Tech Data.com Gets A Makeover

The world’s second largest IT distributor relaunched its Web site last Friday during the TechSelect Spring Partner Conference in Miami. The new TechData.com, which was first introduced to TechSelect members last fall, features an entirely new design, improved navigation and several online tools for reseller customers.

“We took the approach of making the new TechData.com more like a desktop application because that’s how resellers were using the site,” said John Tonnison, Tech Data’s executive vice president and CIO. “We took a lot of inspiration from consumer Web sites, much more so than from other peer sites.”

Along with a more consumer-oriented design and user interface, the site comes with a customizable home page and a more detailed navigation system. But the biggest draw for resellers may be the addition of several new online tools or widgets such as My Favorites, which keeps track of and lists commonly purchased items; Quick Order, which allows resellers to enter part numbers and search for products without leaving the home page; Recent Searches, which tracks customers' recent product searches; and My Leads, which provides a summary of sales leads available through Tech Data’s MyLeadTracker tool.

According to Tech Data, the company’s Web site is used by approximately 60,000 solution providers each month, with 50 million page views and 5 million product searches. After several months of beta testing and staged rollouts of the new site, Tech Data went live with the final version last Friday. Customers can still opt to use the old version of TechData.com for the near future.

However, Tonnison said the distributor will begin rolling out more online tools over the next few months, several of which will only be available on the new version. Last month Tech Data introduced one such tool, dubbed MyGovBids, which allows resellers to search for, access and review government bids created through the distributor. Tonnison said Tech Data is finalizing another online tool that will give customers access to up-to-date special and promotional pricing opportunities at the time and eliminate costly delays associated with vendor confirmations and invoice adjustments.

Tech Data is also working on a version of the site for the iPhone, with Android and BlackBerry versions to follow.