Distributors View Amazon Business as Biggest Threat: Survey

WAYNE, PA—Distributors and wholesalers overwhelmingly regard Amazon Business as their biggest threat, dwarfing other concerns. That’s one of the findings in a survey conducted by Unilog, a Wayne, PA-Based global technology company that delivers eCommerce solutions for the B2B marketplace. Unilog surveyed 244 manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers.

Surprisingly, 52% of those same survey respondents admit they don’t have a strategy for competing with Amazon Business. And 43% of manufacturers surveyed said they sell direct on Amazon Business, often bypassing their traditional distribution channel.

The survey spotlighted challenges the respondents face in eCommerce. Notably, more than half of respondents said it took them more than nine months to go live with an eCommerce site.

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“Perhaps the number-one reason that so many B2B companies are unhappy with the time it takes to launch their eCommerce site is that they’re trying to achieve too much in one Big Bang moment,” says Brian Lombardo, Unilog’s vice president of solution delivery. “We recommend launching a new site in a rapid time frame and then evolving site capabilities and design over the years. You have to take a crawl, walk, run approach. It’s important to get your new site live as quickly as possible to recognize the business benefits.”

Among other survey results, Unilog found that:

• Nearly 80% of distributors said their eCommerce channel sales have grown over the past 24 months, while just 20% have seen stagnant or slowly decreasing sales
• 44% of respondents claim that 20% or more of their revenue comes from online sales (not including EDI)
• 37% of distributors are focused on converting traditional buyers to online customers, 31% are concentrating on generating incremental revenue online — and 22% of distributors – 1 in 5 – say they don’t have a good eCommerce strategy

“To fend off Amazon, B2B companies should focus more energy on product content,” says Unilog CEO Suchit Bachalli. “Better product content drives more eCommerce. That could mean the basics, such as cleaner product descriptions and specs, standardization of naming conventions, and crisp photos taken from various angles. It could also mean diagrams, videos, companion product information, and other useful content to help the buyer make an informed decision. The most successful distributors find ways to share their expertise online.”