There's a major shift undergoing in the industrial marketplace. While traditional methods of manual work have transformed itself to automation, and physical prototyping to virtual prototyping, there is also a big change in the segment of sales.

Conventional calls are obsolete and its more about providing customers a complete digital experience. But an interesting question that could crop up here is who exactly is bringing this major change in the industrial market?

Research shows that today, half of the B2B buyers are millennials and they are significantly influencing the purchasing decision-makers. They need detailed information in real-time, and that too anywhere on any device to make the purchase. This trend is also influencing on how other generations buy. As a matter of fact, a majority of B2B buyers today, consider real-time data on inventory level "very important" to their purchasing experience.

So what exactly it means to you as a manufacturer?

Its simple, no more PDFs. This is because the buyers today need to have an access to information on-the-go. The old method where the product is found on PDF and the prospect calling the manufacturer to request information for required specifications consumes huge amount of time. This is because the manufacturer is required to maintain specific CAD drawings, product lines and certifications to respond back to the customer according to the specifications. The equipment design development as such is not dynamic and is only developed by an engineer, once the prospect provides information to the manufacturer.

New Trend: eCatalogs

It is important for industrial product manufacturers to keep pace with the shifting trends in customers purchasing experience. eCatalogs today, are increasingly becoming prominent sales tools for leaders in the industry. For best-in-class manufacturers, website and product data are biggest assets and they are leveraging their sales processes through these dynamic platforms using eCatalogs. One of the distinctive benefits of eCatalogs is the ability to dynamically update the design data across the value chain by making changes in the database.

The interactive catalogs create an opportunity for manufacturers to develop complete digital experience for their end customers and make it easy for them to find and purchase the products they are looking for. Since the geometry and specification details are maintained centrally, the accuracy of the product data is same across all the channels. Having a dynamic CAD library further frees up the valuable resources from performing repetitive tasks of developing customer specific drawings and models.

From a business perspective, the easy online experience for customers increases the chances of winning their bid. For the rich information about products, it is also possible to exchange contact information of customers and generate prospective leads for sales teams.

Why is this trend winning?

This new trend of providing customers with dynamic product information through eCatalogs proves beneficial for both the customers and manufacturers. The customer win is in the ability to easily find product data that he/she is looking for, configure the product to fit the project requirement and access the data anywhere and on any device.

The manufacturer win on the contrary is in generating highly qualified leads by transforming into a convenient innovative business for customers. Having a dynamic online product library further ensures that the products are accessible across multiple channels, keeping the entire supply chain on the same page without any issues of accuracy in the design data.