GWW vs AFL Comparison

Founded in 1927, W.W. Grainger originally distributed various motors via a mail-order catalogue. Over the course of the 20th century, the firm expanded into new industrial product categories and launched its first digital catalogue in 1995. Today, the company organizes itself into two segments focused on different customer bases. Its larger segment, high-touch solutions, offers a vast array of maintenance, repair, and operations, or MRO, supplies and bespoke inventory management services to larger businesses. Its smaller segment, endless assortment, operates two online platforms, Zoro and MonotaRO, that offer comprehensive catalogues of MRO supplies to smaller businesses. Grainger has operations throughout the world but primarily generates sales within the US.

Aflac Inc offers supplemental health insurance and life insurance in the United States and Japan. In addition to its cancer policies, the company has broadened its product offerings to include accident, dental and vision, disability, and long-term-care insurance. It markets its products through independent distributors, selling the majority of its policies directly to consumers at their places of work, and also reaches out to its customers outside of their worksite through digital mediums. The company has two reportable business segments: Aflac Japan, which generates the maximum revenue, and Aflac U.S.