Recognizing that an industrywide price slump was not going away, online marketer E-Chemicals Inc. decided that it had to streamline its system for marketing to smaller customers.
So the Ann Arbor, MI-based company redesigned its Web site (www.e-chemicals.com) to make it easier for customers to navigate and order, according to Colin McCarthy, marketing and sales director for the firm.
Speaking at the Direct Marketing Association’s fall conference in Toronto, McCarthy said the E-Chemicals overhauled its site for two reasons: the promise of an eventual online petrochemical market worth more than $178 million and the fact that prices of chemicals, ranging from basic commodities to highly specialized ones, were continuing to fall. The latter made it difficult for companies to keep calling on accounts when the hourly cost for doing so was edging above $400. Costs for servicing the accounts were also high.
The site works by allowing chemical buyers to register, after which they can select a supplier, get a price, place an order and track shipments online. E-Chemicals has beefed up its systems to better facilitate electronic procurement. Brokerage and auction services are also offered on the site, as well as more sophisticated navigation tools and daily industry news.
So far, E-Chemicals.com has been relying on direct mail, telemarketing and direct response space ads in industry trade publications to reach these smaller customers who don’t always need large quantities of chemicals and may not have as much negotiating power as bigger customers.
The firm makes its money by taking varying cuts of transaction amounts. McCarthy declined to offer revenue projections.
He admitted it’s been difficult to get major chemical companies to use the system but the company was able to sign DuPont and Monsanto earlier this year. In September, it got Huntsman Corp. – a large, privately held company – to begin selling a select group of specialty amine and glycol chemicals.
“Our customers can order a variety of products and get shipping and product information online at their convenience,” said Chuck Wegman, distributor marketing manager for Huntsman, in a statement. Huntsman’s chemicals are used in the manufacturing of plastics and automobiles, and in many other industries.
To be sure, it isn’t easy marketing chemicals online. “You can’t say `If you build it, they will come,'” quipped McCarthy.
Network
