I had a perfectly fine little blog written for today.

I was planning to get a discussion going about this run up to the crucial Easter period. Hoping the weather would improve and asking if dealers had noticed the increase of garden machinery being sold in the budget supermarket chains?

I was going to pose the question if this was a new threat worth bothering about or whether it's just the same as it ever was, with simply the sign above the door changed from Homebase to Lidl?

Please feel free to still leave a comment below about that, if you feel so inclined - however I believe there'll be another subject on many dealers minds now this afternoon.

The news which came in during the course of this morning that STIHL, to use their words, have made "significant commercial changes" - feels like a sea-change moment.

This has potential to go down as one of those memorable moments in the story of this industry. A change to be talked about in years to come, similar to the way which that £99 petrol mower in B&Q is remembered all these years on.

As ever, one would imagine there will be more than one reaction to this news. The manufacturer would argue that there is great opportunity here, now that almost all of their products are eligible to be shipped direct to the end customer. They would say that some dealers will be pleased, looking forward to all the potential extra sales they'll now be able to make via their websites.

Are you one of those businesses? Do you see benefit for your dealership from today's news? Please let us know in the comments below if this is a move you welcome.

At the other end of the scale however, one suspects there'll be dealers who could very possibly consider the decision outrageous.

It doesn't seem incomprehensible that there will be businesses who have received the news morning, who right now will be feeling somewhat aggrieved. In their eyes, STIHL has traditionally been a specialist's brand and will be disappointed to see them going down this route.

I know many dealers have very strongly held views about the proliferation of online selling in general and what that can do to customers' expectations of pricing. Are you one of those? What is your reaction to today's news?

Of course, there will also be those whose opinion lies on a sliding scale somewhere in between the two extremes. Perhaps these dealers are actually the silent majority?

Will most simply shrug their shoulders today and say the change is not perhaps what they would've chosen, but it's simply the way of the world and was probably always coming?

Like that £99 petrol lawnmower, is it just something else for the resilient dealer to process, before returning to running their business the way that works for them?

It will be fascinating to hear what our readers have to say about STIHL's decision today. Please leave your comments below, whatever your feelings may be.