Electrical Wholesaling’s recent survey of EC&M readers uncovered a river of discontent on the subject of online purchasing. Amongst the more than 400 respondents were many electrical contractors and other end users who would love to be able to shop for and purchase products online from their local distributors, but can’t do it because so few distributors offer it.

The many requests in the survey for online purchasing were interesting because it reflects a market conundrum. The majority of respondents said they purchased less than 10 percent of all products online, but one has to wonder if that relatively low percentage is more of a reflection of the fact that so few electrical distributors offer online purchasing than it is a lack of demand from end users for online purchasing. Judging from these survey results, end users want online purchasing and they are already doing it with the competitors of full-line distributors such as Home Depot, Grainger and Lowe’s. Respondents said they are also making online purchases from www.e-conolight.com, Ruud Lighting, Newark Electronics, www.1000bulbs.com, Amazon and eBay.

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Thank-you from the staff of Electrical Marketing.