How to order from McLane — and compare it to your other distributors

McLane is one of the largest convenience distributors in the country, and for many independent stores the broadline backbone of the order. Ordering from them works fine on its own — the real opportunity is comparing them, item by item, against the other suppliers on your dock.

The single-supplier blind spot

However you place a McLane order — rep, portal, or EDI — that channel can only ever show you McLane’s price. It cannot tell you that the same case of energy drinks is cheaper this week on your beverage DSD route, or that a snack line you buy broadline is a better number at the cash-and-carry. The order gets placed where it’s convenient, not where it’s cheapest, and over a year that’s real money.

Compare per unit, after deals

The honest comparison is always price per selling unit, after each supplier’s current promotions and your terms — never list price, never across different case packs. Doing that by hand across McLane plus a handful of DSD routes is exactly the chore nobody keeps up with, which is why the convenient supplier keeps winning by default.

Bring McLane into one cart with everyone else

The fix is to put McLane alongside every other supplier you buy from, with prices normalized per unit and deals applied, at the moment you order. That’s what ordering from McLane through StoreQueue is built for: keep your McLane account, terms, and rep exactly as they are, and simply see — order by order — whether McLane or another supplier has the better number on each line. You keep the relationship; you stop overpaying by habit.