Distribution Leader Panel:
Clearing B2B eCommerce Hurdles 

Available on-demand

eCommerce is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. But what does that really mean for distributors, and how can you build out that sales channel to meet your customers’ true needs? 

Watch on-demand as our panel of distributor leaders share their tips and insights based on front-line experience with ecommerce to attract and engage their customers.  

These leaders also shared how they are overcoming common B2B ecommerce hurdles like: 

• Choosing the right technology partners 
• Not viewing sales through an omnichannel lens 
• Getting sales reps on-board 
• Inconsistent pricing 
• Messy product data
• One-size-fits-all website
• Defining success  

You won’t want to miss this conversation on this critical topic. Watch on-demand now.

Panelists

Matthew James, Purity Life Health Products LP

Ashley Rickman, RelaDyne LLC

Stu Tisdale, ADI

Sheila Hernandez, Summit

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Thank you to our sponsors:

About our panelists:

Matthew James

Matthew James has 30 years of experience in the natural health products industry. Matthew’s experience covers sales, marketing, brand management, new product development and public relations. Matthew also served on the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) board for six years, four of which was board chair. Matthew is currently the President and CEO of Purity Life Health Products LP a national distributor of Natural Health products in Canada.

Matthew has extensive experience in all aspects of the supply chain within the natural products industry including manufacturing and distribution. His experience also extends into the various trade channels including Health Food, Food Drug and Mass as well as the practitioner channel.

In 2012 Matthew lead a management buyout of Purity Life Health Products from SunOpta with the backing of Banyan Capital partners. Matthew and his team returned Purity Life to be a pure play distribution company focused on enhancing the employee experience at Purity Life to serve all its business partners retailers, vendors and brokers at the highest level. Purity Life currently has 180 employees, four warehouses (Vancouver, Calgary, Acton and Laval) and has won the Canadian Health Foods Association Supplier of Excellence Award nine times.

Matthew’s depth of experience and hands-on knowledge of all aspects of the natural health products business make him a great advocate for the industry at large. Matthew is an avid user/advocate of natural health products as well as physical exercise and is a great example of what the industry stands for. Matthew lives by principle of taking personal responsibility for your health and wellness so you can live independently well into your old age, enjoying all the things you love to do.

Ashley Rickman

As the Senior Director of Sales and Marketing Technologies at RelaDyne, Ashley Rickman is responsible for building RelaDyne’s digital transformation strategy with an emphasis on technologies that bring RelaDyne to the forefront of digital innovation. She strategically contributes to RelaDyne’s goals with the development of RelaDyne’s customer centric vision through customer experience enhancements and information connectivity with digitally focused technologies geared toward providing customers, sales, and service teams with the needed information for enhanced decision making. Technologies include ecommerce, marketing automation, lead generation and enhancing RelaDyne’s CRM solution utilizing Salelsforce.com.

She has played integral roles in major sales and marketing initiatives throughout her tenure at RelaDyne, including in the launch of RelaDyne’s automotive brand (DuraMAX), sales process transformation, planning the first and subsequent National Sales Conferences, and the launch of RelaDyne’s online ordering and account management platform. Her team of five focuses their efforts on all aspects of digital marketing for RelaDyne and acquired companies.

Ashley obtained a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and earned her MBA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Stu Tisdale

Stu Tisdale is the vice president of strategy and commercial for ADI, and responsible for setting the overall strategic direction for the company. He is focused on enhancing ADI's commercial capabilities to accelerate growth and leads the strategic marketing, sales operations and enablement, pricing and analytics functions.    
 
In this role, Stu works closely with senior leaders to identify, develop and execute initiatives that drive improved business performance and support ADI's growth strategy. He plays a significant role in cultivating M&A opportunities to accelerate ADI's growth, which has resulted in five tuck-in acquisitions since 2020. Additionally, Stu has been instrumental in leading many of ADI’s digital transformation initiatives including pricing optimization, touchless ordering, analytics, AI/ML sales tools and more. Under his leadership, ADI implemented a leading cloud-based pricing technology globally across 10 countries that has contributed to a +100 bps YOY margin improvement for the business.  
 
Stu is an accomplished business leader with deep expertise in B2B marketing, strategy and commercial excellence. Before this role, he served as VP of marketing for ADI North America and previously held a variety of roles across the company's product management function. Prior to joining ADI, Stu served in product management and marketing roles at Henry Schein, Inc., a leading global healthcare distributor.  
 
Stu is an active member of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, and is often called upon to participate in panel discussions and speaking engagements on digital transformation. 
 
Stu holds an MBA with dual concentration in Marketing and Finance from Fordham University Graduate School of Business, along with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with honors from Fordham University.  

Sheila Hernandez

Sheila Hernandez joined Summit in 1987 as a part-time marketing student intern while completing her undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico. After earning her MBA, Hernandez proceeded to take on the roles of marketing coordinator, director of marketing, vice president of marketing, vice president, chief information and technology officer and vice president, customer experience officer (CXO). She also led Summit's internet presence, mobile app development, master product data management system, and market data analytics program. In 2022, she started her current role as vice president, marketing and supplier relations. 

Active in the industry, Hernandez spent nine years on the marketing committee and was a member of the Futures Group Task Force for IMARK Group. She was elected to the board of directors for IMARK Electrical in 2018, making her the second female board member in IMARK’s history. She is currently serving her second three-year term. Hernandez was one of 14 inaugural mentors in the Empowering Women Mentorship Program. She has served on numerous committees and task forces for the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) and has been a panelist for Modern Distribution Management, NAED, IDEA and IMARK Group. Hernandez is a Gold Level graduate of NAED's Electrical Products Education Course (EPEC) and Dare to Lead™ trained. 

In her current role, Hernandez leads the company’s marketing efforts, which have been expanded to include category management, supplier relations, digital presence and customer lifecycle. 

Hernandez works out of Summit's Albuquerque headquarters and reports to Ed Gerber, President and CEO. 

About our host:

Jonathan Bein, Ph.D.

Managing Partner, Distribution Strategy Group