Canadian Packaging Machinery Market Research Report - PMMI

The Next Level of Importance
A number of other factors were also considered to be important purchase drivers but
at a lower level of importance than the top four. Also there was less unanimity
among purchasers as many of these elements were viewed differently by different
elements within the market. These factors were:
• Service and technical support
- This referred to the ready availability of service, the quality of service and the
types of service offered. Some felt strongly that good service and technical
support must actually be available inside Canada while most did not need it to
be located in Canada providing it was readily available when needed. Service
and technical support was much more important for smaller companies and
those with few in-house technical personnel.
• Experience in the respondent’s industry
- This is another element that is viewed differently by different types of
purchasers. Although most would prefer that the supplier have solid previous
experience with their industry, it was considered to be much more important
for smaller companies or those without fully staffed in-house engineering
departments.
• Brand/supplier reputation
- This is closely associated with the previous point, although there was much
less variability from company to company.
• Previous experience with the supplier or brand
- This was rated somewhat lower than brand/supplier reputation but was still of
medium importance to most purchasers. However, a number of those
interviewed stated that this factor is becoming less important as changing
times have led to less supplier loyalty.
• Up-to-date technology
- Up-to-date technology received a mid-level importance rating because
purchasers did not want up-to-date technology merely for the sake of having
‘today’s toys’. However, they did want technology that provided true,
meaningful benefit to their firms.
Price as a Factor
• Price was in a category by itself. As noted, providing the price quoted was
reasonably within the market range, other factors were considered to be more
important purchase drivers. High price can kill a deal but low price usually will not
compensate for the lack of some of the other important factors. (A number of
respondents reported that they were not able to afford certain brands or had not
purchased others because they felt the added price did not provide sufficient
added value.) However, if all other factors are judged to be relatively equal, price
can be the deciding factor.
There is, however, a portion of the market for which price is the most important
factor. It was not possible to identify the common characteristics of these pricesensitive
purchasers, although there was a tendency for them to be among the
smaller purchasers or those that did not have national or international distribution.
SMG/Columbia Consulting Group Page 18