More decision makers using the Internet: study

Does your company have a strong presence on the Web? According to a new study of Canadian engineers, technical buyers, and members of the scientific and manufacturing communities, more decision makers are turning to the Web to find components and suppliers.

The Canadian Industrial Trends Survey by GlobalSpec, Inc. looked at data from 2,466 respondents, 92 per cent of who are involved in purchasing. According to the findings, 45 per cent of respondents spend more than six hours a week on the Internet for work purposes, and 88 per cent use the Internet to find components and suppliers.

Additionally, 84 per cent go online to obtain product specifications, and 67 per cent use the Internet for research. In terms of usefulness, more than half of the responses noted that product/component specifications are most valuable in their search.

The survey results also suggested that it isn’t enough to have a website companies must also have a prominent online presence. More than 60 per cent use two or more search engines when scouring the Internet for work-related purposes.

The Canadian Industrial Engineering Trends Survey also looked at the respondents’ use of printed trade magazines, and trade show attendance. A significant proportion of the respondents 63 per cent noted that their use of printed trade magazines has increased or remained the same in the last 12 months.

In contrast, nearly half of the respondents said that they had not attended a trade show in the last year.

GlobalSpec is an information services and e-publishing company headquartered in Troy, N.Y. The study can be viewed in its entirety here.