Nielsen-Sessions:
eCatalog provides web self-service, increases orders
from custom solutions market

Nielsen-Sessions wanted to pursue an aggressive growth strategy within the custom solutions market and streamline the process by which customers could determine its product offerings. Their web site played a key role in meeting their objectives by providing an intuitive and interactive online product discovery and purchase capability.

January 2008

Business Challenge:

Nielsen-Sessions is a manufacturer and designer of handles, catches, latches and other hardware. The company is a unit of Actuant Corporation (NYSE-ATU), a $1.6B diversified industrial company with operations in over 30 countries.

In the early 2000’s, the company was experiencing flat sales and declining market share in the face of aggressive offshore competition. This market situation was amplified by the company’s focus on standard products, which were perceived as commodities and forced the firm to compete on price.

To achieve growth, the company committed to a strategy of offering custom solutions to specific applications required by original equipment manufacturers. In addition, the company sought to enhance its exposure to the marketplace and streamline the process by which customers could determine its product offerings. The goal was to realize higher margins, while reducing the firms’ reliance on its standard lines.

In 2005, Bob Bishop, Nielsen-Sessions President, recognized that the Internet was going to play a key role. In addition to a professional website, he realized that an interactive product discovery capability was crucial to helping people worldwide find the appropriate product and transacting business without requiring the assistance of a rep. “We needed a cleaner method for online product selection and purchase. We had customers expressing frustration with the old web catalog and needed to eliminate that issue. The entire site user experience needed to be optimized.”

Technology Solution:

Nielsen Sessions selected i-MARK’s 24/7 BUSINESS to fulfill this need, based on its superior product selection function and e-commerce capabilities. “We chose i-MARK” says Bishop, “because we knew we would have an experienced partner with a strong platform that could customize the solution to our needs. The catalog effectively shows the breadth of our product mix, with easy navigation and quick identification of the item needed.”

End Result:

The new site and eCatalog allows users to either submit a Request-for-Quote or place an Order. According to Bishop, the results have been positive with respect to pursuing the custom applications marketplace, and generating incremental sales revenue. The direct orders received represent the firm’s highest margin sales due to the lower sales expense for web orders. However, the key business benefit is the creation of opportunities with large customers for custom applications. “Potential customers use the catalog to find the nearest match to meet their requirements, and then describe their application in their response. Or, they’ll buy a few samples to prototype an application and then request modifications they need.”

Company profitability has also been improved by its ability to reduce its marketing budget. We have a higher number of new projects in our pipeline, despite a 10-15% reduction in our marketing outlay. Bishop adds: “We sell globally – to Asia, Europe and the Middle East – as the result of our web catalog, which has effectively extended our sales channel worldwide.”

The bottom line: Sales figures show consistent double digit annual growth and profits are higher as the result of their custom solutions business representing an increasingly larger share of sales. Adds Bishop: “The web site and eCatalog have played a key role in executing our growth strategy.”

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