Page 70 - enLIGHTenment Magazine - May 2016

on the Mark

Building an Alliance

Tips for negotiating mutually bene cial relationships between

vendors, showrooms, and manufacturers’ representatives.

BY MARK OKUN

T

he relationship between lighting show- vendors and suppliers has been li ed. This shi
rooms and their cadre of vendors is has blurred the lines between showrooms, ven-

ever-evolving — especially as the In- dors, and resellers. As a result, the consumers in
ternet of Things (IoT) has entered the this channel want transparency, easy access to

equation and disrupted the standard
information, and prompt delivery of merchandise.

operating premise we have been familiar with for In the early days of this relationship, showrooms
some time.
and vendors were both engaged in the diverse ac-

Big data changes how we all do business, and tivities of controlling the geographical distribution
the barriers of direct-to-consumer marketing by
of products and retail markups. Back then, the

68 enLIGHTenment Magazine | May 2016
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