On Friday, April 3, from 2-4 p.m. ET, IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks and Modern Distribution Management CEO Tom Gale will co-host another live event on how COVID-19 is impacting distributors. This two-hour discussion will feature an expert panel to learn about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on distribution customers, suppliers, operations and teams. 

The tool has been put together as a resource for distributors who have not developed the projection tools that will allow them to act early as events unfold related to the current COVID-19 global health crisis.

Each week, we’ll be tracking a snapshot of year-over-year distributor revenue with our Pandemic Revenue Index (PRI). Here’s the latest graph.

IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks joined MDM CEO Tom Gale and John Gunderson for this program March 27, now available on-demand. Guests shared their experiences and impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on distribution customers, suppliers, operations and team. 

The Indian River Consulting Group Pandemic Revenue Index (PRI) of distributor sales compares sales each week with their same week in the prior year. The Index is based on data from many distributors across multiple lines of trade we have invited to participate.

In a recent video conversation with Dirk Beveridge of UnleashWD, Indian River Consulting Group’s Managing Partner and Founder Mike Marks and Partner Mike Emerson spoke about how to manage next steps in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus or Covid-19 has brought a level of disruption to businesses unlike many of us have ever seen. Most of us have been through natural disasters and recessions but this is a new kind of disruption. 

2020 is here, and we’re still hearing some rumbling of an economic slowdown. Some might consider holding back on new investments until the economic future is more certain. And yet, thriving amid disruption is a differentiator in today’s market. Put another way: Disruption creates opportunity.

This May, IRCG’s Mike Marks and Mike Emerson will be participating once again in the Sales GPS conference in Chicago, Ill.

Just because Amazon is a household name doesn’t mean distributors must emulate its every move to compete.

IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks’s latest guest post for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors offers up suggestions for distributors looking to succeed in the shadow of Amazon. It’s not about beating the online behemoth, but about creating more value in your own niche, for your own customers.

The terms “gross profit” and “gross margin” are often used interchangeably as they are both calculated the same way: the amount for which goods or services were sold minus the amount for which they were purchased. True, the mathematical values are ultimately the same, but what many folks understand those terms to represent are quite different.

Indian River Consulting Group managing partner Mike Marks joins Epicor’s ongoing webinar series on Distribution Innovation and Strategy. Marks will add to the conversation about how innovating your business model can help you embrace change in 2020 and beyond.

According to BigCommerce, more than 197 million people visit Amazon each month to browse more than 12 million products — and those numbers go up every day. But distributors don’t need to be afraid of Amazon. Rather, they need to innovate and sell to customers the way today’s customers want to buy.

More and more, we’re seeing industries move toward integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into operations structures.

If branded manufacturer margins decline, some distributors may consider expanding their model to add private label revenue. This could be a good idea for the company, but it’s only one component within the greater plan.