Increased revenue and
expanded market share by selling and delivering
market research reports online.
The Freedonia Group (www.freedoniagroup.com)
is a business & market research company, which publishes
more than 100 industry research studies annually. Their
analysts assess key industrial markets and provide customers
with critical business information including product and
market forecasts, industry trends, threats and opportunities,
competitive strategies, market share determinations and
company profiles. Their products provide customers with
broad access to industry information as well as access to
analysts for direct consultation. More than 90% of industrial
companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia research to help
with their strategic planning.
The Freedonia Group’s business model,
like many market research firms, is based on licensing their
catalog of hundreds of reports to corporate buyers for a
subscription fee or on an individual report basis. Individual
reports can cost thousands of dollars each. The products
are primarily sold directly to customers via Freedonia’s
direct sales organization. The Freedonia Group also secures
additional revenue from the sale of custom research and
consulting services. The company was founded in 1985 and
leveraged this business model for significant growth through
the mid-1990’s.
Business Problem
In the late 1990’s the Freedonia
Group began to see the potential for selling and delivering
information on the Internet. They recognized that as business
use of the Internet exploded a rapidly growing number of
business users were turning to the Web as the first step
in finding critical work-related information.
The Freedonia Group saw this as a growth
opportunity. Early on, they understood that Web business
users represented a new self-service market and they saw
the potential before their competition did. They understood
these buyers are deadline driven, know what they want and
are highly motivated to purchase and immediately access
critical business information that meets their need.
The Freedonia Group got started with Web
commerce by selling their reports through online aggregators.
Though the reseller model was successful, they also realized
they needed their own branded e-commerce to take full advantage
of the growing Web market.
Build vs. Buy
Prior to partnering with ECNext, Freedonia
undertook an analysis to decide whether to build a solution
in-house or to outsource. They looked at the total cost
of building, managing and supporting a world class Web commerce
solution that would scale with their business. After reviewing
the cost of training Freedonia technical teams in appropriate
technologies, developing the required functionality from
the ground up, managing and maintaining the site and providing
end-user support it was clear that finding the right solution
provider made the most sense.
Freedonia needed a solution partner to
build and manage their online channel, allowing them to
focus on their core business producing high-value research.
They needed a partner with expertise in building, managing
and promoting e-commerce sites for selling and delivering
business information online. They needed a partner they
could trust to support a strategic part of their business.
They found the perfect partner in ECNext.
Business Objectives
The Freedonia Group had several clear
objectives for a new online channel, including:
| 1. |
Establishing a profitable new revenue stream |
| 2. |
Maintaining control of their products and brand |
| 3. |
Acquiring new Web customers and turning them into
repeat buyers. |
| 4. |
Providing 24 hour per day, 7 day per week access for
existing customers worldwide |
They needed to meet these objectives,
driving net new revenue, while ensuring they did not cannibalize
their existing business.
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