100M 62% 32% 3% 3% 0% Suppliers $10M-$25M 35% 22% 9% 26% 9% Suppliers $3M-$10M 14% 68% 14% 5% 0% Suppliers Under $3M 33% 44% 0% 11% 11% Supplier Benchmarking Must Read | The State Of Innovation 2026 TABLE 2: Do you offer a secure online payment portal for customers to pay bills securely? Yes No I Don’t Know/ Other Suppliers $100M+ 77% 15% 8% Suppliers $25M-$100M 82% 9% 9% Suppliers $10M-$25M 83% 17% 0% Suppliers $3M-$10M 82% 18% 0% Suppliers Under $3M 63% 38% 0% TABLE 1: Is your firm utilizing integration technologies to provide order status or inventory to distributors through PDX, PromoStandards or other options? Yes No I Don’t Know/ Other Suppliers $100M+ 100% 0% 0% Suppliers $25M-$100M 88% 3% 9% Suppliers $10M-$25M 74% 22% 4% Suppliers $3M-$10M 82% 18% 0% Suppliers Under $3M 25% 75% 0% 86 • SEPTEMBER 2026 • It’s not surprising to see the correlation between company size and technology adoption. After all, larger suppliers usually have the scale, resources and operational complexity to justify the investment. Offering a secure online payment portal is vital for suppliers to protect customer data and build trust. “I’m surprised that large suppliers aren’t at 100%,” says an executive of a PPAI 100 supplier who wishes to remain anonymous. “Our customers have been asking for this for three to four years.” The same executive was also surprised that only 54% of $100M+ suppliers report having multi-factor authentication implemented in every system. “For cybersecurity purposes, this is now a must-have,” the exec says. Rob Watson, CEO of Vantage Apparel, PPAI 100’s No. 14 supplier, agrees. “Considering how much customer data suppliers hold, that percentage is way lower than expected,” Watson says. “As more businesses become digital, trust becomes just as important as the technology. Innovation without security is simply more risk.”
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