Web Tool FAQs

If these FAQs do not address your issue, please contact the Electronic Commerce Help Desk at:

U.S. Support Line: 800-222-7926
U.S. Fax: 727-538-5823
Canadian Support Line: 800-334-2445
Latin America / Caribbean Support Line: 727-532-8850

How do I log in?

On the right side of the screen towards the top there is a computer icon with a link titled "My Account Login". Click this link to go to the login page. Enter your user id and password and click the login button. This will allow you access to all of our secured search and ordering tools.  (back to top)

What's new about the www.techdata.com website?

Our new website is designed by resellers for resellers. We responded to a strong business need to offer assistance in providing intelligent add-on suggestions. Additionally, the new site has been improved to offer you increased efficiency in locating products through several searching enhancements.    (back to top)

Why did the site change in appearance?

The look of our website changed to provide easier site navigation and to accomodate our new search and sales tools.  (back to top)

How have the product search tools been improved?

We've added product aisles across the top of each page. You can now drill down through these categories to the subcategory, then down to attributes to find the products you're looking for. Our new search engine returns results based on relevancy (those products most relevant to the search keywords appear nearest to the top). Results are also based on a list of synonyms commonly substituted for search keywords entered. We've added a "Did you mean" tool to display possible spelling corrections/suggestions. In addition, our search results are now unlimited. (Note: The "Legacy" searches still have a limit of 600 products.)  (back to top)

What is the purpose of Featured Products, Top Sellers, May We Suggest, and People Who Bought This Also Bought …?

Our new site is designed with resellers in mind, crafted to provide you with valuable upsell and cross-sell opportunities to engage your customer and increase your business.  You can use these features to more effectively sell add-on products.  (back to top)

How will Tech Data's web site assist me in making more revenue?

Our new search engine will help you find the product you're looking for faster which will help with your productivity. Also, by displaying additional information such as Featured Products, Top Sellers, May We Suggest, and People Who Bought This Item Also Bought..., we will show you items that are relevant to the purchase you're already making. These are items you may have overlooked or not even considered that you're customer may also need. Knowledge of these items could help you make that extra sale to your customer.  (back to top)

Where did the configuration tools go?

The configuration tools are still there, located on the left side bar under the Support heading.  (back to top)

The old search tools are renamed Legacy Category Search and Legacy Category Map. Does this imply they are going away at some point?

The old search tools will be phased out as they are limited in their functionality. The new search tools provide unlimited search results, “Did You Mean?” and Thesaurus suggestions. The legacy search tools are provided in the transition to the new web site.  (back to top)

Will my browser bookmarks still work?

Yes, our page names haven't changed so you will still be able to use your old bookmarks.  (back to top)

Where do I find the content that was previously on the home page?

All of the content still exists. The information from the home page is provided in the links at the top of our site and within the left side bar.  (back to top)

What Internet browsers are support by Tech Data's web site?

Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's browsers are still supported on our site.  (back to top)

How can I learn more about the features on Tech Data's web site?

We will soon have new tutorials on the site to walk you through the new search functionality and site navigation.

In addition, you can attend a free 75 minute demonstration of the techdata.com's new features, including navigation, searching, My Menu, and site personalization functionality. It is held every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. EST and you can register online. Register Now!  (back to top)

What are "Top Selling Items"?

These items are derived from analyzing patterns of invoices across all resellers to identify most prevalent items in a given category. Relevancy is based upon navigation throughout the site. Top Sellers can be most effectively utilized as an aid in helping you identify the hot selling items to your end user.  (back to top)

What is "May We Suggest"?

These are items published by both manufacturers and our product marketing teams to provide relevant add-ons related to products being purchased. Recommendations will vary from time to time based upon industry trends, special deals, and other factors to provide extra tools.  (back to top)

What are "Featured Products"?

These are items that may be of interest based on category selected, new items stocked, or special offerings from vendors.  (back to top)

What is "People Who Bought This Item Also Bought..."?

These are items identified by analyzing the purchasing habits of our resellers. The most frequent combinations are provided as potential add-on sales opportunities to use with your end user.  (back to top)

What is the purpose of the tabs at the top of the screen?

As part of Tech Data's committment in making our site easier for you to use, the common feature of displaying product categories on every page, similar to consumer websites, has been added. These tabs allow users to navigate through our product heirarchies.  (back to top)

How do I search for products??

You have multiple ways to search for product on our site. The product aisles (tabs) across the top of each screen allow you to access any of our categories and drill down to subcategory and then attribute. See our help section titled New Category Search for step by step instructions. You can search by keyword by entering a value in the input box located towards the top of the left side bar. For step by step instructions on using that search please see our help section titled Keyword Search. You can also still use the "legacy" Category Search or Category Map search features.  (back to top)

What are the icons on the search results page for?

On the search results page, we strive to provide as much information as possible about a product but have a limited area of space in order to do so. To remedy this, we show icons to convey certain information. The meaning of those icons are as follows:

What are the icons at the top upper right of the screen for?

In the upper right hand corner of several of our tool screens you will see several icons and a link. From left to right the icons are as follows:

Why do Tech Data EC User IDs expire?

Tech Data has implemented features that will increase the security of your Tech Data Electronic Commerce User Name/ID and Password. Occasionally, you will be reminded if your login credentials are not valid or will soon expire. Please take the opportunity to keep your information current. We will be expiring passwords on a regular basis. As such, you should NOT "hard code" (auto-save) login and/or password information as credentials are subject to change. Tech Data reserves the right to inactivate an EC User ID without notification after 6 months of no login activity.  (back to top)

Why Do I Have To Keep Logging In?

In general, high-traffic web sites such as Tech Data's www.techdata.com have to employ measures to ensure satisfactory performance under high demand conditions. Server load balancing, clustering technology and application tuning are some of the strategies utilized for optimal web site performance. In addition, every high capacity web site also has to contend with managing server memory, and Tech Data is no different. This technique is implemented in numerous ways and often a connection timeout value is utilized. We have employed this technique to manage server memory ever since the launch of our web site in 1997. The connection timeout basically recognizes the last time a reseller has accessed our web site and if it exceeds 45 minutes of inactivity, the user’s session encounters a timeout. Without this feature, any high-traffic web site would see a decline in performance throughout the day. Tech Data has implemented a feature that can save your login information to a cookie stored on your local machine. To use this feature click on the appropriate check box on the Tech Data login page.  (back to top)

I've Logged In - Why Can't I Move Past The Login Screen?

If you are coming in to the Tech Data web site through a proxy server at your location, your local configuration may have incompatibilities that prevent you from moving off the login screen, even though you have entered a valid login ID and password. If this is an issue for you, check the "Use SSL for entire Session" checkbox located at the bottom of the Customer Login screen to resolve the problem.  (back to top)

What Is A Cookie?

A cookie is a message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file and the message is sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and prepare customized Web pages for them. For example, when you enter a Web site that uses cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing information such as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser, which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can then use this information to present you with custom Web pages, i.e., you might see a welcome page with your name of it instead of seeing just a generic welcome page.(courtesy of http://www.webopedia.com)  (back to top)

What Is A Session?

A session is the period of activity that a user with a unique IP address spends on a Web site during a specified timeframe. The number of user sessions on a site is used in measuring the amount of traffic a Web site gets. A web site administrator will determine what the time frame of a user session will be on a given web site, i.e., user sessions at Tech Data are set for 45 minutes. If a visitor comes back to the site within that set time period, it is still considered one user session because any number of visits within that 45 minutes will only count as one session. If the visitor returns to the site after the allotted time period has expired, then it is counted as a separate user session.(courtesy of http://www.webopedia.com)  (back to top)

Why Do I Have Difficulty Viewing Certain Pages On Your Web Site?

Various internet security, anti-spam, or firewall hardware/software products may sometimes inadvertently block/restrict access to web pages. If you are able to view the web site when you bypass the applicable product, your system administrator may need to review your existing system settings.  (back to top)

If these FAQs do not address your issue, please contact the Electronic Commerce Help Desk at: U.S. Support Line: 800-222-7926
U.S. Fax: 727-538-5823
Canadian Support Line: 800-334-2445
Latin America / Caribbean Support Line: 727-532-8850  (back to top)