A monthly blog series spotlighting the innovative solutions, people, and partnerships powering B2B digital transformation—one partnership at a time.
As the wholesale distribution industry evolves, the line between B2B and B2C experiences is blurring and that’s not a bad thing. For many distributors, what matters most today isn’t just product availability or price; it’s responsiveness, convenience, and ease of doing business. That shift is what makes mobile engagement tools such a powerful lever for growth.
To explore this shift, I sat down with Pierre Barbeau, Co-Founder & CEO of Moblico, whose team has spent years helping distributors modernize how they communicate, automate, and engage. Our conversation wasn’t about technology for technology’s sake; it was about the structural changes happening in B2B commerce and how mobile engagement can help distributors adapt.
From Fragmented Channels to Unified Communication: Why It Matters
Many distributors still manage communication through a patchwork of tools: personal cell phones, shared email inboxes, chat apps, siloed CRMs, and more. According to Pierre, that fragmentation is one of the biggest hidden inhibitors to service and sales today.
“Distributors don’t lose business because they don’t care,” Pierre told me. “They lose business because communication falls through the cracks. When messages are spread across devices and apps, nobody has the full picture.”
Moblico’s unified messaging model consolidates SMS, text, email, chat, and WhatsApp into one shared team inbox. The benefit is less about the software itself and more about what it enables. That shift from “who manages this message?” to “anyone can respond, and it’s tracked” is more than convenience. It’s a structural improvement. For distributors working with contractors or technicians who are on the move, it means:
- Faster responses, even when staff are out in the field.
- No longer relying on personal phones — so communication becomes a company asset, not an 24/7 burden on individuals.
- Consistent thread history and context, so teams aren’t scrambling to piece together conversations.
“Customers judge you on responsiveness,” Pierre said. “When communication is slow or inconsistent, trust erodes; even if everything else you’re doing is excellent.”
Unified communication isn’t just operational efficiency. It’s customer experience modernization
Mobile Ordering & Automation: Reducing Friction and Risk
For many contractors and customers in distribution, purchasing by mobile isn’t just a convenience, it’s becoming a preference. Wholesalers that fail to support that preference can miss out entirely.
Moblico supports branded mobile apps, hybrid mobile frameworks, and order-automation tools that help distributors meet customers where they are — on their phones.
Beyond just enabling mobile ordering, tools like OrderAssist AI and ProAssist AI convert unstructured inputs – texts, emails, chats, WhatsApp messages, directly into structured workflows: quotes, orders, returns, warranty requests.
Pierre put it simply:
“If your customer can send a text but can’t easily place that order, you’re making them work too hard. Distributors need to remove friction, not create it.”
That may sound technical, but the impact is simple and concrete: fewer data-entry errors, faster order processing, and less frustration for both customers and staff. For distributors operating across multiple channels, that automation can easily save hours every day.
“A lot of distributors still underestimate how valuable convenience is,” Pierre added. “Mobile-first is no longer a personal preference — it’s a business expectation.”
Personalization & Targeted Engagement: Treating Customers Like People
In B2B, relationships matter. Distributors often compete not just on price, but on reliability, speed, and experience. Distributors have been sending email blasts for decades, but customers have become increasingly selective about what they open—and what they don’t. Mobile engagement platforms unlock new ways to nurture those relationships.
Pierre sees this as a major opportunity for the industry:
“When communication is relevant, customers welcome it. When it’s generic, they ignore it. Personalization is the difference.”
With features like targeted broadcast messaging, in-app push notifications, and loyalty/reward programs, distributors can send relevant, timely, and personalized communications to customer segments based on behavior, history, and preferences.
One example: a distributor using Moblico’s broadcast messaging reportedly saw a 372% increase in units sold during a promotional campaign.
That’s not about aggressive marketing; it’s about smart, permission-based engagement that adds value for customers. Whether it’s a promotional offer, a reorder reminder, or an update on inventory availability, mobile tools offer a high-reach, high-impact channel.
“Distributors have good intentions,” Pierre said, “but without data-driven targeting, messages feel random. When you send something relevant, it feels like you’re paying attention.”
Operational Gains: Efficiency, Transparency, and Scalability
The benefits of mobile engagement tools aren’t limited to sales or marketing. Distributors are seeing gains across operations, customer service, and back-office workflows.
- Automated notifications — for order pickup, delivery status, inventory updates, or even store hours — keep customers informed without manual effort.
- Internal workflows (sales, support, dispatch, accounting) become more streamlined when all communication channels feed into a unified, trackable system.
- With everything in one platform, IT overhead goes down. Teams avoid “technology soup,” that confusing patchwork of point solutions, spreadsheets, and manual processes. As one distributor put it, they moved “from zero to 100 miles per hour” in mobile-enabled engagement.
Pierre summarized it well:
“Technology shouldn’t complicate your business. It should simplify it. When communication gets easier, everything else gets easier too.”
What This Means for Distributors Today
The digital expectations of buyers, even in B2B, have changed. What used to feel “nice to have” (instant messaging, mobile ordering, push notifications) now increasingly feels essential.
Distributors that embrace mobile engagement tools on a structural level—not as add-ons, but as a core part of operations—stand to gain:
- Faster response times and more reliable communication
- Reduced friction and errors in order processing
- Closer, more personalized relationships with customers
- Higher conversion and better use of marketing/promotional opportunities
- Greater internal efficiency and lower operational complexity
Ultimately, this isn’t just about technology. It’s about building trust. It’s about delivering consistency.
Pierre offered a final thought that captures the moment perfectly:
“If distributors want better customer relationships, they need better customer communication. And better communication starts with meeting people where they already are — on their phones.”
If more distributors begin to regard mobile engagement as central, not optional, we’ll likely see a shift in the industry: one where customer experience, responsiveness, and convenience shape success just as much as price and product availability.
