TROY, NY – (BUSINESS WIRE) – 10/26/04 – Engineers and technical buyers assume supplier Web sites will offer comprehensive, up-to-date content, but a new study from GlobalSpec, Inc., suggests these key purchase influencers aren’t fully satisfied enough suppliers are taking steps to provide it.

GlobalSpec offers the engineering and technical community the leading specialized search engine and information resource including The Engineering Web – a unique slice of the World Wide Web focusing on engineering-related content. GlobalSpec’s massive searchable database includes product information from suppliers who participate. The company helps broaden and improve Internet marketing programs to help compensate for poorly performing Web sites. It first surveyed Internet usage trends of the technical community in 2001.

Of the more than 800 GlobalSpec users responding to the late August, 2004, study, greater than 90% rate up-to-date content, technical specifications and searchable product catalogs as the three most important online features they seek. However, their overall level of satisfaction differs when asked whether most supplier Web sites have the ability to deliver these three features and adequate content: their level of satisfaction ranges from 18 to 20% less than the degree of importance they attach to them.

The study also reveals there are comparable “satisfaction gaps” when would-be buyers rate the ability of most supplier Web sites to provide four other salient features including ease of navigation, pages which load quickly, product images and pricing information.

“We see great significance in what most could call a satisfaction gap,” says Guy Maser, Vice President of Marketing at GlobalSpec. Engineers and technical buyers are clear about their expectations when they visit supplier Web sites, he notes.

“Yet it’s obvious once they arrive at many technically-focused supplier sites, they grow frustrated by online data which is either obsolete or structured and presented in a manner they find unsatisfactory. This leads to lost sales opportunities and should be a very real concern to any supplier trying to build an online sales bridge between their product lines and the technical buying community.”

Cites importance of Web data

Maser adds that to compete successfully in a global marketplace, it’s important that suppliers “fine tune their Web site so it better serves buyers now going online to discover products, compare similar offerings and obtain more data.” His belief stems from what the study found about the steadily increasing amount of time devoted to online search and declining attendance at old staples such as trade shows.

Fifty-four percent say they did not attend any trade shows in the August 2003 to August 2004 period. Another 42% say they attended only one or two shows. Only 6% say they attended three or four shows.

Other survey results also suggest the importance of maintaining up-to-date technical data and establishing a more structured and sophisticated system for online content management. Findings include:

- 74% of respondents spend three or more hours per week on the Internet for work-related purposes; about one in four spend more than eight hours a week online for work-related purposes

- Two-thirds of those questioned typically use two to four different search engines for work-related purposes

- When in a work-related setting, 48% review the first page of search results only before deciding on one to click on; 33% click on a result after reviewing the first page of results in its entirety; 15% do so after reviewing just the first three or four results

- Nearly six in ten respondents cite specification data as the most valuable information they seek while searching for components, followed by product images (9%), application notes (8%) and CAD drawings (8%)

- 64% say they typically have between two and four specifications when starting a component or equipment search

- 36% and 35%, respectively, use E-mail or visit the Web site to contact manufacturers and suppliers and obtain more information; 28% use the telephone

- Survey respondents are important members of the decision-making team: 45% say the component they specify is purchased 75% to 100% of the time

Survey participants use the Internet to accomplish a myriad of tasks. In descending order of responses, those tasks are:

- Find components and suppliers (94%)

- Obtain product specifications (92%)

- Research (77%)

- News and information (76%)

- Find pricing information (72%)

- Request a price quote and compare products across suppliers (66%)

- Purchase parts or products (65%)

- Search for technical application ideas (61%)

- Find information on product availability (60%)

- Find standards (59%)

- Download CAD drawings (48%)

- Find competitive information (47%)

- Complete collaborative design and/or project work (19%)

About GlobalSpec, Inc.

GlobalSpec and SpecSearch are registered trademarks and The Engineering Search Engine is a service mark of GlobalSpec, Inc.

Contact:
GlobalSpec Marketing
E-mail: marketing@globalspec.com

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