Digitalization is a very important topic not only in the chemical industry as a whole, but also in chemical distribution. As Wolfgang Falter states in his article: Customers increasingly search online and initiate digital contacts via websites, social networks, search engines and commercial platforms. Those distributors that they do not find online are no longer present in the relevant markets.

This development has led to many discussions within the chemical distribution industry on how best to address the issue of digitalization.

CHEManager asked executives and industry experts familiar with the development of e-commerce in chemical distribution to share their opinion on what needs to be done in order to survive in an increasingly competitive environment and how to deal with a possible disruption caused by new digital developments. We wanted to know:

Will e-commerce platforms in chemical distribution be more successful today than CheMatch, ChemSystems, ChemConnect et. al. were 20 years ago?

Who in the chemical supply chain from principal to distributor, logistics provider, online retailer, start-up to customer will be winners/losers in online distribution?

What do you (either alone or with partners) plan regarding online distribution?

 

Bharat Bhardwaj: It is unquestionable that there is a movement towards online purchasing in the B2B world. The benefits of B2C online consumerism have left their mark on buyers and many now expect some of the benefits, such as real time price comparison, delivery tracking and order monitoring, to be available from their normal B2B suppliers.

At Noahs Ark Chemicals, we aim to stay ahead of the competition and offer our customers the level of service which they have come to expect from large companies such as Amazon when they place any order online, but in the business environment. To permit this, we are planning to offer a bespoke online portal to our customers, allowing them to interact with us online as a complement to our existing way of operating.   "The Chemical World is Becoming
Increasingly Ready for the Digital Change" Bharat Bhardwaj, CEO, Noahs Ark Chemicals   We have been distributing chemicals for over 18 years and realize that in order to win business, it is becoming increasingly important to offer a service to your customers above and beyond what they may be able to get elsewhere. On our online platform, customers will be able to request real-time pricing information and stock availability, as well as being able to track orders. This is all in addition to the usual service provided by business managers. We firmly believe that with more and more millennials becoming decision makers in large companies, the first successful movers in this digital space will have a huge competitive edge. Customers will already have been trained and be familiar with online services, and even expectant of services which are still not typically provided in the B2B chemical world. We hope to set ourselves apart by embracing this digital change, which the chemical world is becoming increasingly ready for.