“Everything is manual today.” We often hear this from distributors looking at new tools, alongside frustration that customers can’t find what they need on the website. What’s harder to know is how much business those problems cost them.
The American Supply Association (ASA) offers a sense of how widespread the problem is. In ASA’s Q4 market survey of 56 plumbing, heating, cooling, and PVF distributors, 52% said they’re losing business to online and eCommerce competitors, the top answer, ahead of big-box retailers (50%) and national distributors (46%). More than half (56%) said digital competitors are gaining share in their markets.
The same survey had good news. Half of respondents expect Q4 sales to grow, and only 4% expect a decline. Demand is there. The question is whether those orders come to you.
The short version
52% of distributors in ASA’s Q4 survey said they’re losing business to online and eCommerce competitors, the top answer. In our sales conversations, the same three problems come up again and again: no online channel, product data that isn’t ready, and an ERP that isn’t connected. Fix them in order: get customers ordering online, make sure what they see matches your ERP, then clean up the product data on your top sellers.
What It Costs
Lost online orders can be difficult to track. A contractor who can’t check stock or find a part number on your website at 9 p.m. may order from another supplier without ever telling you what went wrong.
In ASA’s survey, respondents named local relationships (91%) and customer service (89%) as the ways they stand apart on more than price. Digital ordering tools came in at 25%. Those relationships remain valuable. Giving customers a way to check stock and place orders after hours extends the service they already count on.
Where It Comes From
In our sales conversations with distributors and manufacturers over the past two years, the same few problems come up again and again.
There is no online channel yet. Among the accounts where we know which platform they run, about a third had no eCommerce platform at all.
The product data isn’t ready. Catalogs live in spreadsheets and descriptions get typed by hand. Incomplete product pages make it harder for buyers to find an item and confirm it’s the one they need.
The ERP isn’t connected. ERP integration was the topic buyers raised most. Without that connection, staff may have to retype web orders into the ERP. Pricing and availability can also fall out of date, leaving buyers to call for accurate information.
What to Fix First
You don’t need to fix everything at once. Start with three checks to find where customers may be having trouble.
- Search your own site like a customer. Take your 20 highest-volume items and look each one up by part number, by manufacturer, and by the name a contractor would use. Count how many return the right item with specs, availability, and the customer’s price.
- Ask your counter and inside sales teams how many calls a day are questions the website could answer: stock checks, spec confirmations, order status. That gives you a starting point for deciding which information to make easier to find online.
- Compare online activity by account. If a long-time customer’s order volume is dropping and they’ve never logged in, that’s worth a conversation this week.
Then fix things in order. If customers can’t order online at all, start there. If they can, make sure what they see matches your ERP: their pricing, current availability, and order status. Then clean up the product data on your top sellers so buyers have the details they need to place an order.
Where Unilog Fits
Winning those orders back takes distributor eCommerce that works the way your customers buy, supported by accurate product data.
With CX1 eCommerce, your customers can see their own pricing and current availability through an online ordering channel connected to your ERP. They can also reorder and check order status without picking up the phone. CX1 Product Content provides enriched, sell-ready product data without requiring you to build a content team to produce it. This connected product content and commerce approach helps customers get the information they need to order from you.
Shearer Supply, an HVAC distributor in Farmers Branch, Texas, doubled its online average order value on CX1 eCommerce. Read the Shearer Supply story.
For more on how buyers research before they call, read The Sale Starts Without You. For ways to bring existing customers online, see How to Increase B2B Online Ordering Adoption, and to decide what to track, see The B2B eCommerce KPIs & Metrics That Matter In 2026.
Make it easier for customers to place their next order with you. Get started with Unilog.
