Introducing Z-Commerce

Zekelman Industries has been known as the leader in innovation in the steel tubing industry. When it comes to E-Commerce, or as we call it “Z-Commerce,” Zekelman is paving the way. Zekelman has created an online purchasing experience that has been in the works for a while and now that it is launched we are excited to share how we MAKE IT eZ for you, our customer!

What is Z Commerce? What does it enable customers to do that they couldn’t before?

Z-Commerce is Zekelman Industries’ online customer portal that provides customers access to our products and ordering information that they didn’t have before. It also allows customers to access real-time product availability information. It also allows customers to track open orders and shipments. In addition, customers can also place orders directly with Zekelman Industries’ brands, via Z-Commerce. In the past, customers would have to send their orders in to a Customer Service Representative (CSR), and wait for the CSR to tell them if the products they wanted to order were in stock and could deliver in the requested time frame. Z-Commerce puts that information at the customer’s fingertips, allowing them to be more efficient in the buying process, helping them make better buying decisions.

Why E-Commerce instead of sticking with traditional sales?

Zekelman Industries is working hard to improve our customer’s overall experience when conducting business with us. We want to make the transactions easier. One of the ways to do that is to give customers access to more information and simplify the buying process.

How does Z-Commerce compare to others in the industry? Are others in the steel tubing industry getting into E-Commerce?

We don’t see many competitors in the steel tube manufacturing space offering a similar e-commerce platform to distributors/wholesalers. Only a few have this option, and those solutions are at least 5-10 years old. Zekelman is pushing the envelope by leveraging today’s technology to improve the customer’s experience.

This isn’t an easy feat, as a matter of fact it’s is very challenging and requires a significant investment in internal systems, personnel, and resources. That may be a barrier for other manufacturers wanting to move quickly to offer a similar solution. With the way that the world transacts business today, everyone is looking for that Amazon model and some industries are going to be forced to explore transacting this way sooner rather than later. Zekelman has decided that our time is now.

What has the initial feedback been from our customers on Z-Commerce?

Customer feedback has been very positive since we launched Z-Commerce to our steel pipe and fence customers. They like the simple user interface and unprecedented access to product availability and order information. The goal is to add value to our customers’ processes and to make their jobs easier. The feedback we have received so far confirms that Z-Commerce does that.

What do customers have to look forward to with Z-Commerce?

The platform will continue to evolve. We will launch stores for other Zekelman product lines and add new features that will continue to improve the user’s experience.

This tool was developed to help make the customer’s experience easier by providing detailed information and streamlining the purchasing process of steel tubing. And to make this service available 24/7. I encourage our customers to give us feedback on how the portal should continue to evolve to bring more value to them. This will only help us to create a better online experience.

Watch the video below to see an introduction of how it really works!