N.G.A. Launches Online Supplies and Services Guide

The National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) has introduced the N.G.A. Grocery Supplies and Services Guide. Access to the Grocery Supplies and Services Guide. The online resource is available at www.nationalgrocers.org, located just under the Home button. According to the Arlington, Va.-based trade organization, the guide provides a wide range of products and services exclusively for the grocery retail and wholesale industry that will aid users in their buying decisions year-round.

N.G.A. developed the resource in partnership with Irving, Texas-based MultiView Inc., a publisher of electronic buyer and supplier guides. The aim was to create the top search engine for retail and wholesale grocers on the lookout for food items, equipment, or store design and technology solutions.

Within the guide, users can perform keyword-driven or category-specific searches, either method producing what the N.G.A. called “the most industry-relevant results on the Web.” The guide additionally enables users to contact participating suppliers for information or quotes directly by e-mail from company listings. Thanks to a downloadable desktop search application, users can quickly and easily search for items directly from a small search window on their desktops.

As well as providing graphically robust company listings, direct website hyperlinks and e-mail generation capacity, the guide lets supplier companies add videos to their listings, thereby granting users immediate access to video-formatted information and promotions that will help them easily obtain needed products and services. Another option, the Product Showcase, offers front-page rotation of select products that link directly back to a company's website. Further, suppliers can purchase keywords to optimize their exposure in search results.