It's here! After several months of nips, tucks, beta testing and staged rollouts, Tech Data officially launched

the new techdata.com on May 21. The new site sports cleaner navigation and enhanced features, including customizable Web 2.0 elements and new search functionality.

"Our goal is to ensure techdata.com remains the most powerful B-to-B e-business portal in the industry," says Tech Data Executive Vice President and CIO John Tonnison. "Whether purchasing product, researching pricing, building quotes, tracking shipments or obtaining sales leads, resellers rely on Tech Data every day to support all aspects of their businesses. No other distributor offers vendors and resellers the wealth of business-building tools and resources that Tech Data does through techdata.com."

Because Tech Data's website offers so many time-saving tools, resellers can spend time focusing on developing their businesses rather than looking for difficult-to-find software license SKUs or special pricing promotions. The enhancements on techdata.com make it easier for resellers to quickly get what they need at the best price available. And, it's not over yet. Tech Data is moving toward a consumer-class website and will continue to add new features to reach that goal.

For Resellers By Resellers

Because the overall website redesign was undertaken to make the site easier to navigate and use, part of the development process included garnering feedback from resellers.

"We piloted the new site with Tech Data's TechSelect reseller community, giving them exclusive access to the new site for a few months in exchange for feedback," says IT Development Manager Jeanwill Marcelin. "After a few minor tweaks, it was fine-tuned to increase ease of use and efficiency."

Web 2.0 Customization

Much like the iGoogle page, users can now arrange widgets on the techdata.com home page just by clicking and dragging them to a position that best fits their workflow. The widgets also can be disabled if the user finds they don't need them. This customization capability is just one of the many new perks.

"All the updated e-business tools and features make it even easier for me to do business with Tech Data," says Sales Engineer Tim Purdue of Colorado-based reseller Automation Concepts Company. "The moveable widgets really help me optimize my workflow on techdata.com," he continues. "For instance, I research SKUs and find the best price, but I have someone else who orders them for me. Since I don't actually place orders, the ordering widgets aren't useful to my workflow, so I moved them to the bottom of the page. However, the recent search tool and quick links widgets are very helpful, so I keep those at the top of my page. It saves a few seconds of scrolling every time I use the site. That can really add up over time."

Other improvements include the drop-down menus. "This gives the site a clean feel," says President of reseller AIT Computers Ali Ahmed. "There's just one row of tabs along the top of the home page. It's clean, organized and easy to navigate."

"I'm thrilled with the new drop-down tabs and quick links sidebar," says Tiger Direct B2B Buyer Antonio Shorts.

New Tools

But the changes are more than skin deep. Tech Data has added time-saving functionality that isn't available anywhere else in the channel today.

"Our website supports a new generation of e-business tools," says Tonnison. "We're going further than we ever have to integrate techdata.com with our own internal systems to create a host of exclusive tools that will dramatically enhance our resellers' online interactions with Tech Data."

MyGovBids-the first e-business tool designed for the new techdata.com- provides access to government bids 24 hours a day. Resellers no longer have to spend time and resources to store, archive and track their active government bids. This online tool stores all government bids resellers create with Tech Data for 180 days, enabling them to quickly search, access and review the information.

Another widget is the express SKU selector called MyQuickOrder. With it, resellers can add four SKUs at a time to their cart directly from the home page. Another tool, My Favorites, archives the reseller's most frequently purchased items so they can quickly add them to their cart. Plus, the Recent Search tool enables users to initiate one of their last five product searches in one click. "These tools make it even easier for our customers to find and order exactly what they need," says Marcelin.

Perhaps the most revolutionary new tool in final development is the software SKU selector. Traditionally, finding the right software license has been a complex undertaking, so much so that many resellers avoid selling software despite the high margins. To eliminate the headaches associated with finding the correct software license SKU based on the end-user parameters, Tech Data will be rolling out a new software SKU selector that enables resellers to identify the correct SKU through a series of guided questions.

Once the SKUs the reseller is looking for are identified, he or she can take advantage of enhanced product details and May We Suggest items. "Adding items to the cart is much easier since the site suggests compatible products," says Ahmed. "For example, I ordered a HP RD100 removable drive and it immediately showed the cartridges needed for the device, so I added two to my cart. It saved time." And the intuitive features don't stop there.

When checking out, the reseller will automatically get special pricing associated with the products in the cart via the promo search tool. "This is huge. While this feature was available on the old site, making promos an automatic addition to the cart saves time and puts money in my pocket. All the discounts I can take advantage of are instantly applied to my total," says Ahmed.

Another home page tool shows resellers' MyLeadTracker suggestions, enabling them to view these opportunities at a glance.

And finally, Tech Data is in the process of developing a smartphone application that will enable resellers to view invoices and check product pricing and availability directly from an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android.

"All of these enhancements are expediting reseller visits to techdata.com, leaving them with more time to focus on their customers," says Tonnison.

"Overall, I find myself using techdata.com more than ever before because it's easier to navigate," says Purdue. "It's not just easier to use than the old site, in some cases, it's easier to use than competing sites."