With the exponential growth of e-commerce sales, independent distributors embrace innovation in order to maintain a viable spot in the industrial marketplace. Independent Distributors Cooperative-USA has made large adjustments to its business model and has invested significantly to increase their relevance in this digital age, the largest of which being the launch of IDC Marketplace in June of 2016. This endeavor is a testament to successful innovation, leading to large increases in both purchases and participation over the past year.
Bob Boyle, Executive Vice President of IDC-USA, explains the benefits IDC Marketplace brings: “The vision behind IDC Marketplace is forward-thinking,” stated Boyle. “This is true e-commerce exchange between our members and suppliers with tremendous back-end functionality. The ability for members to transact with a large number of suppliers on one central site makes business easier, and we have added real cost savings to the process for all parties.”
This shift to e-commerce has completely changed IDC-USA’s value proposition to both its members and supplier partners. “IDC Marketplace is a real game-changer in our industry. We have electronically connected all of our member companies with our participating Preferred Supplier partners, making the entire procurement process easier and more cost effective,” asserted George Graham, President and CEO of IDC-USA.
An innovative 2017 brought increased member purchases from Preferred Supplier programs — particularly those with stores on IDC Marketplace. Overall, IDC-USA reports that member purchases from their Preferred Supplier programs increased 10.1 percent in 2017. Furthermore, Preferred Supplier programs that have implemented stores on IDC Marketplace increased 19.2 percent.
Graham attributes the altered value proposition to this growth. “When you streamline the procurement process, from quoting, to ordering, to invoicing, there comes a natural migration of higher spending levels to those suppliers,” he offered. “We could not be more pleased than to see our supporting supplier partners experience growth rates with our member companies that far outpace industry levels.”
This digital shift leaves IDC-USA executives, Owner-Distributors, and Preferred Suppliers optimistic about the future of the cooperative. After a prosperous 2017, IDC-USA aims to expand IDC Marketplace’s footprint in order to bring added value to more members and Preferred Supplier partnerships throughout the coming year.
