New digital distribution and sales channels are booming

Digital distribution and sales channels are experiencing an additional boost in times like these. This is also felt by those colleagues involved in the roll-out and further development of webshops in the High Performance Metals Division of the voestalpine Group. We’ve been working on this for a number of years, but the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the matter once again.

Eleven sales companies within the High Performance Metals Division already sell a large number of their brands and products through their own online shop. These include, for example, conventional flat and round steel, custom-made products for customers. But so-called shelf products such as powder for 3D printing, welding wires, precision flat steels or eroding blocks are also sold over the virtual counter.

The success speaks for itself: At EschmannStahl, the online share has increased 2% percent compared to pre-Corona times. At our Swedish sales company Uddeholm, online sales more than doubled from February to August.

Reach the right target group in an even better way

The customers are primarily small and medium-sized businesses. The target groups of the webshop are, on the one hand, those who only have an occasional need and derive the order from the product description and, on the other hand, those who already know exactly what they need and who order regularly. Both target groups are offered a corresponding navigation path that either provides more product descriptions but is designed for individual configuration, or that contains slightly fewer descriptions and allows multiple items to be entered quickly. This saves our customers and our sales and office employees a lot of time. Customers appreciate the uncomplicated ordering process, which also reveals when the desired product will be delivered. If questions arise, or if there is an irregularity in the order, customers can contact us directly. This contributes to customer satisfaction.

Focus on customer satisfaction

The next developments for the webshops are already in progress. An app that will proactively inform customers about the status of an order via push notifications is on the way, offering portable and 24/7 features from the download of documents to supply and order functions. The future will also bring a new service module that will set new standards in terms of user comfort using artificial intelligence.