AMZNIFICATION
noose tightens

Bezos '94: 'Everything
on demand, next hour'
is reaching reality

Recent moves by #1 etailer Amazon: expansion of next hour delivery & wholesale business supplies range; and Primeservice for reseller partners continues to be underestimated by the OP market. Please don't

Amazon Prime
Time packers

Boosts Fulfilment Centers
in wholesale market push

Amazon is hiring 6,000 full-time workers across its more than 70 Fulfilment Centers in the US to meet rising demand 

Freelancing
future is fine 

On demand economy
drives part-time norm

Elizabeth Warren, the firebrand Massachusetts senator, disagrees with corporate CEOs on many issues. On one point, however, she may be on the same track. Report from Re/Code's #CodeCon

Code Conflab
Day 2 in SoCal

Top tech execs discuss
latest digital trends

Hosted by Re/Codefounders Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the Code Conference is where digital dynamos gathered at Ranchos Palos Verdes (CA). We report on Day 1&2 today

Alibaba will
fail to deliver

Can its 3rd Party model
match Amazon's system?

We are grateful to Jason Cao and Shivum Sharma from Ivey Business Review for their views and analysis. We comment below on the upcoming Amazon v Alibaba battle

Twitter takeover
talk w/Flipboard

Partners in progress stall
on deal to +100m users

Twitter has been engaged in talks to acquire Flipboard, in an all-stock deal that would value the social news magazine at over $1 billion.

HelloTech rides
Uber app wave

Productivity services
drive into local tech aid

Many personal services can be summoned with an app now — drivers, carpool buddies, fast food, plumbers, cleaners and handymen— so it makes sense that it would extend to at-home-office tech support...

Up Periscope

& Snapchat

explained

Dealer's guide to
video centric apps

Video-centric broadcasting e.g. Periscope on Twitter, the #1 business medium; & Snapchat are trending rapidly among progressives.  But there are terrific apps for old fashioned folks too...

Dissynergised
aka eliminated

Corporate disrespect
for people redefined

Whether corporations are merging e.g. Staples or Sysco; or splitting e.g. HP, cost reduction is understandably high on the agenda. However, new euphemisms are emerging. The latest an ugly term 'dis-synergise' HP invented for mass people culling. Updated

Ace advances
at harder pace 

Group brand demos
personal service power

Brand franchise group, Ace Hardwarerecently reported record results for Q1'15, The helpful place succeeds in face of Amazon...

Apple of Ive:

design chief

The 'i' in iGeneration

broadens creative role 

Sir Jony Iveis taking an even more important role at Apple. The design mastermind behind the Mac, iPhone, iPad and Watchwill be promoted to chief design officer.

DCC/Exertis
drives growth

Divisional disposals to 
focus on tech core 

DCC, the $16Bn international business technology services group, reported improved sales and profits for year ended 31 Mar'15.  It's certainly been busy on the acquisitions/disposals front...

Nestle taps into 
water delivery

Direct webstore orders
to businesses next day

 
Nestle's branded water business is on a wave. Its direct bottled water business to homes and offices grew 3x its retail delivery business rate in Q1'15.

Everything
on demand

Personal local services
drive 'shut-in' economy

We are grateful to Lauren Smiley for her article entitled 'Shut-in Economy' where she reckons you’re either pampered, isolated royalty — or a 21st century servant.

Amazon Prime

Now expands

Next hour delivery
for local specialists

Amazon's Prime Nowservice has been expanded to deliver items from a handful of specialist stores in Manhattan, NY.

HP accused
of arrogance

Autonomy attack an
expedient diversion

HP should sue MicroTech rather than make accusations, said Lanny Davis, an attorney working with the reseller in its lawsuit against HP.

Amazon analyse
European sales

Plans to collect tax by

country; ends Lux filter

Amazonhas confirmed that instead of funneling nearly all its $25Bn European sales through low tax haven Luxembourg, it will  pay in each country in which it operates... 

Munchery cooks

up more capital

Food delivery service to
biz start-ups wave rising

Munchery is the latest food-delivery startup to raise cash from hungry venture capitalists joining at least 4 others

Microsoft sized
up Salesforce

Chiefs couldn't agree
on merger valuation 

As we reported last month, Microsoftchief Satya Nadella did hold serious talks with Marc Benioff led Saleforce.com. 

The Quest for

healthy snacks

Protein bars and chips
that are good for you

Quest Nutition president Tom Bilyeuapperaed on CNBC TV this morning to discuss the tremendous growth of his company's protein packed sugar free snacks. 

HP: Hopeless
Plunge deepens 

Mystic Meg's turnaround
tailspins in all 7 divisions

Old tech giant HP is tailspinning towards a sub $100Bn sales level in 2015 (2010 - $130Bn). Meg Whitman'smanagement musical chairs continued to duplicate costs at the 'navel-gazing', distracted 'dis-synergising' dinosaur

Lenovo levers up
PC market share

IBM server & Motorola
buys weigh on profits 

Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker by sales claimed more share gains in the shrinking market 

Snackification: 8
brands to watch

Smaller players driving
significant sales growth

In a challenging time for the consumer packaged goods industry, snacks are alive and well according to Information Resources.

Phipps ships
to Health Care

Appointed chief of 'Most
Admired' wholesale giant

Ex-UnitedCEOCody Phipps has realised his ambition of stepping up to a larger corporation with a move to lead $9Bn health-care supply wholesaler. Speculation he would join Staples was never on and made little sense

Meg's Mission
I m p o s s i b l e

Deck chair shifter fiddles
with division as HP burns

Tech relic HPis struggling to reinvent itself in the age of cloud computing and losing out to a new generation of nimble enterprise-tech firms. Meanwhile CEO Meg Whitman is doodling with logos

B e s t  B u y
beaten back

Deluded chief losing
online market share 

Best Buychief Hubert Jolyand CFOSharon 'Enumerator' McCollam are fond of detailing quarterly reports. They seem to suffer analysis paralysis and miss the BIG market picture...

HP C h i n a
control cut 

Data networking deal
first of many disposals?

As reported on 27 March, HP concluded the deal to sell control of its data-networking business in China's Tsinghua Unigroup. Will more 'crown jewel' disposals follow?

FABulous sales
opportunities

NRA Show: natural, clean,
healthy & tasty trends

 
The National Restaurant Association's Food Services Showin Chicago was an exciting enjoyable experience with leading brands demonstrating tasty innovations in food services...Full Review later today

Wave rising at
Salesforce.com

CRM giant's 

fast forward
to $10Bn with mobility,
cloud, social & enterprise

CRM #1 provider Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff (pic left) brimmed with enthusiasm about its latest growth trends in sales in Q1'16 to 30 Apr'15

Haughtily

Pretentious

Tech relic's arrogance
towards IDC unqualified

HP Print's charming channel chief Steve Sakamoto presented its Qualified Dealer program at OPI's Global Forum yesterday and was effusive in his support for dealers. Actions speak louder than cheap words however...

Staples: beyond
office supplies

'Making more happen'
proves tough challenge.
#SPLODGE/FTC update

Staples, the world’s leading OP reseller, showed steady sales trends in its main commercial and etail delivery businesses in Q1'15 ended 2 May'15. Updated

Dell doubles
down on HP

Distracted tech relic;
Nutanix commitment?

Dell has spoken out about HP'supcoming split, suggesting its rival's resellers might defect; its expansion plans in EMEA and possible acquisition of Nutanix...

Exertis makes
Unlimited move

Paves way for emerging
vendors to enter channel

DCC Group tech distributor Exertissaid it will be able to nuture up-and-coming tech firms to crack the channel thanks to yesterday's acquisition...

Amazon names
Bezos shadow

Maria Renz steps up
tech adviser role 

Male dominated Amazon has promoted a woman for the first time to one of the most coveted roles at the company...

Sysco v FTC:
MergerWatch 

Fed judge extends
hearing deadlines

The federal judge handling the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge of Sysco’s planned purchase of US Foods has scheduled more time for oral arguments in the case.

Keurig's Kold
reception runs

Coffee King's crown slips
w/botched new products

As reported 8 May, Keurig, the $4Bn leader in coffee brewers for US offices, continued to disappoint with delays announced on its new Kold system. Shares dived 15% (33% YTD) as CEO Brian Kelley's hyped up honeymoon period ends 

HP Autonomy
fraud backlash  

Duped reseller suing IT
giant for non delivery

Earlier this month, HP released a massive document spelling out its case in its $5 billion lawsuit against Autonomyexecutives. Now one of the accomplice resellers is countering...

Paperlinx: Poles
depart wreck...

Will papermills continue
to back ANZA remains?

Paperlinx has managed to offload another of its European operations without any drama..

Mayer's music
stops at Yahoo

Revolving door spins;
Messer Marissa next?

The new Infrastructure and CIO Mike Kail, who joined the company last August is the latest to leave the embattled house of purple aka Yahoo...

Walmart wake
up call weakens

Growth from US N'hood
& Intnl up. Sam's Club off

The world’s #1 retailer, Walmart (inc. Asda in the UK) continued its recovery pattern in the US, in Q1'16 with good growth in online and Neighborhood markets..

HP hierarchy
splitting too

Music not stopping
as COO eyes exit

HP's Enterprise Group boss is planning to depart once it splits in two, according to reports.

'Beach body'
brand bonanza

Protein World furore;
best ad campaign '15

The huge debate around Protein World’s “Beach Body” campaign has made it the big branding story of the year so far, says Marketing Week's Mark Ritson.Here are the 5 response stages...

Create content
that Lucy loves

7 steps in marketing to
your main user chooser

Much admired marketer Jay Baer says "Content marketing strategy isn’t a nice to have, it’s a requirement. So what is it that dealers say they have, but don't have?

Amazon: robots
picking contest 

Challenge to automate
the packing process

Boston Globe's innovation reporter Scott Kirsner, visited Amazon's robotic's division, based in North Reading (MA). He never knew how hard it could be to pick a box of crayons

Amazon Primes
up OP dealers

Expands range available
for free shipping service

The #1 business supplies etail/wholesaler Amazon is working with its local independent resellers army to enable them to deliver under its Prime Membership program.

D e a n s  of
DiSrUPtioN!

Who'll join Bezos as
protagonist-in-chief
in business supply?

Last week CNBC spotlighted their Top 50 Disruptors in the Business World for 2015. As in previous years, we nominate a new list of 10 power players threatening complacency of the OP status quo...completed Sunday

FAB showcase
for OP dealers

Preview: Food Services
Show,

Chicago May 16-19

Progressive dealers like WBMason, Weeks Lerman & Guernsey have moved successfully into food & beverage services. Join 44,000 traders at NRA's Food Services Show in today at McCormick Place and explore the specialist opportunities  

Can Google ace
Amazon action

Launching buy buttons
on search results pages

Google is making controversial move toward becoming an online marketplace to rival Amazon and eBay

"FTC wrong to
fight merger" 

Sysco chief DeLaney on

why good for consumers

This week, SyscochiefBill Delaney took the stand in the DC District Court to fight for enhanced customer service, faster innovation, greater efficiency in the US food-service market...

Freelancers fuel

start-up growth  

Women started lower
% of businesses in '14

Men started an average of 337,000 US businesses a month last year, up 21% from 2013, Meanwhile, women start up rates fell?

Cisco chides
HP's divide

Chambers champions
Chuck's progression

HP & VMwareet al got it in the neck from an impassioned Cisco chief John Chambers on his final earnings call before handing over new CEO Chuck Robbins

FTC: half-baked
case vs Sysco

Tunnel vision of market.
Indies want it to happen

The drawn out FTCcase against the Sysco/US Foods merger continues in court this week. US Foods are ready to pull the merger unless the judge takes the broader view shared by the market...

Walibaba war
starts v Amazon

Alipay alliance 1st move
in wider collaboration

It seems #1 retailer Walmart's online inertia is about to get a boost in a long predicted move with mighty Chinese etailer Alibaba. Watch battle commence...

Mason Mpowers
PA/OH markets

Acquires leading Lake
dealer in triple play

WBMason, the US#1 Mega-regional reseller has completed its 3rd acquisition in the last few days with leading Lake Erie dealer. We spoke with CEO Leo Meehan.Updated

Adveo: adverse
trends confuse

Prospects poor: printer
ink plunges; nothing new

Adveo, the leading mainline European OP wholesaler (inc. ex-Spicers Europe) continued its disappointing sales decline in Q1'15. The outlook continued to be challenging unless new categories are added quickly...

Printed paper
prices up 8%+

Sappi & IP lead market
plus importer hikes

Papermaker Sappiwill raise its prices by 8% as rising costs and falling margins have made the business ‘unsustainable’ at current prices.

Aramark makes
uniform growth

Productivity  & Tech
investments 

up profits 

Aramark,the $15Bn business services provider in food, FM and uniforms, today reported Q2'15 results with continued sales growth and margin expansion

Veritiv: veers
downwards

New paper & packaging
distribution duo in denial

Veritiv, the clumsily renamed paper and packaging distribution merger of UniSource and xpedx (ex International Paper), reported declining results for Q1'15. Is the CEO is kidding herself?

USFoods ready
pull Sysco deal

Competitor distracted,
as FTC case protracts

A US Foods executive testified in federal court yesterday that it is prepared to abandon a proposed merger with Syscoif the judge grants a preliminary injunction to block the merger.

Staples expands
in SA/Romania 

Single source Partners
w/Waltons and Dacris 

Staples,today announced new strategic growth partnerships with leading resellers in South Africa and Romania.

FAB: Food & Bev.
service moment 

Market available to those
who invest in specialists.

Today's food & beverage service resellers and brand suppliers, face increasing challenges to meet the needs and changing expectations of more diverse consumers e.g. natural & healthy choices. Take Note! 

Agile marketing 
for digital world

It's about collaboration,
& culture. Be gazelles...

We have been banging on about  "Agile marketing" since 2008. In 2012 there was much mention of it. Now It seems to have come of age. We remind readers of the essentials:

AOL sale value
exposes Yahoo 

Core biz success masks
Marissa Mayer's misses

Verizon bought AOL today for $4.4Bn highlighting the progress CEO Tim Armstrong has made in recent years. Meanwhile, rival Yahoo's  core content/ad business has tanked to negative values.

Quirky disrupts
invention norm

Innovation pipeline to
progressive resellers

Ben Kaufman, the founder of Quirky, has taken inventors into the 21st century. The NY based firm attracts new ideas, the best ones get produced and sold to the world's biggest resellers

Docusign: digital
service disruptor

Ex-Ariba Krach drives
document management

DocuSign has raised $233 million from investors to speed global expansion of its digital document management service. "All successful biz will be digital by 2020"

Sharp's sharp

downward spiral

Shares plunge ahead
of capital reduction

Sharp Corp.’sshares plunged yesterday after the troubled electronics company said a restructuring could include an adjustment that would erase much of shareholders’ investments.

Amazon's money
making machine

How etailer boosts GP
without buying better;
speeds customer service

Stockmarket and industry analysts persistently criticize Amazonfor lack of profits.  Meanwhile, it increased Prime prices, boosted membership and margins; leads in cloud and wholesale business supply services to millions of local resellers...Updated

Millennials in
majority. So?

More than 33% of US
workforce aged 18-34

WOW! Fortune Magazinereported today a stunning statement of the obvious: the GenX/Y Millenials are now the largest segment of the workforce!

Sysco/US Foods:
CE defends deal

DeLaney tells court it'd
be stupid to incr. prices

The 7 day court hearing on the Sysco/USFoods v FTC case started last week and today Sysco chief Bill DeLaney defended his cause...

Grainger safety
first investment

Doubles up on OSHA
specialist sales team 

Graingerthe leading MRO/business supplier confirmed the addition of 40 sales professionals  to its team of QSSP safety experts. It continues to differentaite itself with specialist FM sales people.

Wayfair wave

on a rapid roll

Repeat orders strong;
34% placed by mobile

Wayfair, the Boston based international home office furnishings etailer, is blazing a trail as it scales up to meet demand from midmarket consumers and micro businesses. It reported its Q1'15 results today...

Mobilize your  
service schedule

Enable users to ebook
productivity services

Scott Eisner of Boston Globe wrote an interesting piece calling for service businesses to invest in scheduling software to enable users to book calls 24/7. OP dealers should follow ASAP

DIRTT designs
drive growth

Innovative open office
builder powers ahead

DIRTT Environmental Solutions,the tech designer and builder of sustainable office interiors,  announced impressive financial results for Q1'15 2015.

Ergotron elevate
Nortek’s growth

Sit/stand desks & charge
carts energize edu sales

Nortek, the diversified parent of technology brand Ergotron, recently reported a slower rate of growth gains for Q1'15

Whitewve feeds
healthy growth

So Delicious Dairy brand
drives organic sales hike

Natural and organic company WhiteWave Foods Co. reported strong results in Q1'15, despite foreign-exchange impacts. Shares jumped 8% after the announcement

Officewise in
smart move

Herman Miller dealer
strengthens in Texas

Officewise the $30m in sales OP reseller has acquired a neighbouring dealer to consolidate its lead in the West Texas market...

Mason magic
marches on...

Double digit growth;
plus new partnerships

WBMason, the #1US mega-regional $1.5Bn independent reseller continued its strong organic growth supplemented by 2 new acquisitions. We spoke with CEO Leo Meehan...

SPOT: for Better
or much worse?

Wl Whiteway whitewash
wayward wholesaler?

Vulture capitalist Better Capital,owners of dual distributor SPOT (Spicers/OfficeTeam) was again thrust in the spotlight when carrier City Link collapsed.  Commentators are asking can it recover from its reputation for failure?

Amazon: Dollar

drone delivery

Prime Air positions
next hour delivery.
Bezos reveals plans

 
Seeking AlphaanalystTasha Keeney has studied Amazon drone delivery plans plans. She reckons it could deliver a package for $1 and still turn a profit. Here are the assumptions updated for US Patent Office report..

Gorilla engage
etailer GZMOE

SoCal consolidation
of OP progressives

Gorilla Stationers, the Huntingdon Beach (CA) office dealer has acquired etail neighbour GZMOE in Irvine to create a powerful new business supplies enterprise in California. We speak with Rosemary Czopek... 

Proficiency Index Poll

Most Influential
People in Office

Innovators, leaders, icons
disruptors & designers 

TIME magazine recently published ‘The 100 Most Influential People’ list. We publish a similar feature and welcome your nominations for the Top 20 in the new personal productivity marketplace… Later today

Kimball's core
focus winning

Hospitality & commercial
projects power pipeline

Kimball International, divested of its Electronic Manufacturing Services, announced powerful growth results for its Q3'15.

Avery advances
at double digits

Growth initiatives and
acquisitions up profits 

 
CCL Industries, the $2Bn in sales container and label maker,  who acquired Avery in 2013, reported excellent sales and profits results for Q1'15.

'OPeless Pursuit

Selling paper & ink free,
ups cost not productivity.
Mobilize paperless office!

Fact: paper-related products demand is in termianl decline and will not return. Most dealers are in denial with OP sales still over 70%+ of sales mix compared with market demand of <25% of business supply spend. What can they do about it?

Powerful
Personalised
emarketing

Retarget techniques that
beat SEO hands down

When it comes to customer acquisition, the next best tactic after search engine marketing (SEO) is retargeting.

PaperlnX: Antalis
picks up pieces

Leader builds packaging
division to $100m+ sales

Europe#1 paper merchant Antalis has bought PaperlinX UK’s packaging businesses as the fall out from its collapse continues

Swiss roll up

wholesalers 

PEG & Ecomedia in
defensive merger

Swiss wholesalers PEG and Ecomedia have announced an $80m in sales merger to tackle the the declining OP market together...

All change at
anxious Alibaba 

Mobile monetisation falls.
COO replaces CEO Lu?

Alibaba Group today announced its financial results for Q4'15 ended March 31, 2015. Chairman Jack Ma is adopting a more conservative approach...

Brother bucks downtrend

Gains market share
w/strong large MFD's

Brother Internationalthe $7Bn strong document services and printer maker, has reported impressive gains in the small and medium sized business market in US/Europe. We spoke with Europe chief Phil Jones...

CDW: Growth
rate decelerates

IT services strong in
Govt & educ markets

CDW Corporation,the $12Bn leading US multi-brand technology solutions provider to business, government, education and healthcare, today announced strong but slower Q1'15 results

Donnelley
deflated

OP acquisitions weigh
down print progress

R.R. Donnelley, the digital and print media giant, reported disappointing financials for Q1'15. It suffered secular decline in OP and relied on acquisitions for revenue growth...

King Keurig
going Kold?

Doubts raised re CEO
hype & disappointing
K2.0 system sales

 
Keurig Green Mountain, the $4Bn+, leader in specialty coffee brewers for US homes & offices, disappointed again with slow sales and lower profits in Q2'15. Shares dived 12%, (28% year to date) as CEO Kelley'shoneymoon period ends

It's Keurig
for Cocktails

TechCrunch Disrupt
shows robot bartender

'Appy hour comes early! In the very near future one push of a button could get you an expertly made cocktail. Somabar's coming soon...

ENJOY personal
expert service 

Ex-Apple & JCP retail
chief's new venture

Founded by a team led by retail pioneer Ron Johnson, ENJOY launched today in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City (with Mandy Drury of CNBC).

Up Periscope!

Twitter's live-streaming
app will revolutionize
instant video publishing

Last weekend was major for Periscope. It was one of the biggest weekends for sports of all time. And my Twitter feed looked something like this:

Imation impossible

Deluded CEO too late
to stem terminal tailspin

Imation, the former storage media giant, today reported a continued downward slide in its results for Q1'15, plus more action to downsize its redundant businesses

Sick Systemax
slips and slides

Powerful industrial sales
killed by miserable Misco

Systemax, the tech-direct marketer including Misco, CompUSA, Circuit City and Tiger Direct brands, reported serious declines in its financial results for Q1'15 to 31 Mar'15

HP: "Autonomy
augmentd sales"

Fleshes out fraud claims.
CYA Meg masking mess?

HPsaidAutonomy improperly reported $709m in revenue over 2½ years before it bought the UK software maker for $11 billion in 2011...

Phipps parts
ways w/United

Guessing game: Where
is his next big thing?

United Stationers (aka Essendant) announced today that Cody Phipps, has resigned as CEO to pursue another opportunity? We look at his likely options...

Microsoft sizes
up Salesforce

Rival approach pushes
takeover offer closer

As reported last week, Microsoft is readying an amicable deal with Marc Benioffled Saleforce. This will represent a huge advantage over rivals Oracle, IBM, Amazon and SAP.

SPLODGE: Follow FTCvSysco fight

7day Hearing starts now.
'No national food market

Today, the FTCand the merging amicable food giants Sysco/US Foods face off in court to decide if it can proceed. Will the FTC see common sense as a precedent for the #SPLODGE deal to proceed?

Kapstone catch
Victory packgng

Flat paper & packaging
despite of weather probs

KapStone Paper & Packaging today reported Q1'15 results to March 31, 2015 and shortly afterwards announced the acquisition of Victory Packaging...

Energizer losing
market power

Costly company splits
& exits from Venezuala

Energizer Holdings the personal, household care and battery maker, reported disappointing Q2'15 results to 31 Mar'15, ahead of its divisional split 

Disintegrating
Depot defunct

Chainsaw CEO Smith
'executes' way to profit

Office Depot/Max, the bigbox car-crash combo, continued its downward tailspin, according to Q1'15 results to 28 Mar'15. Annual sales rates have fallen 40% since 2007. Thankfully, we've been saved the CEO's woolly webcast rhetoric...

Mobilize your business NOW

Emerge: 4 new growth
busines s opportunities

The CNBC sponsored #Emerge15 Americasexperience kicked off strongly yesterday for 10,000 attendees in Miami. We report on the relevant insights for office marketers..

Ingram: double
-digit growth

Strong sales from PC
refresh & international

Ingram Micro, the world's largest technology distributor with $46Bn in annual sales, grew strongly again in Q1'15 

Alibaba's about
turn on growth

Chief Ma warns; makes
changes; freezes hiring 

It's usually wise to take note of what a public company and its executives say and do just before they release financial results. China's etail giant Alibaba's results are due on Thursday

Sysco feeds
strong growth

Increased food prices
& acquisition factors

Sysco Corporation today announced strong financial results for Q3'15 ended March 28, 2015 ahead of its court battle with the FTC...

Container chaos

congests ports 

China Crisis! Bigship size
& alliances clog cargo

The rapid growth of world’s biggest shippers is overwhelming US ports costing millions to importers and exporters who can’t access their cargo on time.

Danwood upside

down delusion

Francis fantasy forecasts
continue during decline

Last month Danwood Group, once the darling of UK document services market, quietly released 2014 results, again reporting a declining performance. CEO Steve Francis, continued to disrespect the industry without articulating its growth strategy.

Sysco/US Foods
face off w/FTC

Hearing to convince
judge on merger merits

Starting tomorrow food-distribution rivals Sysco and US Foods have to persuade a federal judge that the market is more diverse than antitrust enforcers claim.

Integrate tech &

customr service

Check human touchpnts
match online experience

Encounters that users have with brands offline and online can be inconsistent. Make sure the web designers take a user friendly approach...

Maple to make
chef's choice
desk delivery

Behind the scenes of new

food to biz service future

Fast Company's Sarah Kessler provides the inside story on Maple's $26m quest to reinvent delivery of healthy affordable meals fast in the land of sad desk lunches...

Panera plans
office delivery

Bakery chases 

Starbx
on productivity service

Ron Shaich, CEO of Panera Bread, said delivery service as a major source of future growth following Starbucksplans

WebWatch 2015

B r a n d s beat
generic search

User Lucy selects brand,
webstore before product

The male dominated OP dealer community has long believed that product price/discount dominates buyer behaviour. Women now make most business supply decisions and a ‘known’ brand/webstore is first in their search process…

Etailer customer
service's better?

Feel good factor strong,
like Uber v local cabs

Forrester Research just completed its Customer Service Index 2015 survey of 18 industries and found that etailers aka online resellers, were rated superior to bigboxes and local dealers...

FDA harry hand sanitizer makrs

Questions about safety
& germ fighting qualities

The Food and Drug Administration is asking makers to submit additional data about medical hand washes and sanitizers, including the long-term health effects of their daily use on the skin.

Brilliant Brands
beat Bigbox 
label lemmings

Innovation & marketing
outsmart copycats

Q1'15 financial results prove again that original brand manufacturers continued their positive growth trends that have emerged in recent years

Fast Furniture
delivery please

S P E E D is of essence
in the NOW market...

Same day delivery is defining the new business supplies market. Meanwhile, many furnituremakers are stuck with same-old 3-4 weeks delivery times. Case study of 5 day fast furnituremaker...

Yahoo: Mayer's
way to MilkyWay

Brain drain, exec exodus
reaches epic extents

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer received $45m in compensation in 2014 after 3 years of sales decline, dodgy investments, muddled management 'musical chairs' and expensive executive exits. She cares about this much...

Newell writes
big numbers

Hygiene & commercial
markers in high demand

Newell Rubbermaid, leading maker of branded business products and consumer today announced another set of strong sales and profits for Q1'15 ended 31 Mar'15

EVO growth
fund expands

Readies

attack on UK
w/sale/contract market

EVO Group the renamed Vasanta parent of VOW wholesale and contract stationers Supplies Team and acquired o2o, has secured £100m ($155m) for expansion 

Clorox sees
cleaner future

Chemicals mkr positive
on growth & innovation

The $5.5Bn in sales cleaning brands giant Clorox Company reported solid growth results in Q3'15 to 31 Mar'15