Scott Adams
Amazon isn’t coming to healthcare – they are already here
Last month, I wrote about a trend I am seeing where manufacturers are returning to you, the distribution sales rep, a place that has made the best of the best successful for decades. I believe this is happening for multiple reasons, but one specifically stands out – your relationship with the practice.
Recently, I read an article in The Wall Street Journal titled: “Amazon Targets Hospital Supplies.” News flash, Amazon has been doing that for almost a decade.
As I travel around the country talking with suppliers (both manufacturers and distributors), I love discussing Amazon, because everyone has an opinion on whether they will be successful or not. Some have high hopes for Amazon, some try and fight them, some are afraid of them, and some just shrug them off and say they will never be able to break in to this space. My opinion is simple, Amazon has found its way into the healthcare space and will continue to grow. They also focus on one important thing – the buyer – and his or her buying experience.
Amazon is here to stay. However, I do not believe Amazon will displace distribution.
Everyone in the industry will get better at determining what the provider needs and making it easier to buy products. Which doesn’t mean offering the lowest price. In many cases, the products being bought on Amazon today are higher priced than if they were bought on a GPO contract or an LVC. People are not buying from Amazon to save money, they are buying because of convenience. Suppliers today must wrap their mind around this fact. The trap of convenience shapes all our buying patterns.
This ties in to the trend I mentioned at the beginning of this letter. Manufacturers are returning to you because of your relationships. The same is true as to why not everyone will switch to Amazon. The relationships you maintain in your accounts, combined with an ease of doing business, (the second part relies heavily on what your organization is doing to make purchasing convenient), will continue to keep the manufactures coming back to you and your customers buying from you. Never underestimate the power of relationships, and the value you bring both upstream and downstream in the supply chain.
From Repertoire and the Suppliers who advertise in this magazine we see huge value in you, thank you for all you do every day!
Dedicated to the industry!
Scott Adams