Wayne, Pennsylvania-based AD announces the passing of a milestone, the normalization and attribution of more than 3 million SKUs representing more than 2,000 manufacturers now available to the 186 AD subscribing members, 61 of which are now live with digital branches using AD-produced content and another 20 will be launching digital branches later this year.

Jack Templin, president AD Industrial Divisions and chief programs officer said: “Now that our catalog boasts more than 3 million SKUs, we truly are leveling the playing field for the independent distributor. Our SKU count is now twice as large as many national chains in our industries.

“AD’s economies of scale enable us to buy SKU production capacity rather than a pay-per-SKU model. We pass that savings onto our members so they only pay pennies-per-SKU. Thanks to the continual help we receive from our member-led product expert taskforces and steering committees we always are working to improve our SKU quality.”

“Content always will be king in the online world,” said Suchit Bachalli, CEO of Unilog, AD’s partner in SKU production.  “Distributors who leverage the AD eContent product catalog have a distinct advantage – they can provide customers with greater depth of product information than competing B2B eCommerce sites.”

Evan Gilbert, president of Quality Mill Supply, shared: “AD helped us get online faster and more affordably than we ever could have done otherwise. If we were doing this on our own it would be a massive amount of time to normalize SKUs from all of our supplier partners. AD eCommerce Solutions allows us to do exactly what we do best, which is focus on the customer.”

In addition to normalized and attributed SKUs, the AD eCommerce Solutions program offers AD members fully integrated WebStore options and one-on-one consultative support.

“The eCommerce support and solutions we’ve received from AD have helped State Electric compete on a level playing field with the big players without needing a small army to get it done,” said Dave Gravely, VP eCommerce and strategic sales at State Electric.

Michael Abeling, president of Consumers Pipe & Supply Co., shared: “AD has done some of the heavy lifting that we couldn’t do for ourselves, putting us in a position to succeed in an increasingly competitive eCommerce arena. With their help, our digital platform is robust and ready to grow.”