Company Creates New Transaction-Based Business Model Serving as Both Neutral Information Source and Secure Marketplace
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – April 6, 2000 –
TestMart™, the Net market maker for the entire $100 billion precision test instrument industry, has leveraged the lack of centralized and consistent information in the $15 billion test and measurement (T&M) equipment segment to create a virtual one-stop-shop Web site for buyers and sellers, and developed a new profit-generating business model for B2B e-commerce.
TestMart™ reports that its revenue is increasing 100% per quarter. With more than 100,000 unique viewing sessions per month, it is currently the most visited non-manufacturer test and measurement vertical industry Web site on the Internet. Since launching the site in Summer 1999, TestMart has aggressively grown the number of precision instrument product groups specified on the site to the current 92 product categories and predicts this growth to continue by 50% over the next six months.
TestMart™ serves as a neutral third-party source that allows users to access massive, up-to-date proprietary databases of previously unavailable content – such as normalized specs, pricing and maintenance information – on more than 14,000 products and 550 manufacturers of T&M equipment, including oscilloscopes, calibrators and network analyzers. T&M equipment is critical in the development and production of today’s electronic products ranging from cellular phones to automobiles to satellites.
TestMart™ also serves as a marketplace for buying and selling new, used and refurbished T&M equipment. More than 10,000 products are available for sale, rental or lease and users can complete end-to-end transactions with the site’s secure Buy Online and Sell Online features. TestMart operates on a transaction-based business model in which it acts as a principal – taking title of new and used equipment and receiving a profit on all shipments. All new equipment carries the manufacturer’s full product warranty. TestMart provides a best-of-class warranty for all used and refurbished equipment. testmart.com also presents current industry news and articles from leading industry analysts and publishers.
According to Peter Ostrow, president and CEO of TestMart, “testmart.com is in the process of dismissing the idea that e-commerce Web sites cannot be profitable and we’ve done it by simply leveling the playing field for the test industry. There is no other place where test and measurement equipment users can access the volume of information that we offer. Our data, gathered over the years by industry experts and updated daily, covers the entire industry. We offer our users one channel for reliable and unbiased test and measurement product descriptions, identifying their product needs and making secure end-to-end purchases based on those needs.”
“In a relatively new and crowded arena, TestMart is distinguishing itself by identifying the biggest problem facing the test industry. At present, manufacturers contribute to customer confusion by defining their tools using different benchmarks, making it tough to compare items across vendors,” says Kevin Jones, CEO and co-founder of Net Market Makers. “TestMart solves the problem by normalizing the output levels used by all the manufacturers to create apples-to-apples comparisons so that customers can easily determine the equipment and pricing they want, with the option to purchase on the site. That’s a huge value, and it’s a great example of the way that just the right content is making a difference in B2B e-commerce.”