Driven: Simplifying Commerce for Distributors DCKAP

On this episode of Driven, our very special guest knows what it takes to drive success, having led their company to becoming the 2023 Top Rated Ecommerce Platform. Brent Bellm, CEO of BigCommerce, joins the Founder & CEO of DCKAP, Karthik Chidambaram, for a fascinating deep dive into what it takes to compete, lead, and succeed in the often saturated world of eCommerce technology. 

From his humble background and learned experiences, to his business savvy and forward thinking strategies, Brent shares how he targets competitors, manages evolution, and the position BigCommerce takes in the market. His insights will show that, while many companies might execute well or have a great culture as a pillar of their success, alone it is not as effective, and strategy is one of the most important things that helped BigCommerce to really thrive.

This episode of the DRIVEN Podcast features great insights into the National Association of Electronic Distribution: an over hundred-year effort towards the continued success of the industry. Hear from Edward Orlet, Interim CEO, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs & Strategic Projects, and Satya Sanivarapu, Technology Director, Digital Distribution Supply Chain as they share more about the association's purpose, its mission for the near future and how NAED helps distributors better navigate the technology best suited for their challenges.

Kevin Kalish is the Vice President of Business Development at Sunrise Electric Supply. With a strong background in data-driven software development, he oversees sales management and digital solutions that help support their customers in electrical distribution.

In this insightful interview with Karthik Chidambaram, Founder & CEO of DCKAP, Kevin talks about the journey he’s taken in his career, the importance of data in distribution, and how tech plays a critical role in ecommerce, helping to improve sales and elevate customer success.

Kicking off the new season of Driven is our special guest, Lisa Pope, President at Epicor, to join us for a deep dive into her career and the focus and strategy that drives her success.

Before her role at Epicor, Lisa’s impressive background also included holding strategic leadership roles at Infor, QAD, and Oracle, driving growth and the shift to SaaS.

In this exclusive interview with Karthik Chidambaram, Founder & CEO of DCKAP, Lisa reveals what she is most passionate about, what goes into developing high-performing sales teams, how she sees the future of the distribution industry, and much more.

Matt Johnson is the Marketing Manager & IT Admin at Jendco Safety, and he recently sat down with DCKAP’s Founder and CEO, Karthik Chidambaram, for a conversation that spans the inception of the company itself, up to their most recent digital transformation to amplify their online sales through integration with Cloras and the 3M Marketplace.

From the path of success Jendco Safety has experienced in distributing safety supplies over the years, to sharing insights on the future of the industry and the advent of online marketplaces, their conversation offers many insights to those seeking the next step on their growth path. They touch upon insights in marketing with manufacturers and distributors and why it’s so important to build and solidify an e-commerce presence in order to compete in the market and succeed.

Read more about the work we did with Jendco Safety through Cloras here:

https://cloras.com/customer-stories/jendco-safety-supply/

Bio:

Matt Johnson is the Marketing Manager and IT Admin at Jendco Safety, a second-generation family owned and operated distributor of PPE and industrial supplies in Columbus, Ohio. In this role, Matt oversees and implements all marketing and IT initiatives among other responsibilities. Prior to Jendco, Matt has served in digital marketing roles for over 12 years and over 15 in IT. Matt is a self-taught professional and professed Geek.

Chris Brackett is the Vice President of Operations & General Manager at C.W. Hayden, and he recently sat down with DCKAP’s Founder and CEO, Karthik Chidambaram. Their conversation spans through the incredible journey Chris has had within the company, into the mindset they hold on early adoption of technology, their most recent integration with Cloras to help connect their 3M Marketplace with Epicor P21, and more!

With their long standing experience in the distribution space, Chris explains how each decision they’ve made in order to continue to grow, and to not only follow the growth of technology but to stay ahead of it, signifies one of their greatest pillars of strength. The discussion epitomizes the benefits of digital transformation and highlights how important technology really is for future growth and why it’s so important that B2B distributors adapt to e-commerce in order to not get left behind.



Bio:

Chris Brackett is the VP of Operations at C.W. Hayden, a third-generation family-owned Marine, Industrial and Safety Distributor based out of New England. In his current role, Chris runs the company’s day to day operations and is also leading the way in the company’s technology and digital transformations projects, including bringing on their first CRM (Salesforce), integrating it to their ERP system, going completely cloud base with Epicor P21, and upgrading their Magento website.



Show Links:

Read more about the work we did with C.W. Hayden through Cloras here: https://cloras.com/customer-stories/c-w-hayden/