SANTA CLARA, Calif. Internet communications, commerce and media company Yahoo! Inc. recently announced the launch of Yahoo! Industry Marketplaces (http://industrymarketplaces.yahoo.com), a B2B destination for information and services that enables industry professionals to research products, find the latest industry news and make purchasing decisions.
The initial launch of Yahoo! Industry Marketplaces includes three areas: Electronics, IT Software and IT Hardware. Each marketplace will provide business owners and professionals, including purchasing decision makers, hardware and software engineers, software designers, large system designers, system architects, electronics engineers and electronics components buyers with targeted information and services, research capabilities from product databases, industry-specific news and a rich-media Webcast center.
Millions of business purchase decision-makers are already using Yahoo! to search the Internet for industry news, gather information and purchase products, said Shannon Ledger, vice president and general manager of production at Yahoo! Highly focused business destinations around key areas, such as hardware, software and electronics, are the next logical step for us to better serve those users and add more depth to our business services. We designed the marketplaces for professionals who need the most relevant and up-to-date information quickly and in a format that is easy to use.
Yahoo! is the No. 1 destination site for at-work users, with 67.5 percent work reach (Nielsen/NetRatings, December 2000), and 18.4 million business purchase decision-makers visit Yahoo! (Mediamark, Fall 2000, Wave 43). According to GartnerGroup, the volume of nonfinancial goods and services sold through business-to-business e-commerce is expected to reach $7.3 trillion by the year 2004.
Each marketplace in Yahoo! Industry Marketplaces is a focused industry specific site that efficiently organizes a wide range of targeted information from Yahoo! and leading B2B. Each marketplace features industry-leading solutions providers and has a distinct combination of information resources and tools for users:
Electronics Marketplace (http://industrymarketplaces.yahoo.com/electronics) is a targeted location for business users to find product information, research sellers and buyers of specific components and keep up to date on the latest electronic industry news and trends. The Electronics Marketplace Resource Center features:
· A procurement site co-branded with USBid, an e-commerce provider of content, community and commerce for the electronic component sourcing community that provides a global online exchange for the purchase of electronic components.
· Headlines from Cahners Business Information, North America's largest provider of business information, including the latest electronics industry news, feature stories and product reviews. Users can personalize and add news content to a My Yahoo! (http://my.yahoo.com) page and have the latest industry specific headlines at their fingertips.
· A comprehensive supplier database featuring product headings from Thomas Register, which allows users to search for sources of industrial products and services through a directory of 168,000 U.S. and Canadian manufacturers.
· A Webcast Center, which will feature streamed video and audio programming of industry-specific information, including video product releases, Internet-only shows, product training and instructional seminars.
· Professional development tools and information on upcoming tradeshows and seminars.
