MSC Industrial Direct Grows its Distributor Base and Embraces Personalization
B2B organizations are working overtime to transform themselves through new technology implementations, process automation, and innovative approaches to work. However, there are plenty of other ways companies can transform, and most should take a multi-pronged approach that addresses both internal business processes and the customer experience.
MSC Industrial Direct is one B2B company that is attuning its focus to key elements of the business. Namely, MSC has significantly expanded its distributor base and embraced personalization as a means to better serve customers.
In this blog post, we'll explore what MSC Industrial Direct's changes mean for the company and what other organizations can learn from its example.
Distributor Growth and B2B eCommerce Improvements
According to a recent article by Digital Commerce 360, MSC has worked to expand its metalworking and MRO product and service offerings by focusing on new acquisitions. Specifically, the company has bolstered its eCommerce and manufacturing operations by acquitting two companies involved in distribution and manufacturing. It has also expanded its presence in the Midwest with seven new acquisitions.
The two Ohio-based companies, distributor Buckeye Industrial Supply Co. and tool manufacturer True-Edge Grinding Inc. will bring in MSC's capabilities to improve their business transaction processing and ecommerce operations. The article also says that True-Edge "will serve as MSC’s 'center of excellence' for product engineering and design and join MSC’s existing metal regrinding operation to support manufacturing customers throughout the Midwest."
True-Edge focuses on "designing and producing tools from scratch, with a strong focus on the automotive and medical markets," which makes it a good candidate as an incubator for innovation.
The deals follow several others by MSC in the past few years. The other acquisitions include Midwest companies with highly-developed eCommerce operations.
Winning Online B2B Customers with Personalization
These acquisitions should be a clear indicator of MSC's commitment to B2B eCommerce sales. The company's new eCommerce capabilities will enable it to reach customers not only in the Midwest but around the country and the world.
Alongside those acquisitions, MSC has also made significant investments in personalization capabilities. The company offers more than one million products through its eCommerce site, so personalization is not just a good idea; it's a necessity.
According to another article by Digital Commerce 360, MSC has deployed new personalization software that recommends products to online visitors based on known interests and profiles. The software, from Certona, "utilizes everything we know about [a] customer’s preferences, such as order and viewing history, to provide a personalized experience and suggest alternative and complementary products,” says senior director of eCommerce Mike Roth.
Since the deployment of the personalization engine, MSCDirect.com has seen several performance improvements. During 6 months after implementation, the website converted 38% more visitors, increased average order value by 12%, and increased the number of units sold per transaction by 46%, according to the company.
The personalization system relies not only on user data but also on first-party data that MSC generates through its other marketing activities, including its email campaigns. The system was designed to integrate seamlessly with MSC's CRM software, enabling the company to base product recommendations and insights on account activity and customer lifecycle data.
Don't Miss B2B Online Florida
MSC Industrial Direct has deepened its presence in the Midwest and significantly improved its eCommerce capabilities for customers. In addition, MSC has shown how B2B companies can use personalization to drive tangible improvements to online sales metrics. Overall, MSC's changes provide a clear example of how B2B companies can effectively grow and improve the customer experience through both external acquisitions and internal technology implementations.
If you’d like to learn more about how your company can improve its B2B eCommerce ecosystem, don’t miss B2B Online East. It’s happening October 16th to 17th at Hilton West Palm Beach, Florida.
Download the agenda and register for the event today.