February 11, 2013 – Partnering with the likes of Electro-Federation Canada (EFC), the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) in the U.S. announced the availability of new research on how the electrical distribution and contracting industry uses technology.

For the distributor survey, NAED partnered with EFC to benchmark technology implementation, identify issues and challenges distributors face, and identify areas for improvement. With 124 distributor companies responding to some portion of the survey, the results included the following:

• More than 97% had websites, with 52% reporting up to 15% of customers visit their website in a typical month.
• 87% identified accuracy in business systems data as a critical or high-priority technology issue.
• 54% offer online order placement capability.

NAED conducted a co-branded survey with IEC and NECA to gather data on how electrical contractors use technology. Survey questions covered general categories, such as online business activities, important website features and online product searches. The results included:

• 98% search online product catalogues.
• 85% access product spec sheets online.
• 79% routinely purchase online.

Complete findings from both of these surveys will be presented at the South Central Region Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., February 25-27.