Hoovers targets business-to-consumer e-commerce

With the introduction of a low-priced product aimed at job seekers, database and information services company Hoovers Inc. is rolling out an ambitious business-to-consumer e-commerce strategy.

Later this month Hoovers, which typically sells market and industry information to businesses, will target consumers and e-commerce with the launch of Jobseekers, a web-based product that for a $19.95 acccess fee enables consumers looking for a job at a particular employer or preparing for an interview to research a company online and then generate a report.

With Jobseekers, which Hoovers plans to roll out this month, consumers in a single report can access a wide range of company and industry-specific data, including key executives, financial summaries, stock market history, competitors, recent news and other information.

With the launch of Jobseekers, Hoovers also sees an opportunity to leverage its database of business information on more than 30 million corporations and organizations and more than 35 million names, to sell to a wider consumer audience. “The overall goal is to expand more into e-commerce,” says Hoovers e-commerce and books leader Dan Tharp. “This is our first true consumer created product.”

Hoovers is hitting the online consumer market at a time when the national unemployment rate stands at 9.5% and is expected to head higher. “We have a lot of customer value we can bring to this market,” says Tharp.

In addition to expanding its consumer base, Hoovers also will target very small companies with a fuller range of information products delivered online. “Consumers and micro businesses preference is to purchase via e-commerce,” says Tharp.