Although their businesses here in North America are solid, Mouser and Digi-Key have announced customer support actions that should broaden their respective global reaches.

To better assist European-based customers and suppliers, Mouser opened a UK customer support center to match its UK Web site. According to this Electronics Weekly story (EDN's UK-based sister publication), the distributor has seen sales in Europe more than double in the last 12 months.

This is the second European office Mouser, a subsidiary of TTI, has set up after opening its Munich, Germany, office last year. And on 30% growth in a down market, don't expect it to be the UK location to be the distributor's last European opening.

Meanwhile, Digi-Key is now offering free shipping for Canada dollars (CAD) orders over the $200 mark. Free shipping is nothing new for Digi-Key. For countries outside the US, where the distributor goes to market in the currency of the country, Digi-Key's standard business model is to offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount.

Basically, weight is the only restriction and free shipping applies to all orders, regardless of if they were received via phone or Web, Digi-Key, which sits just 100 miles south of US/Canadian border, said.

CAD orders entered by 8 pm central time Monday through Friday are shipped same day via UPS Express for delivery to Canadian provinces in one to three days (dependent on final destination). Duties, tariffs, and brokerage fees on CAD orders are paid by Digi-Key.

These two separate efforts may seem mundane, but such efforts are part of what has helped catalog distributors like Mouser and Digi-Key stay steady, and even grow their businesses, during this global economic crunch. A little customer service goes a long way when companies and designers are being forced to choose between necessities like component orders and payroll.

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