Digi-Key's 2014 European Sales Revenue Hits Record Levels

Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, the industry leader in electronic component selection, availability and delivery, today announced exceptionally strong growth in Europe, averaging 26-percent growth year-over-year across the entire region. The company attributes this rapid sales growth to its continued global expansion of local sales and support resources and the strength of its next generation, hybrid distribution model which combines ecommerce savvy with personalized value-add services.

Consistently ranked as the most preferred distributor in North America, European buyers are quickly embracing the company’s customer-centric infrastructure and high-value supply chain resources that support the entire product design process, from Prototype to Production®.

“European contract manufacturers and OEMs are seeking out ways to shorten their cycle time and speed time to market,” said Chris Beeson, EVP of Sales and Supplier Management. “With Digi-Key, they not only benefit from an unmatched selection of in stock products but they also gain personalized services in support of their demanding supply chain requirements. Today, we’re rapidly gaining customers in the EMEA region because now they’re discovering that Digi-Key, with the support of our suppliers, is becoming a viable solution.”

Digi-Key’s unique hybrid distribution model is centered around a vast inventory of available components and the ability to quickly process and ship high-mix, low volume orders, guaranteeing same-day shipping for orders. Besides rapid fulfillment, contract manufacturers and OEMs benefit from Digi-Key’s long tail model by eliminating inventory risk, accelerating time to market and benefiting from an assurance of product supply.

Local Sales & Support Team

In 2012, Digi-Key announced an expanded European sales support team including regional sales directors and a local sales and support office located in Munich. The company has continued to recruit experienced industry professionals to support a rapidly growing customer base. Today, Digi-Key employs over 80 sales and support professionals in Europe, based in the field and/or in the central European office.

EMEA Sales Directors:

• Hermann Reiter, Central/Eastern Europe
• Ian Wallace, U.K. and Ireland
• Stefan Wihlgaard, Nordics & Baltic Regions
• Vincenzo Purgatorio, Southern Europe/North Africa
• David Mahal, Israel & Russia

“With feet on the street in each European region, we can personally educate engineers and buyers on the unique value of Digi-Key’s hybrid model,” said Kris Haggstrom, VP Sales for EMEA. “Digi-Key has exactly what European buyers are seeking, and now with expanded localization, we’ve made it even easier to do business with Digi-Key.”

Localized Services

Along with establishing a physical presence, Digi-Key recognizes the importance of a local customer experience for European buyers. Based on customer feedback and regional considerations in regards to fulfillment, customer service and online infrastructure, Digi-Key continues to add improved processes and services to enable the best possible user experience for its European customer base.

“Our company has built a reputation of top-level service, a tradition that we fully intend to uphold for all customers, no matter where they are located in the world,” said Linda Johnson, VP of Global Sales Operations for Digi-Key. “Customer service is one of our core values and is central to the Digi-Key brand. Bottom line, we listen to what our customers tell us they need from Digi-Key and respond with enhanced functionality and services.”

Over the past few months, the company has made several updates to improve the ease of doing business with Digi-Key in Europe.

According to Johnson, some of the more significant improvements include the following:

• Expanded non-resident programs to streamline imports and speed customs clearance
• Improved web site localization with more language translations and currency support
• Simplified and improved export processes
• Incorporated global punch-out catalogs (OCI & cXML) for integration into ERP systems
• Simplified the new account application process

To learn more about how Digi-Key can support your design from Prototype to Production, visit www.digikey.com.

About Digi-Key Corporation

Digi-Key Corporation, based in Thief River Falls, Minn., is a global, full-service provider of both prototype/design and production quantities of electronic components, offering more than four million products from over 650 quality name-brand manufacturers. With over one million products in stock and an impressive selection of online resources, Digi-Key is committed to stocking the broadest range of electronic components in the industry and providing the best service possible to its customers. Additional information and access to Digi-Key’s broad product offering is available at www.digikey.com.

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Contact information

Editorial Contact for Digi-Key Corporation
Kayla Krosschell, 1-218-681-8000 x1098
Corporate Communications Specialist
Kayla.Krosschell@digikey.com
publicrelations@digikey.com