Within only four years of its launch, AD announced its 100^th member now is live on its eCommerce platform, powered by AD eContent Service.

AD, the Wayne, Pennsylvania-based member-owned contractor and industrial products wholesale buying and marketing group, launched the initiative in 2016 to support members along the complex journey of creating their digital presence, developing and refining content, setting up web storefronts, getting expert consultation and partnering with expert service providers, AD explained. AD’s eCommerce program is one more way to help independent distributors stay competitive and relevant, it added.

Starting with 200,000 stock-keeping units or SKUs at the program’s launch, AD’s eCommerce program now supports 4.8 million SKUs across eight divisions.

The 100th member distinction goes to Winkle Electric Co., celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

“Winkle Electric Company designed our new site based on customer feedback, making our digital branch one that is easy to use,” Winkel Director Larry Teaberry Jr. said. “The site enables buyers to easily find the products they are looking for, compare and buy as well as self-service actions such as request a quote, print an invoice, or purchase past products.”

One of AD eCommerce’s strategic partners is Unilog Content Solutions, a global technology company specializing in business-to-business eCommerce and product data management. Its flagship product is CIMM2, a software platform designed to facilitate commerce and communication between businesses.

Winkel Director Larry Teaberry said: ”With over 250,000 products live on Unilog’s CIMM2 platform, we created a usable and customer-friendly site that allows our sales team to focus on more strategic sales.”

Instrumental in AD reaching this milestone, Unilog product content services provides robust categorized, updated and enhanced product data following AD data governance standards, the buying group explained. The eContent offering covers over 10,000 unique category-specific attributes, with 92% complete with images.

Unilog CEO Suchit Bachalli said: “It is very gratifying to see how impactful this program has been to the AD community. Combining the power of rich product data with a strong

eCommerce platform is the fastest way to level the playing field against national wholesalers and big box retailers. We look forward to serving this community with newer technology offerings in the coming months and years.”
With eCommerce trending as an increasingly preferred method for researching and purchasing in the business-to-business arena, AD’s initiative continues to help its members modernize their digital strategy in an efficient way with the help of a team of experts, it noted.
In terms of the program’s scale, AD invests more than $5 million annually in the program for its participants and dedicates a team of more than a dozen full-time AD associates in roles such as product experts, member services, and content governance, all there to assist member companies in building and enhancing their digital presence.

AD Chairman and CEO Bill Weisberg said the program adds tremendous value for members.

“AD is all about helping our members have an advantage so they can win,” he said. “I’m so proud of the efforts of our whole team, our members, supplier partners and associates, who are all-in to make sure this initiative – and our members - succeed.”

Jack Templin, president of the AD Industrial Business Unit and chief programs officer, talked about the meaning of this milestone for AD.

“This milestone underscores AD’s commitment to supporting our members’ growth objectives, “he said. “Our team has built a huge database of enriched and up-to-date product content that is optimized for search by users, organized for how customers make purchases, and includes all the comprehensive data they need to compare products and make purchases,” he said. “We’re thrilled to reach this milestone and are eager to help the next 100 members join the digital sales space. If you’re even considering it, I encourage you to reach out to our team.”