This content was posted on the Determine blog on April 23, 2019 Amazon recently announced that they will open a “traditional” grocery chain. This is in addition to their 2017 acquisition of Whole Food...

Big News – Art of Procurement Mastermind LIVE Fall is officially open for registrations! This event, which will take place on October 26th and 27th from 10am – 1pm ET, will give you all the tools you ...

Note: This post originally ran on Design News.

There’s an 800-pound gorilla in the room. It’s called Amazon. Yet not everyone sees it as inevitable that the e-commerce and distribution giant will dominate electronic component distribution.

In a recent interview with Tom Galligani, global vice president of supply chain for distributor Future Electronics, I asked for his views on Amazon’s invasion of the B2B space. Given the size and power of Amazon, you might expect distributors like Future Electronics to be prepared to be put out of business, but that is not the case. In fact, Amazon’s entry into the B2B marketplace creates a unique set of opportunities for buyers as well as suppliers or distributors.

Nevertheless, like others in the electronic components distribution industry and beyond, Galligani and his team are keeping a close eye on Jeff Bezos’ $90 billion e-commerce behemoth. Amazon may have gotten its start with an unbeatable B2C experience, but it has made inroads -- both organically and through acquisition -- into the B2B market.

I added nine new events to the calendar this week, and they are all taking place in the next three weeks – concentrated around just four dates. When you look at the full calendar, check out March 19, 26 and 28 and April 4.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘How to Tie Wellness Into Strategy’ from C-suite Network and Rx2Live on March 26th at 2pm ET. I don’t know much about either of the organizations associated with this event, and I honestly don’t know how I got on their mailing list, but the topic is refreshingly new. I know AI and transformation and machine learning are important, but its nice to have an alternative. As we turn the page to spring, we could all probably use a new bounce in our step by balancing our strategic performance with our holistic well-being.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

Procurement Leaders’ World Procurement Congress is ‘in session’ this week in London on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you’re looking for a virtual event to attend, my picks for the week’s best webinars are listed below. Click on the title of each webinar below to view the full description and register.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.