As customers continue to seek more value-added products and services from their suppliers, distributors face pressure to add depth and insight to their already full portfolios. Although it’s a tall order, companies like Port Washington, New York-based Global Industrial have turned to vendors and their own private label products to fill in the gaps for customers.
Fortunately, when it comes to exclusive private branded products, Global Industrial has 40 years of experience to fall back on. The company recently unveiled some new and exciting offerings at its latest customer event in Memphis, Tennessee, last month — a trade show that enables key customers to get hands-on experience with new products, as well as talk with the company’s vendor partners, sales associates, product managers and executives.
This year, Global Industrial unveiled several new or updated products — some with tweaks invaluable to an industrial user and exclusive to Global Industrial. According to Steven Leeds, Global Industrial’s category manager, the company’s approach starts with customer needs and is “tailored to fit their environment.”
Recent trends towards electrification mean Global Industrial has added the Rechargeable Hot Swappable LiFePO4 Battery and a new 5000W Portable Power Station, both featuring modifications to traditional solutions to make them more mobile and reduce downtime for industrial users.
“Most of the portable battery-powered solutions out in the market are geared towards consumer or residential customer needs,” said Leeds. “When it comes to our industrial portable power stations, we’ve taken a big leap forward, allowing customers to take power throughout their facility or job-site. Our system has an incredibly rugged design, it’s stackable and supports up to 35,840Wh of power.”
Global Industrial also unveiled its biggest sweeper to date, with a 70 inch cleaning width – part of its exclusive Cat Floorcare line – as well as new tuggers for industrial material handling.
For Leeds, the trade show format brings tremendous value to the customer due to its face-to-face nature, especially as digital procurement becomes the status quo.
“Our traditional inside sales model is on the web or over the phone,” he said. “To have customers be able to touch and feel the product, especially when it’s just been introduced, is incredibly valuable for us.”
Trade Show Reveals Industry Trends
For Global Industrial CEO Barry Litwin, the benefits of in-person communication is a key aspect of the show, an event he says gets bigger each year.
“Having face-to-face is really important because we get uninterrupted time to really listen to things customers are trying to solve in their organizations,” explained Litwin. “We have the suppliers and the products there to be able to have an active conversation.”
It’s this type of problem-solving that produces tangible results, enhancing Global Industrial’s objectives of cultivating a workforce of “solutioneers.” Litwin adds that it seemed attendees were “in buying mode,” a characterization boost for an industry that’s struggled to capture the atmosphere of the current and coming year.
“I think companies are certainly in a phase of expansion,” he said, adding that the sentiment at the show reflected that “regardless of what the economic indicators are saying.”
In addition, Litwin feels that Global Industrial gains valuable insights from events like these about how to move forward as a company.
“Feedback from our supplier base is that we had a very, very energetic customer group, a lot of interest in our private brand products, as well as the key suppliers that we offer to our customers each day.
“It appears as though companies have opportunities for expansion,” he added. “I am also seeing a significant discussion around repair within facilities and updating equipment, as well as making sure from a PPE perspective that companies are staying in compliance, which requires consumables and maintenance-related products.”
