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YARDLEY, PA, August 22, 2007 -- Shoppers today are better informed than they've ever been - a trend that can be largely attributed to the pervasive influence of the Internet. With immediate access to an endless stream of information on the Web, shoppers can equip themselves with the knowledge they need to get exactly what they want, and they've assumed a level of self-sufficiency that shows no signs of regressing.

To keep up, distributors have to do more than just establish a presence on the Internet: they have to provide a Web site where their most independent customers can research products, request quotes, place orders, and check the status of orders on their own time - and in their own way.

No one understands this better than Chuck Chittick, inside salesman and system administrator at Stromquist & Company, an HVAC and industrial controls distributor based in Atlanta, GA. In 2003, he and Stromquist's executives decided to implement Activant's Web-based storefront, B2B Seller; four years later, the solution channels approximately 17 percent of the company's business through the Web.

"Many of our customers know what they want and they often don't necessarily want, or need, to talk to a person on the phone to place an order," says Chittick. "B2B Seller provides a way for this type of customer to be self sufficient."

Just Another Order Taker

Designed to provide distributors with a fully hosted and integrated Web-based storefront solution that services existing and prospective customers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, B2B Seller offers functionality such as Master Product Categories to help Stromquist deliver the same detailed product information on the Web that they would in a catalog or over the phone.

"With Master Product Categories, you have the option of including product images, vendor logos, text, and links that help customers identify which items in each category will work best for them," Chittick says. "It's definitely a way for us to market our items better, and it makes navigating much easier for our customers."

According to Chittick, Stromquist's B2B Seller Web site can process as many as 50 orders a day during busy months, and he attributes this volume to the increased flexibility - and availability - the storefront provides.

"It saves our wholesale customers time because they can view the site while simultaneously processing their customers' orders, and our contractors like it because they can place orders for jobs on weekends or evenings," concludes Chittick. "We basically treat our B2B Seller site like another order taker, only this one accepts orders 24/7."

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