knowLedgeThe Product Findability Advantage: Insights from Our 2025 Product Forum

Four manufacturing companies. One day. One burning question: Why are qualified buyers struggling to find and purchase our products online?

What we discovered was striking: the companies that figure out how to transform their deep technical knowledge into discoverable, educational buyer journeys aren't just improving their websites—they're positioning themselves as the essential problem-solvers in their markets.

The Hidden Crisis

Most manufacturers treat product findability as a mere housekeeping task, a back-office chore relegated to junior employees. These companies are missing a massive opportunity to leverage their deepest competitive asset: decades of invaluable application knowledge trapped in static PDFs and the heads of veteran technical experts. When these specialists retire or leave, that knowledge walks out the door with them.

This knowledge isn't just trapped - it's scattered. Product specifications live in one system, application data in another, regulatory documents in a third. Sales teams maintain their own spreadsheets of customer use cases, while technical teams have folders full of performance data. When a customer engages with your company, they're likely only seeing a fraction of what you know about a product.

The Competitive Stakes

Meanwhile, customer expectations have fundamentally shifted. Buyers now expect Amazon-like discovery experiences, even in complex B2B industrial markets. They're doing 70% or more of their research before ever contacting sales, which means if your products aren't easily discoverable and understandable online, you're not even in the conversation.

Companies that prioritize and solve product findability will gain a massive competitive advantage. This isn't just about building better catalogs; it's about market positioning and driving revenue growth. The transformation involves systematically capturing expert knowledge before it's lost, understanding diverse visitor intent—whether it's a formulator, procurement manager, or executive—and creating educational discovery paths that reveal problems buyers didn't even know they had.

The AI Acceleration

This transformation is accelerating faster than most realize. AI-powered search is shifting from novelty to necessity, meaning buyers will soon expect conversational product discovery. Instead of browsing catalogs, they'll ask specific questions like "What solvent works best for removing adhesive residue at high temperatures?" or "Which corrosion inhibitor performs in saltwater environments?" and expect intelligent, contextual answers. The manufacturers who've systematically captured and structured their expert knowledge will feed these AI systems. Those who haven't will be invisible.

What We Discovered

During our forum, several insights emerged that reframed the entire challenge. One participant noted, "Customers don't know the extent of products offered," while another raised a critical concern: "How do we become a clearinghouse for solutions within a certain framework of chemistries?" But perhaps most telling was this observation: "Users don't know the questions to ask - how can we reveal the questions they should be asking as they browse the catalog?"

That's when it clicked. This isn't about catalog organization or website improvement. It's about creating sustainable competitive advantage.

The Bottom Line

The manufacturers who crack this code—capturing expert knowledge, understanding visitor intent, and creating educational discovery paths—will fundamentally change how B2B buyers engage with their products. They'll own the conversation in their market segments while their competitors become invisible.

The question isn't whether buyers will find what they need. It's whether they'll find it from you.