In the book, The Wholesale Distribution Customer Speaks, author Mark Dancer commented, “Customers often told us that they preferred to buy from their local supplier. They had heard about the dot-coms and were aware that online buying was — at least at one time in recent history — supposed to be all the rage, but said that the distributor down the street had always been there for them.
“Moreover, these distributors understood the customer’s business. The customer knew the distributor’s sales people, counter people and, in many cases, all its officers. They knew who to go to for advice and who to go to when a problem needed to be solved. Why would they consider changing?”