Consider this: David Pugh, the CEO of Applied Industrial Technologies, doesn't expect electronic sales to exceed 20 percent of Applied's total revenues when customers' adoption of Internet ordering "peaks" in three to five years. Pugh believes most orders will still be done by fax and phone.

Another prediction: in 15 years, distribution consultant Bruce Merrifield expects no more than 10 percent of your volume will come through your Web site.

"The Web will become a just-in-time education vehicle," Merrifield says. "Transactional selling will be a non-starter ... take your time and be e-ready for your big customers."

It's no wonder that many distributors are asking "Where's the beef?" in using the Internet to make their businesses more profitable. The dot-com frenzy and hype over online buying-selling exchanges is a fading memory. Many distributors, perhaps wary of the disastrous investments others made last year, have yet to embrace e-business tools that may actually work.

No doubt, the demand to add digital tools for transacting orders will keep growing. Yet there's a growing belief that the information flow on products and orders, rather than online transaction volume, is the real pot of gold.

Channel strategy consultant Frank Lynn and other experts suggest the evidence of how e-business will improve profitability is beginning to mount.

To "find the beef," Lynn points to:

• Point of sale data reporting from distributors to suppliers. While many distributors are reluctant to provide this data, Lynn says it is the "e-commerce gold" that will enable suppliers to set their production schedules closer to customer demand. How distributors will benefit—and maybe get paid—for this is an open question.
• Online order status tracking. Potentially an area of significant cost savings for manufacturers, but Lynn says many firms don't know how much time their field reps spend tracking orders.
• Increased distributors' inventory turns. Lynn suggests that distributors can double their inventory turns using Web-based information systems. Home centers like Lowe's and Home Depot send daily inventory reports to their suppliers, which helps those companies schedule production runs, for example. As distributors send more inventory reports, Lynn suggests manufacturers will increasingly give functional discounts for both the distributors'inventory function and product support.
• Searchable electronic catalogs. A vital tool to help customers find product information, and one that distributors and suppliers may offer relatively easily.

Consultant Neil Gillespie suggests distributors should offer searchable product engines with a prominent 1-800 number available, so customers may connect with a live customer service rep after checking the catalog. "The Web does 90 percent of the sale," he says. In addition, distributors may benefit by requiring their unprofitable customers to order online, rather than using an inside sales person to place an order.

Steve Epner, another distribution technology consultant, points out several other digital tools that will help you conduct better business. These include marketing with e-mail "flashes" that link to product announcements; showing customers online pricing, availability and product configuration; and "e-everything else: online recruiting, training" and management tools.

In short, look for the Web's information handling capacity to deliver the best bang for your buck.

Ken Brack is the Web manager of Industrial Distribution.