Are Your Distributors Just Overpaid Salespeople?

Changes in today’s manufacturing process in the global economy is continuing to drive costs higher and higher. Many manufacturers are looking at ways to improve their profit margins by selling directly to the end consumer instead of through retail and distribution channels. This is true for manufacturers of both B2B and B2C products.

Distribution companies are also finding it harder and harder to do business as more customers have taken their business to online shopping, and the trend has only increased over the years. As a result, distributor prices have increased as these customers continue to buy online due to convenience and ease.

eCommerce in the Manufacturing Industry

With that said, it may be time to reconsider your company’s sales strategy. Building an eCommerce website and selling your products directly to prospective customers has proven to be an effective strategy for many manufacturing companies. Many manufacturers are looking at how to improve their online presence, and it is simpler than some may think.

To improve online presence, it’s important to take advantage of social media and content marketing as a tool to increase efficiency. Yes, this is true for B2B as well as B2C. The digital media ecosystem should be all about the customers and the people that are engaging with your products on a frequent basis.

The internet can be a very powerful tool. Not only for selling, but for providing customer service support and education, as well as receiving feedback to improve the quality of your products. You can also use this approach to identify additional uses of your products. Perhaps the most critical thing you can do as a manufacturer is take the feedback from the buyers to heart and implant newer and more appealing strategies to maximize customer satisfaction.

Leading manufacturers are offering customer centric solutions to improve their eCommerce approach. Customized customer solutions such as automated ordering, shipping and inventory fulfillment add value to the buyer/seller relationship. eCommerce unlocks the ability to track warranties and customer service inquiries to get problems solved quickly, all within one system or an integrated systems approach with CRM and ERP.

Due to this ease and efficiency, eCommerce is the fastest growing industry in the world. Over the past 12 years manufacturing growth increased by just 4%, with eCommerce sales increasing at 4% per month over the same amount of time. So if you are looking to improve your profits, cut out the middleman and sell directly to your customers, eCommerce may very well be the best option for you

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