Website services help distributors compete
Component distributors use Web applications to attract and keep customers.
By Rob Spiegel, Contributing Editor -- EDN, March 16, 2010
It’s 3:00 am in Texas. A design engineer in Europe needs to select one or two more components before submitting a final bill of materials (BOM) for a prototype. The distributor that gets the BOM order may be the distributor that offers engineering support through a web-based chat 24/7–or the distributor that provides a training module that’s available with a quick mouse click.
Component distributors are beefing up their Web offerings as customers rely more and more on Web applications to select and buy parts. The Website is no longer simply a tool for listing components and data sheets. A good portion of component buyers view the Website as an essential tool for communicating with distributors. The Website is the place where customers research new technology, compare parts, receive training, and in some cases utilize software to design their prototypes.
Web services have become such a critical customer-interaction tool, distributors now compete and differentiate themselves with an array of Web applications. At Digi-Key, you can use an iPhone app. Avnet offers localized inventory information around the globe. Newark offers live chat 24 hours a day, five days a week. TTI offers services to help customers manage their inventory online.
Support for design engineers
One way to attract customers is to grab them when they first begin their product designs. A number of distributors are focusing on meeting the needs of design engineers by providing Web applications designed to support the product development process. “We are using Element 14 as a competitive tool for our design community,” says Alisha Mowbray, senior vice president of marketing at Newark in Chicago. “We launched it last June to start early in the design process, when the engineering is in the research phase.”
Newark’s UK-based parent company, Premier Farnell, launched Element 14. Premier Farnell designed the site to provide a range of research tools for engineers. “One thing that’s key for design engineers is pulling intelligence in from multiple sources, from manufacturers and industry experts,” says Mowbray. “Element 14 puts that at their fingertips. The site also provides CAD software to help engineers with design, and it follows them through the lifecycle of the design process.” Users can also buy components for their prototypes at Element 14.
Serving a tech-savvy audience
Those who want to pull the electronics tech crowd to their sites need to offer a stellar array of Web services. Engineers in the electronics industry—especially those who have recently entered the profession—expect cutting-edge services. Digi-Key Corp of Thief River Falls, MN, has recently added an iPhone app so customers can search and buy on the run. The company also reaches its customers through social networking sites such as Facebook. “We communicate with our customers in the social networks—Facebook, wikis, Twitter,” says Tony Harris, vice president of e-commerce at Digi-Key. “We see these networks as a resource to answer customer questions. Twitter is a great customer-service tool.”
Digi-Key is particularly interested in providing strong Web support, since the vast majority of its sales come through the internet. “We don’t have feet on the street, so 78 percent of our orders come through the Web,” says Harris. “Since we don’t have offices or warehouses anywhere else but Thief River Falls, we have to provide a diverse Web model to enter the market and drive conversion and sales.”
Another significant Web service for design engineers is the self-service training module. “We have created technology zones that are micro sites within the website,” says Harris. “We’re like a shopping mall with multiple stores. If you’re in the Texas Instruments marketing center, we try to reduce the number of clicks you need to reach TI's 1.7 million components.” When customers enter the individual technology stores, they find application notes, images, a technology library, and product training modules that explain the technology and explain its use step-by-step.
Newark also provides self-service training modules. “One of the ways we differentiate our site is by the information we offer,” says Mowbray. “We offer product training modules through TechCasts.” Newark maintains consistency in the training tools by taking a hand in the modules' production. “They’re produced by Newark with the support of our suppliers,” says Mowbray. “We put the supplier into the template. It’s a collaborative effort.”
Production management
Design support is key for some distributors, while for others it’s production support. “We have Web services that let our customers buy their part at contract prices," says Kevin Schubert, e-business director at TTI in Fort Worth, TX. He says customers can see their lead-time and inventory-management information and look out four weeks or 10 weeks." He adds, "We have tools that let them schedule different parts for March or June.” Schubert notes that Web-based scheduling has become more important during the recession, since customers are working with leaner staffs. “Because of lay-offs, everyone has to be more efficient.”
TTI has also developed premium services that help customers manage their inventory online. “We let them buy their online at contract prices and offer lead-time information and inventory management,” says Schubert. “We use the web to make sure we’re in line in understanding what parts they need and when they need them.”
Global support
The Website is also tool to reach customers all over the planet. “Our Website accepts 12 currencies, we conduct business in nine languages, and we have more languages coming,” says Beth Ely, senior vice president for Avnet Express at Phoenix-based Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. “It’s incumbent that we use our Website to mirror our international reach.”
In addition to supporting multiple currencies and languages, Avnet Express adjusts to reflect local inventory supplies and local purchasing preferences. “We offer consistent design globally, but we also localize the content and function so we have the look and feel of the individual location,” says Ely. “That’s our differentiation.”
Distributors track usage and customer behavior to fine-tune their sites and determine what new services to add. “We focus on our customer response to measure the usefulness of our site,” says Newark’s Mowbray. “We track increases in visits per day and follow the amount of time our customers spend on the site. Our global customers are spending more time than some of the benchmarks.”
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It's interesting to see how things are shaping up with the B2B electronics industry and social networking. The shift will help us take our existing relationship-building experience and apply it to an online environment. The business approach has not changed (provide value to our customers), we just have more technology tools to do so online.
Jesse Luna - @CDI - 2010-16-3 08:49:00 PDT
