CE Pro July 2021 - 28

CE PRO DISTRIBUTORS GUIDE 2021
Operations
PowerHouse Alliance
member Pioneer Music
Company recently opened
a new Chicago warehouse
location.
demic. We launched a series
of upgrades that enhanced
the online shopping experience
for customers and is
delivering significant impact.
For example, customers can
now place an order directly
from our website or mobile
app and select an option
to pick up the order from a
secure locker after hours or
over the weekend. Additionally,
customers can visit our
website and easily request a
quote online from a salesperson.
The quote is emailed
to them and available in
their account menu, where
they can easily convert the
quote to an order for seamless
purchasing - it's that
easy. This feature is extremely
popular with customers
and has already resulted in
several large project orders
from both our existing and
new customers. Overall, our
global ecommerce customer
usage continues to increase
and was up over 32% YOY in
Q1 and ecommerce revenue
increased by more than 59%
YOY in Q1. We expect these
28 | CE Pro July 2021
results to continue to grow
as we roll out even more
features including a more
robust search tool and our
new Mobile App that will
make finding and purchasing
products from ADI fast and
easy for customers, whether
they are at the office, on
a job site or on the road.
And we are implementing a
Product Information Management
(PIM) tool to enrich
product descriptions and
specifications, and incorporating
AI to provide cross sell
and upsell opportunities.
HELGE FISCHER,
Executive Director, Catalyst
AV: That communication,
training and listening are
more important than ever.
That the relationships our
network of distributors have
been cultivating for years, are
now more important than
ever. You have to be able to
count on the people you do
business with to support you!
KEVIN LUTHER,
Owner, BlackWire Designs:
BlackWire learned how to be
really flexible and work with
what we have. The majority
of our staff were already
working remotely but we had
to really work on keeping the
warehouse flowing, especially
when bigger orders needed
to ship out. Keeping in touch
with our customers through
email and social media was
also key. We kept our email
marketing light-hearted but
respectful, which was tough
during the early parts of the
pandemic; we made sure
our dealers knew about PPP
loans and how to apply for
them; we shipped out masks
for installers with all of our
shipments (along with our
usual handful of snacks that
ships with every order!).
Overall, our biggest lesson
learned was just to listen and
adjust.
CE Pro: Which product
categories are you most
bullish on for 2021, and
why?
HOLZER: I expect to
see continued growth and
success in the outdoor,
networking, surveillance, and
display categories. Without
question, the networking
category has had a major
impact on the industry. As
consumers continue to make
entertainment and home
office upgrades within their
residences, they'll look to
networking products to support
the expanding lineup of
connected devices. The ability
to work and learn from
home will remain important
throughout the year so I expect
to see the networking
category continue to grow
in 2021.
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CE Pro July 2021

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