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Automation Direct: Overall Rating 94%

Company receives 94% on website review.

Wow. Not a technical term, but wow applies. This company has out-Graingered Grainger in terms of offering a very broad selection of products in an easily navigated, easy-on-the-eyes manner.

Leaning much more towards a retail consumer site (as more industrial web designers should), this destination offers not only formidable product-related, but full online shopping functionality, l wonderful tech support and download areas, and active user forums. Basic product info, deeper product data, manuals, CAD drawings, technical and application notes, cross references, software updates—they’re all present and accounted for.

For some products, videos are also presented.  If that’s not enough, the company also offers refurb’d products online and inventory reduction specials.

If you’ve ever wondered while surfing, “Why don’t industrial sites do this?”, Automation Direct probably does it—right down to customer reviews (which will be better once more visitors use this feature). The only place we could find that’s lacking is whitepapers/case studies.

By our system, they’ll have to lose a point for that, even though many other forms of content arguably make up for this shortcoming.

  • Wow.
  • With one minor exception, everything an industrial buyer could want is right here—and it’s extremely well organized and easy to navigate.
  • Very, very thorough site; one of the best industrial sites we’ve reviewed.
  • All that plus Amazon-like free ground shipping. What’s not to like?
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