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  • resilient leaders 23Bouncebackability
    Index Leaderboard

    Q4'22 analysis highlights
    resilient Winners v Losers


    Reports are all in for Business Supply players in Q4'22. Predictably they show inflated profits but weak sales recovery v pre-Covid 'norm' Q4'19. Proficiency Index reports the Leaderboard of makers, wholesalers & dealers' 'Bouncebackability' performance. It covers 100 leading paper & printer makers, hygiene, foodservice and packaging suppliers, OP/furnituremakers and retailers Updated

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  • Screen Shot 2022 12 09 at 2.14.03 PMHealthy Hygiene
    market normalizes

    Who won/lost market share?
    Price inflation average +12%


    Hygiene is now #1 business supply category alongside technology. Progressive business suppliers: brandmakers, dealers have pivoted into hygiene, safety, foodservice & packaging, WFH-tech & wellness services. Proficiency Index Q4'22 analysis is almost complete with brand volumes slowing, boosted by double-digit price hikes. Updated for KPTissue, Sappi & Suzano. Diversey delayed to 22Mar

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  • women marketeers top 9 jul16Top 50 Women
    Marketers 2023

    Leaders in creativity, sales,
    brand growth performance


    Marketing to businesses by brandmakers & resellers was traditionally dominated by men. As we celebrate International Women's Day, Proficiency Index recognises the most successful women leaders. This is 16th edition of 'Top 50 Women in Business Supply', the market's real growth achievers, including new entrants from progressive independent dealers.

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  • Screen Shot 2023 02 26 at 2.18.29 PMOffice Mkt Legends
    reunited in renewal

    MegaIndy leaders:Bigeard,
    Meehan+Sargent BOS mtg


    It's 10yrs since the top OP mega-independent dealer champs Lyreco's Eric Bigeard and WBMason's Leo Meehan met with Staples CEO Ron Sargent in Boston. We reflected on past glories, Covid, digital transformation and looked forward to a 'hybrid office productivity' future..Updated 

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  • Screen Shot 2023 02 24 at 2.48.36 PMHybrid work future
    hollows corp space

    Entrepreneurs' rise drives
    up 'officeless' productivity;
    less latency eg. commuting


    The contrast in opinions over the 'hybrid work future' & the 'return to work', is stark. New thinking is positive about the huge rise in entrepreneurial productivity. Old thinking believes a return to corporate office control is inevitable. Are corporations underestimating the hollowing out of office space; the time waste and the need to trust workers' motives? Updated

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bezos racing ahead rivalsDo AMZN analysts
discount assets?

'BuywPrime' success tests
signify biz resellers growth


All the press talk recently about Amazon has been negative: -27000 job cuts? Slower AWS growth? Slowing ecommerce, competitors catching up? Stalled Fulfilment Centre plans? Wishful thinking maybe? It's still winning market share across the board and perhaps readjusting itself for another big growth push? New developments are a Prime example!

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Emperor no clothes 23Old OP Emperors

have no clothes!

Trad product sellers outed
by productivity srvcs shift


There's been much recession talk recently: macro economic headwinds, high inflation, depressing optimism. How much is real given the huge prices boost on lower volumes? Whilst ex-leaders eg. Acco, HP, Newell, 3M & VOW decline despite complacent commentary, progressive players reinvented to meet the 'personalized productivity service' needs of users. We highlight losers and the big winners..Complete

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Screen Shot 2023 03 07 at 1.28.15 AMNewell nears nadir;
writing on the wall?

Typical Ravi rhetoric diverts
from core strategy failings?


Newell Brands,
 the
 $9Bn house of business & consumer brands, sales volume plummeted in home, commercial & writing products during 2022. Ex-Max Ravi Saligram is retiring as ceo, guilty of 'fiddling while the house burns', with market cap plunging -40% over the last year. What confidence is there that new boss Chris Peterson can break the 'same as the old boss' maxim? We comment....

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Screen Shot 2023 03 05 at 3.04.22 PMThe $2B Question:
Who are u at Work

Personality tests revival for
new era of hybrid working 


Employers are finding personality tests, measuring how employees think and feel, more useful than ever while navigating hybrid work. "But the tests are not always up-to-date " writes NYTimes' Emma Golldberg. How do leading assessors meet the challenge of a new office culture measuring engagement, satisfaction, collaboration, productivity? We discuss...

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elisman boris acco slipsDownsizing Acco
accepting defeat?

"Happy" ceo cites inflation,
economy not dud strategy?


'OPI Talk'
interviewed Acco ceo Boris Elisman last week after disastrous Q4'22 results: down -30% in OP volume v pre-Covid norm Q4'19. The "Happy with our strategy" chief blamed inflation, economic uncertainty, Ukraine war, as key factors, yet hardly mentioned terminal OP decline as a cause for major downsizing activity. Moreover, he ignored price inflation as a huge positive? Tomorrow

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Screen Shot 2023 02 28 at 12.46.00 PMWayward Wayfair
wasting a w a y?

Mgt compensation +60%;
operating losses top $1B


Wayfair,
the $12Bn in sales, home & office furniture etailer, reported Q4'22 results last week. "They were a complete disaster" said Seeking Alpha analyst Dave Kranzler. "It's close to insolvency, yet if not unethically, management (ceo Niraj Shah) compensation soared" We review analyst's comments. 

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Screen Shot 2023 02 24 at 2.48.36 PMHybrid work future
hollows corp space

Entrepreneurs' rise drives
up 'officeless' productivity;
less latency eg. commuting


The contrast in opinions over the 'hybrid work future' & the 'return to work', is stark. New thinking is positive about the huge rise in entrepreneurial productivity. Old thinking believes a return to corporate office control is inevitable. Are corporations underestimating the hollowing out of office space; the time waste and the need to trust workers' motives? Updated

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Screen Shot 2023 02 21 at 10.29.57 AMFEMSA's Envoy:  
'Four Sale' options?

VC/MBO Spinoff? IPO? Sale
eg Grainger? Stick v twist?


FEMSA 
the $27Bn Mexican based convenience store & fuel station chain (Oxxo) shocked business supply markets last week, stating it was "exploring strategic alternatives" over it's $2Bn Envoy rollup of US hygiene and packaging resellers. We explore the strategic options available to the conglomerate. We feel this will not play out without major difficulties ahead... Updated 

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Screen Shot 2023 02 21 at 12.29.08 PMBrands 'shrinkflate'
packaged prices

Deceptive mkting ignites
consumer battle v Pvt label


From toilet paper to snacks, original brandmakers are exploiting the inflationary environment by increasing prices or sneakily reducing pack sizes/quantities aka 'Shrinkflation'. Mondelez ceo Dirk van Put  admitted as such, in an interview with CNBC this morning. We highlight current examples of this practice in the broader business supply market...

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paper clogged office thumb medium300 30010 Traditional Trade
Traits T R A S H e d

Digital mktg drives user 
benefits not navel gazing


The business supply market was historically characterized by trade traditions focused on reseller gross margins. The emergence of Amazon (2006) & iPhone (2007) facilitated a transformation from maxing profits to maxing consumer satisfaction: e.g optimizing 'personalised productivity services'. The leaders of this revolution are the most successful (The MANUSA's). We explain the 10 trashed traits with examples... Updated

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not yesterday's news tomorrow."

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