Fort Worth, TX - September 20, 2010 - A recent study finds that 85 percent of responding facility service providers use the Internet to learn about floor care equipment before making a purchasing decision.

In fact, nearly 60 percent indicated that "about half" to "more than half" of their selection research time is conducted on the Internet. Further, more than half, 53 percent go directly to the manufacturer's Web sites to learn about the equipment.

The study was commissioned by Powr-Flite , a leading manufacturer of floor care equipment and other professional cleaning tools. It was conducted by AlturaSolutions Communications, a Chicago-based communications firm for the professional cleaning industry.

As to actually buying online, 32 percent indicated that none of their floor care purchases or decision making are done online but nearly 68 percent indicate they do purchase floor care equipment online one-third to one-half the time.

"We also wanted to know why end users select floor care equipment online and why they do not purchase online," says Gary Pelphrey, general manager of Powr-Flite. "The two key reasons the respondents said they purchase online were for the convenience (25 percent) and [to make] price comparisons (23 percent)."

Other key reasons for purchasing online according to Pelphrey were these:

• [Better] product selection: 16 percent
• Better pricing: 18 percent
• More product information: 14 percent

On the other hand, the fact that the end user cannot "closely inspect the machine" was the main reason 35 percent of the respondents do not purchasing online. Other key reasons cited:

• Shipping costs: 23 percent
• Concerns about returning the merchandise: 21 percent
• Delivery concerns (timely deliver, damaged merchandise, etc.): 16 percent

"We were happy that many of the respondents indicated they had a positive experience [when visiting] our Web site," Pelphrey says. "Of course we are proud of this and continue to work to further improve the site."