Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1059224
OWN IT | AD Today 2018 | 57 O w n Yo ur Digi t al F u t ur e With consumers requesting more and faster information than ever in today's competitive, tech- savvy marketplace, a robust digital presence has become an increasingly critical means of both leveling the playing field and differentiating your business. At the 2018 AD eCommerce Summit, we sat down with AD independent distributors that have gone live with their Digital Branches to gather their experiences and insights on the opportunities and challenges associated with building a strong eCommerce platform, as well as advice for other AD members looking to go live with their own Digital Branch. The Q&A consists of the following interviewees: Chris Fine – Director of Marketing, French Gerleman (St. Louis, MO) Dave Gravely – Vice President of eCommerce & Strategic Sales, State Electric Supply Co. Inc. (Huntington, WV) Gary Khodanian – Digital Marketing Coordinator, Quality Mill Supply Company, Inc. (Franklin, IN) Mike Abeling – President/CEO, Consumers Pipe & Supply Co. Inc. (Fontana, CA) Natalie Beers – Marketing Manager, Cooney Brothers, Inc. (Plymouth Meeting, PA) What advice would you offer other AD members who are thinking about going live but are nervous about getting started? Fine: The advice I'd give to a fellow distributor who may be apprehensive about going live would be 'just go for it' because it's an important part of your business. You need to be looking at eCommerce as a viable sales tool, and if you're apprehensive about that, go and talk to your customer, because you'll find that they're probably buying from other companies online, which will validate the reason why you need to look at getting online as well. Also, you don't have to do everything all at one time or in one fell swoop – you can do this in phases based on what you have from a stock standpoint or based on certain products from a specific division, then grow it over time and monitor how it's impacting your business. Gravely: I'd tell an AD distributor who's nervous about going live to focus on getting the functionality that they need. For instance, you need to be able to check the customer out, process invoicing, and take care of other mission- critical activities. If you're waiting for all of the content on your website to be perfect, you'll be spinning in that carousel forever. Line up the things that are critical, get those functioning, and then go live. There are a lot of things you can work on after you're live. Don't confuse the two. Khodanian: Don't be afraid of going live and getting it in front of your customers. I think there's a belief that the first impression is important and a lot of companies want to make sure that first impression is perfect, but I would say that as long as the first impression is strong and you're making an effort, you're going to get a lot further with your site. I would encourage any AD distributor to accelerate their progress by going live and getting the site in front of customers, even if it's not perfect, because it will grow exponentially. They'll be surprised about what customers say and the kind of adoption they'll get on that platform, even from the very beginning. Abeling: If you're an independent distributor and an AD member that's concerned about where eCommerce is taking us, we just have to look back and say, "Did you think that the cell phone was a fad? Did you think fax machines were going to go by Continued on page 58 AD members with a digital branch share their experiences and offer advice for fellow AD members thinking about launching their own eCommerce platforms.