Amazon Effect’ Changing Customer Expectations of Manufacturers and Distributors

03.06.2015
Small Business

Supply chain management expert Lisa Anderson, president of LMA Consulting GroupSM, hypothesized that Amazon and companies like Amazon have had an impact on service demands for manufacturers and distributors.

In a recent study measuring the “Amazon Effect,” Anderson found that respondents ranked three areas where customer expectations have been impacted the most in the past three years: delivery/lead time, price negotiation and comparison, and pre-sale and post-sale service and support.

“For many of us in the manufacturing and distribution industry, these responses didn’t come as a complete surprise,” explains Anderson. “If there is one trend in common with all of my clients, it’s that customers have been demanding more for less: and quicker than ever before. Shortened lead times have become the standard for running a manufacturing or distribution company competitively.”

In addition, Anderson notes, “With the increased use of technology: customers want ordering, pricing, and delivery information online, up-to-the-minute, and available 24/7: much like [they get with] Amazon.”

Anderson believes that without a technology infrastructure that readily communicates sales and service information to customers, manufacturers and distributors will have a difficult time competing.

Two-thirds of manufacturers and distributors participating in Anderson’s study reported having to respond to the elevated service standards established by companies like Amazon.

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