Prevalence of US Steel Sales through Online Channels

• Initial research suggests that quantitative information is somewhat limited related to the current level of investment and adoption of online channels for steel sales in the US.
• However, industry researchers (e.g., Grand View Research) and credible media sources (e.g., S&P Global Platts) indicate that steel sales in the US as well as globally are increasingly transitioning to digital channels. A few related data points:
• According to a May 2019 article by S&P Global Platts, the "overall buying and selling of steel" in America remains "comparatively analog."
• S&P Global Platts adds that historically, attempts to shift steel sales to digital channels have been challenged by the volume of data that is required to complete a steel transaction.
• However, November 2019 reporting by Grand View Research notes that the "increasing pace of online sales" of steel in the US and other countries is beginning to shape the the internal operations of steelmakers.
• In response, Cleveland, Ohio-based startup Felux launched a new online marketplace in mid-2019 to facilitate the purchase and sale of steel in America.
• Notably, the company currently collects fees of less than 1% from its sellers, and intends to expand an initial focus on flat-rolled products to eventually include long products.
• Meanwhile, other current distributors of steel products in the US include MetalsDepot, Metal Supermarkets and OnlineMetals.
• Although there appears to be no publicly available, pre-compiled information regarding the most common features used on online portals in this industry, the preceding four online retailers of steel in the US may be evaluated for such data.