The Paperless,
The global Covid lockdown will likely reignite trends that emerged over the past 20 years. The printer 'paperless' plunge; 'officeless' orientation; and now the 'touchless' trend towards higher hygiene & safety. Moreover, a resurgence in sustainability practices to cut carbon emissions; and ironically, greater human touch. We analyse these movements Updated
Glocalisation Up!
In 1994, John Naisbitt wrote the Global Paradox book, that successfully predicted the growth of independent businesses. #Glocalisation paralleled that prediction where products/services were created for global consumption and personalised to suit local culture. This trend is rising thru Covid. We discuss the many successful brand case studies.
Print/papermakers
Most leading OP, Paper & Print makers have reported severe sales declines in Q1'20 to date. Printer Paper demand is down 60%+ since 2008; the exodus to hygiene and packaging is huge. We analyse the market and update on a daily basis. Updated for Konica Minolta today
The Office is Dead!
"Farewell, office. You were the last boundary between work and home" writes NYTimes columnist Jennifer Senior. "The office shaped identities in ways workers never knew". Yes, the 'Officeless' trend started 10yrs ago, but the power of physical community & teamwork contact should not be underestimated...Updated
High order values.
A primary focus for OP dealers has been lowering buying price to achieve GP% improvement. Progressive dealers in broadline business supply have achieved greater success by 2X order values & lowering cost to serve. We highlight examples... Updated
Depot's death
Office Depot market capitalisation has soared 70% to $1.4Bn since 1st April, in spite of sinking sales and massive lay off announcements. It's over a year now since a "strategic collaboration" was announced with giant Chinese etailer Alibaba. Perhaps the long period of nothing doing, is about to end with a takeover bid?
The Paperless,
The global Covid lockdown will likely reignite trends that emerged over the past 20 years. The printer 'paperless' plunge; 'officeless' orientation; and now the 'touchless' trend towards higher hygiene & safety. Moreover, a resurgence in sustainability practices to cut carbon emissions; and ironically, greater human touch. We analyse these movements Updated
FedEx follows
Dinosaur delivery giants UPS & FedEx dominated the logistics scene until 5yrs ago raising prices in unison at will. Never comfortable with the immediate demands of ecommerce; first FedEx were fired by Amazon and next expect UPS to be ousted. Usually higher volume leads tolower prices. Clearly these arrogant cartel cronies think they can continue unopposed
Kinly captures
Dutch AV specialist Kinly founded in 2018 and backed by venture capitalist has acquired a UK video comms leader. CEO Robbert Bakker confirmed the important step in its global expansion plans rivalling Exertis & Midwich who are also on an acquisition roll
Z o o m Video
Video collaboration specialist Zoom's (CEO Eric Yuan, pic left) launched a successful IPO last April and continued its relentless progress with outstanding sales and profits growth in Q1'21, outstripping competition
Microsoft Teams
Mighty Microsoft is gearing up to attack Zoom, Slack & Cisco in a battle to win the business market for group conferencing & collaboration software. CEO Satya Nadella sees Teams product as crucial to leadership in cloud computing & unified comms
Grainger divests
Leading $11Bn in sales, broadline industrial & biz supplier, Grainger has agreed to sell Europe MRO/fastener distributor Fabory Group to a PE firm. It bought Fabory in 2011 and growth has failed to match its international online operations in Zoro & MonotaRO
AOPD renews
Business supply contract sales group AOPD has renewed and expanded its purchasing agreement with Premier, the leading US healthcare network. We speak with executive director Mark Leazer on progress and action plans #BeyondCovid. Tomorrow
Facebook fails
Fortune magazine reports that Facebook workers have slammed CEO Mark Zuckerberg over US President's inflammatory posts on its platform. Pressure has mounted for social media to fact check information to the same standard as the news media
Nestle can't do
Nestle, the global #1 food & beverage supplier, has had a roller coaster year with questions raised against the Poland Spring water source; court issues over its copycat branding with Incredible Burger; and innovation in reusable & refillable Nescafe dispensers.
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