Would Amazon Provide More Value Than Anixter For Security Products Distribution?

JH
John Honovich
Feb 08, 2017
IPVM

Interesting comment from a member in the boycott Anixter post:

The value Anixter/Tried/Accutech offer to the manufacturers is logistics, but there is one company far better at this. If I were a manufacturer I would pay Amazon to handle stock. I am sure the manufacturers could work with Amazon to create preferred and project pricing options for each integrator that are not visible to the public at large. Amazon Business is slowly heading this way now. It is nice to receive text updates when equipment arrives, have actual tracking without asking, receive RMAs easily, and have some visibility into stock levels.

What do you think? Amazon Business is not there yet but is advancing. Could you see them getting there? Would you want them to get there?

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Feb 08, 2017

I deal primarily with AlarmMax, which I love. They have never screwed up an order and have been very good to us. 

One thing I like about ADI is their online shopping because I can see the product(some of the time) and can find things that I otherwise would not through AlarmMax because I cannot browse. 

That Being said, ADI SUCKS. I recently bought a bunch of small things from them, canned air, tape, 1 camera, couple other things, all from the same branch, and they shipped from 3 different locations and charged more for shipping than most of the product was worth. 

That also being said, I love amazon and I can very easily see them taking a heavy chunk from this market because they are highly predictable and searching for product is easy. 

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Sal Visone
Feb 13, 2017
DWG • IPVMU Certified

Do you purchase from 3rd part sellers, or just sold by Amazon products?  Is there an inherited risk with 3rd party in not getting the correct version/model, because there is more difficult control of the amazon website specs, and less direct easy control with the supplier?

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RS
Robert Shih
Feb 08, 2017
Independent

So, is the plan just to create a uniform supply chain without variation that has no real technical knowledge of the product they sell? Is tech support to be handled purely by the manufacturers from here on out?

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JH
John Honovich
Feb 08, 2017
IPVM

Is tech support to be handled purely by the manufacturers from here on out?

You are assuming ADI and Anixter provide significant tech support currently, which most would agree is not the case.

Your company and LTS, etc., are a different model than the big box security distributors. If you buy an Axis or Hikvision camera at ADI or Anixter, 99/100, you're calling Axis or Hikvision support directly.

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Ross Vander Klok
Feb 08, 2017
IPVMU Certified

Amazon is also starting to send actual Amazon employees (depending on your market) to your house to advise and assist on home automation.  So my guess is this is also touching on the Security side quite a bit.  Cameras, locks, alarm systems, etc.  You can check it out here, but you have to sign in.  If they have their own staff doing this I would imagine the tech support is already there or about to be there.

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Ross Vander Klok
Feb 08, 2017
IPVMU Certified
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Feb 08, 2017

Why I buy from Amazon Business...I have a dozen or so lists of small components we purchase regularly that are about the same price at Amazon compared to ADI. If the price point is close, I always chose Amazon even if Amazon is a little more expensive. It's easier to navigate their website, order, and track. Returns are also easier. Most big distributors have terrible websites that lack good search engines. If you go to Super Circuits, Nelly's, LTS and some of the smaller guys, you can see how much better their websites are. Why can't the larger distributors figure this out? ADI has the distribution resources if only the website was better, it was easier to order, and the backend tracking was rock solid. I have been waiting for 3 weeks for a part with no update! I call in, and someone needs to check with someone and then call me back!  ADI has lost considerable business from us over the last few years and will continue to lose business unless something seriously changes. They need to go hire a bunch of developers to build all new software for the branches, distribution centers, and the website. I realize this isnt cheap but they've got to do it. From when I understand the local branch numbers in our area are way down right now...

To answer your question, Amazon already offers more value. 

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Feb 09, 2017
If you find the ADI website challenging try any other distributor . They either do not exist or are poorly created, except Ingram Micro who has it decently together.
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Jon Dillabaugh
Feb 08, 2017
Pro Focus LLC

I buy anything from Amazon that is manufacturer approved. If the manufacturer will not honor a warranty due to buying from Amazon, then I source appropriately. Amazon is my #1 source today due to super fast, reliable, free shipping and the pricing is about on par with distributors, or sometimes less. 

As for ADI shipping fees, I had the same issue. I called my rep and it was handled quickly. They refunded the exorbitant shipping fees. It's not my fault you only have one unit per location and I needed 7. No way I am paying 7 shipping charges.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Feb 09, 2017
I agree with all of the above. The one item I found impressive about Amazon is that the one time I did have an issue with mangled billing (pertaining to credits) over $200 in product I called them and they seemed so eager to just resolve the issue instantly that they credited me $400. I believe their model is so focused on minimal support personnel that they have discovered it is cheaper to just pay out on the issue rather than invest personnel time on fighting it out.
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U
Undisclosed #4
Feb 10, 2017

My last job used to require the customer service agents to get a manager's approval for any credits or refunds. But they only had four managers on duty at any one time, which meant that sometimes there'd be long lines of customer service agents waiting to speak to the managers. Then, they instituted a new policy whereby any agent could decide whether or not to issue a credit or refund up to $20.

Shockingly, for a company so in love with bureaucracy and hierarchical systems and chains of command, agents were given little guidance beyond "use common sense, don't waste the company's money on every whiner who calls in to complain, but remember that you get paid by the hour, so if you argue with a customer for half an hour to save us a dollar, we end up losing anyway".

And it worked! Call times went way down, customer satisfaction went up (measured by the amount of customers who called to complain returning later to order again), and everybody was happy. The morale of the customer service department went up, because they weren't spending their whole day arguing with customers over five dollars (although I don't know how much my last company cared about employee morale, to be frank). And the managers didn't have to spend their entire day approving little BS refunds and were able to do other things such as approve days off, shuffle schedules, coach customer service agents, handle payroll and benefits issues, and do all the other million things managers at that company were supposed to do. 

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Sal Visone
Feb 13, 2017
DWG • IPVMU Certified

Just looking at this objectively, why is it acceptable for Amazon to sell to anyone under the sun with a credit card, but taboo for Anixter to get into projects.  At least with Anixter I would think there is a communication chain of some sort, where they can back off, if a customer of theirs is already in it.  A real actual chance of continuous business relationship, no?

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Ethan Ace
Feb 13, 2017

The biggest reason in my mind, and I've heard at least a few others say it, is that Anixter says they don't sell direct, but there have been numerous cases of them actually doing it. Amazon makes no such claim. We all know what to expect from them: pretty much nothing but warehousing and shipping. 

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Avatar
Sal Visone
Feb 13, 2017
DWG • IPVMU Certified

Yes, I see that perspective, they should just be clear and up front about it.  Explain their strategy.  I guess they are scared of doing that, but instead come across as shady.

"..We all know what to expect from them: pretty much nothing but warehousing and shipping..." 

I disagree with this.  Web hosting companies thought the same thing.  So did electronics manufacturers.  So did wholesalers.  Soon will integrators, when the are offering full on out residential and commerical integration services?

Maybe the best defense is to load up on Amazon stock.

 

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #5
Feb 13, 2017

Amazon offers a lot more value in that it's easy and quick to place and track orders. Buying through most of the big distributors usually requires a lot of effort on our part to manage the orders and to make sure we get them in a timely manner. That's time that should be spent supporting our customers. 

We usually don't use ADI's website because we've heard its up to our branch manager to process it before anything happens so if that one person doesn't have time, our order isn't processed and is delayed. We've seen web orders not processed for as long as a few days. Then we've also received opened/used products, wrong products, charged more than we were supposed to, etc which takes more time to go and get ADI to fix. It's funny, whenever there is a mistake it costs us more and never costs ADI. Sadly, many of the other bigger distributors don't even have websites to use. 

These distributors continue to say they are "Value Added" distributors, but all we see is that they add value for the manufacture but cost us time and money. 

I'm waiting to see a distributor make a deal with amazon to deal with their physical distribution. The distributor can focus on the brands and relationships, and amazon can get you the products. 

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JH
John Honovich
Feb 13, 2017
IPVM

We usually don't use ADI's website because we've heard its up to our branch manager to process it before anything happens so if that one person doesn't have time, our order isn't processed and is delayed.

ADI responded:

The order processing is totally automated and requires no human intervention, except in two cases

  1. Insufficient inventory in the closest branches or hubs to complete the order – sales person or manager should reach out to customer to determine if they can wait for shipment from a more distant location or from manufacturer or select another product. This issue represents most manual processing.
  2. Credit Hold – as we extend credit to many customers, if their order is in excess of credit or their account is on hold due to missing payments, again a sales person or manager would reach out to try and resolve the issue to complete the order. This happens much more rarely, but can be a reason for the manual intervention.
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #5
Feb 13, 2017

Well our experience doesn't show this at all. We kept having orders that weren't being processed for a day or two and others that would come from the larger hubs instead of 3-5 other locations that were much closer and have the products in stock. When we called to ask why, this was the explanation we were given. 

maybe their "Insufficient inventory" is too high for most of their products, i don't know. I just know when we tried ordering online, it never when smooth. 

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