Industry sales rose 0.8% in July after June’s revised large decline, with gains across most product categories. Inventories increased even faster, but remain lean relative to sales compared with a year ago. Get our full...
The first two articles in this series looked at the cost-to-price lag — in isolation. As explained here in the conclusion, the full picture is bigger: a single vendor cost increase actually triggers three separate...
We published news about nearly three dozen different deals in August involving at least one industrial distributor. Get our rundown of all of them, along with our updated monthly deal count and breakdown of year-to-date...
Recent NAW survey results and independent case studies show that understanding the days-long gap between supplier cost increases and pricing response can help distributors feel more confident in protecting margins. The second in this three-part...
AI agents can quickly inflate costs and amplify risk when every task uses the same model. This article shows how intelligent model routing, firm guardrails and human oversight can help distributors scale AI responsibly while...
Distribution deal activity remains resilient, but buyers are applying greater scrutiny to margins, recurring revenue and competitive differentiation. PMCF’s Joe Wagner explains which assets are commanding premiums, how acquisition priorities are changing and what prospective...
The 2Q26 NAW-Baird Industrial Distribution Survey reveals what distributors are most excited — and most concerned — about over the next 12 months, from demand recovery to geopolitical uncertainty.
Construction estimates often fail because labor, pricing, freight and lead-time assumptions become outdated before purchasing begins. This article explains how distributors can provide the real-time market intelligence, transparent quotes and delivery planning customers need to...
After five straight considerable upward revisions to the industry’s 2026 revenue outlook, our latest Forecast was comparatively quiet at the top line. Oil & Gas gave back some of its recent surge, but broad upgrades...
June wholesale sales gave back most of May’s gain, but remained 14.1% above a year earlier as inventories edged higher. The monthly pullback was concentrated in oil and gas, while sales across the rest of...
NAW Research suggests manufacturers want distributors to communicate more and plan more strategically. Distributors, meanwhile, are asking for many of the same things from suppliers. Explore commentary from both sides in the latest 2Q26 NAW-Baird...
Amazon will automatically reimburse customers in limited cases where it can trace tariff charges to specific purchases. New disclosures from Grainger and Global Industrial show that sizable refunds are also reaching industrial distributors and materially...
