RS Components eCommerce Website Addresses Common Failings of Pan-European B2B Websites

Author
SySAdmin
Posted
January 18, 2012
Views
780

Page All:

Page 1
RS Components eCommerce Website Addresses Common Failings of Pan-European B2B Websites

OXFORD, England, January 18, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

            Independent survey finds first-class online experience trumps customer

                                         loyalty

    RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world's
leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has revealed
that its new eCommerce website is meeting customers' online expectations where most
pan-European B2B websites fail. A recent independent survey commissioned by RS showed that
the majority of B2B customers will switch to a competitive site if they are on a slow or
unreliable website.

    Today's customers expect the same experience on B2B websites as they do on consumer
sites, in particular a fast response that gives relevant and timely information. The
independent survey of 350 B2B website users in the UK, France, Germany and Italy was
conducted to understand their expectations. The results highlight that the new RS
eCommerce website has addressed all the common failings of B2B websites.

    A key finding was that website performance trumps customer loyalty every time, with
two thirds of the sample having no qualms about switching allegiance to a competitive site
and over a third being less likely to make a purchase if a website is performing poorly.
Moreover, nearly a quarter of the sample would switch to an alternative website straight
away. This illustrates the damage a poor B2B website can do to a company's revenues and
brand.

    The survey found that two of the main bugbears of poorly performing websites are a
slow response and a lack of relevant content. These were the main focus of the recent
transformation of the RS website, with a new intelligent product search feature and
superior browsing capability giving customers faster and easier access to over 550,000
products.

    Keith Reville, General Manager eCommerce at Electrocomponents, said: "We want to
ensure that RS customers enjoy the best and most relevant online experience. These results
highlight the importance of providing a fast website with a superb search function that
delivers accurate, relevant information to users first time, every time. These
cornerstones of our eCommerce strategy are helping us to elevate the online customer
experience of our sector to the best levels of any industry, as evidenced by our recent
awards in this space."

    About RS Components

    RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc,
the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products.
Through operations in 32 countries and 17 warehouses, the Group serves 1.6 million
customers worldwide and distributes 550,000 products ranging from semiconductors and
optoelectronics to power tools and protective clothing. The product and service portfolio
supports the entire product lifecycle from R&D through pre-production to maintenance and
repair. The Group ships more than 46,000 parcels on the same day the orders are received.

    Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial
year to 31 March 2011 had revenues of GBP1.18bn.

    For more information, please visit the website at http://www.rs-components.com.

    More information is available via these links:

    RS Components on Linkedin

    http://www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components

    Electrocomponents plc

    http://www.electrocomponents.com

    RS Components

    http://www.rs-components.com

Source: Electrocomponents Plc

Editorial contact: Lynn Webster-Scott, Group PR Manager, Electrocomponents plc, Phone: +44(0)1865-207515, Email: lynn.webster-scott@electrocomponents.com

Title

Medium Image View Large