Leading Industrial Supplier Makes It Easy for Customers to Purchase through the Channel of Their Choice

Responding to customers’ expressed wishes for easy access to the company’s broad range of industrial products, 3M has created the 3M eStore. At the new site, customers in the 48 contiguous United States can purchase from a large and growing selection of 3M products with a simple credit card transaction.

“We’re one of the largest industrial suppliers in the world,” said H.C. Shin, executive vice president, 3M Industrial and Transportation Business, “but we know that our customers aren’t aware of our full product line. By opening the 3M eStore, we are placing our products in more locations where our customers can purchase them. In addition, if they tell us they’re interested, we’ll connect them directly to one of our authorized distributors to set up an ongoing relationship. Our number one goal is to make sure our customers can find and purchase 3M products the way they want.”

There is a tremendous opportunity to share our broad product line with industrial customers and to help solve their problems. “3M eStore is, in my eyes, the mechanism that will allow us to penetrate the large number of end user customers in our lead markets that don’t buy from us, as well as build the 3M brand. We see it as a new pull-through method,” said Patrick Deconinck, vice president, Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division – the organization sponsoring the 3M eStore. Research shows that the more people know about 3M products, the stronger the 3M brand and its benefit to 3M, to the company’s distributors and to its customers.

“We’re also involving our existing distributors in this effort, continued Shin. “We’ve encouraged them to join us in this venture by providing resources to deliver and support subsequent customer orders, just as they would through their own direct contacts. If a customer chooses, they are connected to a nearby authorized distributor to establish a relationship for future sales of 3M products. It’s a win-win plan for us, for our distributors and our mutual customers.”

For further information, visit www.3MeStore.com or call 1-800-234-8068.

About 3M - A Global, Diversified Technology Company

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3MConnie Thompson, 651-733-8914http://www.3m.com/PressContact