Experian Debuts Web-Based Business Data Tool
Experian, Costa Mesa, CA, announced today the launch of BizInfo Online, its new Web-based tool that contains data on more than 12 million U.S. businesses from Experian's National Business Database.BizInfo Online is Experian's first subscription-based research tool providing data on small and midsize businesses.
"We have another service called BizInsight that allows users to access mailing lists with a credit card, and we had a lot of feedback from users that said it was great but they wanted a service that would allow them to look up individual companies," said Craig Whitney, senior marketing director of access solutions and market intelligence at Experian.
BizInfo Online lets users look up companies for research purposes and download mailing lists. The database can be segmented in numerous ways including standard industry classification codes, company size, company revenue and geographic location down to ZIP code or even street.
Individual company reports include data such as name, address, URL, phone number, industry, sales range and employee size. The tool also lets users access a company's Experian Commercial Intelliscore credit rating. A separate Experian product called SmartBusinessReports provides access to business credit reports but BizInfo Online links to that to provide the information.
Aside from marketing, the tool would be useful for research and development and mergers and acquisitions, Whitney said.
"It was designed with marketers in mind but also with corporate librarians and researchers in mind and other people who need to get a better understanding of markets and businesses," he said.
Ease of use was a priority for Experian when it created the system, Whitney said.
"When we built it, the key design goal we had was to make it as easy to use as possible," he said. "We didn't want it to require any training because we recognize that the users will be people who want to get information quickly."
Though Whitney couldn't cite a direct competitor, he said the tool was similar to infoUSA's OneSource Business Browser.
Pricing for BizInfo Online is being finalized but Whitney said the subscription cost varies by the number of users within a company. More information about BizInfo Online can be found at http://www.experian.com/products/bizinfo.html
Kristen Bremner covers list news, insert media, privacy and fundraising for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
