This Year’s Most-read Articles on Distribution Pricing Journal

As the year draws to a close, we want to take a moment to reflect on the journey we’ve shared with you. It’s been a year of dynamic shifts, evolving markets, and new challenges in the ever-complex world of distribution pricing. And through it all, you, our dedicated readers and supporters, have been with us every step of the way.

Thank you to our esteemed editorial board, whose expertise and guidance have steered us towards insightful and relevant content. And a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you, our subscribers, for your continued engagement and interest. Your passion for distribution pricing is what fuels our mission to deliver the most valuable and actionable insights to your inbox.

Of course, our most popular page of the year with several thousands of hits is our solutions page. If you are looking for new pricing, data, profitability and sales enablement solutions this year please visit our solutions guide to learn about our recommendations. 

THIS YEAR’S LEADING STORIES

Tips for Understanding Your Competitors’ Prices and Staying Ahead of Your Competition: In the distribution industry, competitive price intelligence can be a great source of insight. Understanding the pricing strategies of competitors can provide invaluable information about the market and how to best position one’s offerings. It is important to explore how competitive price scenarios can be used to inform decisions such as product positioning, value added services, price optimization, purchasing strategies and promotional offers. Read more > >

How Well Are You Managing Your Customer Pricing Contracts?: Many distributors create a special pricing contract for a customer to offer them more competitive prices than what is generally available in the market. This could help the customer gain a competitive edge while also ensuring that the distributor can still earn a fair profit. Additionally, offering custom pricing contracts helps build trust between the distributor and their customers, fostering stronger relationships and long-term loyalty.  Read more > >

Moving the Mundane to the Machine, and Much More: A topic that frequently piques the interest of our readers is the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on distribution pricing. Common questions about AI include: What are some areas where using AI can make pricing managers more effective and efficient? Will the adoption of AI lead to less human interactions? Can AI help strengthen my team’s analytical abilities?  Read more > >

Elevate Your Rebate Game with Technology: Rebates and incentives play a vital role in fostering relationships among customers, sales teams, vendors, and various trading partners. Many distributors manage their rebates through manual processes, general purpose software, or a combination of both. Unfortunately, rebate programs often involve substantial overhead, vary depending on customer contracts, and are frequently susceptible to risks and errors. Read more > >

Increasing Customer Purchase Volume to Boost Profitability: We’re always looking for ways to drive profitability. Experienced profit leaders in distribution know that this doesn’t always mean looking for ways to raise prices. Price level and sales engagement an affect volume in ways that drive higher profits as well. Increasing the volume of purchasing for individual customers is a great strategy for boosting frequency, profitability and adding to your bottom line. Read more > >

Don’t Let Data Migrations Derail Your Pricing Initiatives : Accurate data is critical in price optimization. You need a reliable set of historical data to accurately forecast profitable pricing scenarios. Unfortunately, a data migration to a new system can throw a wrench into your pricing data. You may see inaccurate, duplicate or missing data that can skew your pricing analysis. Read more > >

Can Distribution Pricing Managers Work Remotely?: The way we work has changed more in the three years since 2020 than it has in the 20 years prior. Even distribution companies – long held up as examples of companies who require large amounts of on-premise work – have turned to remote and hybrid work for certain types of employees. Remote work was once only the domain of a select few job titles but now it has gone mainstream. Read more > >

The Big Guide to Timing Your Mass Price Updates: As you know, we’re big proponents of using price optimization solutions to keep your pricing continuously updated and optimized. But there are many reasons why distributors might go through occasional mass price updates: e-commerce platforms, catalog publications, new product line introductions and more. Here is a big guide filled with factors you should consider along with insights into how to determine frequency around mass price updates. Read more > >

How Defining Your Processes for Special Pricing Agreements Can Improve Margins and Drive Profitability : Sometimes you need some extra help closing strategic customers. That’s where Special Pricing Agreements (SPAs) come into play. SPAs are a common vendor program that provide a special framework for offering exclusive pricing and incentives to strategic customers. Distributors collaborate with suppliers to create custom pricing arrangements that strengthen ties between manufacturers, distributors, and strategic customers. Read more > >

Distribution Pricing Journal Archive: Second only to our solution guide in reader views was our archive page for our quarterly journal. The journal is published in PDF format and is a wellspring of original content centered on pricing, optimization, data analytics, sales, and marketing in the distribution landscape.    Read more > >

With warmest wishes for a prosperous and insightful New Year

These are just a glimpse of the valuable knowledge and insights shared on the pages of Distribution Pricing Journal this year. We encourage you to explore our extensive archive and discover even more articles packed with expert insights and practical takeaways.

As we turn the page to a new year, we remain committed to providing you with the best possible resources and fostering a vibrant community of distribution pricing professionals. Thank you for being a part of the journey.

Wishing you a successful and prosperous 2024!

Sincerely,

The Distribution Pricing Journal Team