Electrical Industry Roundtable 2014 - 22

" I wont to ask
what you think the
traditional full-line
model might look
like in fi ve years? "
standard channel. To answer the question, I would say 'yes'
because distributors are already adapting. We're seeing
distributors now focusing on e-Commerce and trying to create
new departments with more specialized people-either in
lighting or solutions.
CHAMNEY: Th ey have to provide real value. Th ey are going
to have to be a mass-customized solutions provider. For years,
manufacturers have been talking about this mass
customization to be able to create some thing out of all the
small parts and make it specialized. Distributors have to do the
same thing with the entire solutions package.
KERR: So that's the tool they have to focus on to defend their
share? If the full-line distributor is the primary channel in
Canada today will they will have to continue to evolve based
on customer needs. As long as they can evolve and adapt to the
market, I think it will continue that way. So is it fair to say that
some of the takeaways from this discussion is that we've got to
get more engineering specifi c, develop that expertise and we
need to think a little bit more about online opportunities? Are
those the two big things to your point?
CHAMNEY: Online is part of the solution.
Financing is part of the solution.
McCARTEN: Is it possible that Amazon could
become a full-line distributor down the road?
SYER: I think they are today in many ways...
John Kerr.
SENCICH: I think it has to be kept in mind
that the market is dynamic, like Newton's law:
for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. So if the distributor evolves to react
to the marketplace, then other competitors in
the marketplace, for example Amazon, will evolve as well.
Th e evolu tion is continuous, it just can't stop. We all have to
keep adapting to the continuous changing market dynamics.
Whoever stops evolving is going to be leſt behind.
KERR: So what is the big threat to the traditional channel now?
Do we have one that everyone thinks is the big threat?
22
Canadian Electrical Wholesaler JUNE 2014
www.electricalwholesaler.electricalindusrty.ca
http://www.electricalwholesaler.electricalindusrty.ca
Electrical Industry Roundtable 2014

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