COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Industrial Plastics B2B E-commerce

MOCAP Competitor Analysis Summary

Overview

After analysing around 14 competitors and their complete user journeys, the industrial plastics/protective components market reveals three distinct strategic positions, not just two:

Opportunity

MOCAP’s current position: Stuck between #1 and #2, executing neither well.

MOCAP’s opportunity: Own position #3 by being the only few players that makes complex industrial purchasing and searching feel effortless.

Core finding

MOCAP’s 80% product page bounce rate stems from UX friction, not product quality. Seems like in B2B industrial, ease of buying > price advantage.

MOCAP looks like it competes on: Product quality, price, manufacturing. Buyers actually choose based on: Speed of finding products, confidence in choice, ease of ordering

Even with better prices/quality/shipping, 80% bounce rate = UX is the blocker

Key Patterns Across 14 Competitors

Information Architecture Evolution

Old approach (failing): Product taxonomy

• Products > Caps > Threaded Caps > ST-300 Series

Modern approach (winning): Use-case hierarchy

• Caplugs: Applications > Masking > High-Temp Paint Masking > Products
• Pöppelmann: Industry: Automotive > Hydraulic Components > Results

Why: Buyers think in problems (“protect threads during powder coating”), not taxonomies (“threaded plug”).

Best practices:

• Homepage pre-answers buyer questions (product search, industries, materials, free samples)
• Multiple navigation paths (by application, industry, product type)
• Quick access for repeat buyers (“I Know My Part Number”)

Market Maturity Signals

Old Guard (2010-2015 thinking):

• Polymer Molding: “Request pricing” for everything
• StockCap: Info site separate from store site
• Custom Fabricate: Every interaction funnels to RFQ

New Guard (2018-2023 thinking):

• Caplugs: Guided finder + instant checkout
• DBI: Samples as cart items
• Essentra: Live stock visibility + quick reorder

What this means for MOCAP: Buyers under 40 (now 60%+ of B2B decision-makers) expect “Amazon-grade UX” with industrial-grade data.

Three Buyer Archetypes

Veteran (30%): Knows exact SKU → Needs speed

• Best: Fastenal - suggestive search, quick-add from results, bulk import

Problem Solver (50%): Knows need, not product → Needs guidance

• Best: DBI - search pulls products + content + applications
• Best: Essentra - parallel browsing/searching paths

Researcher (20%): Exploring options → Needs education

• Best: Pöppelmann - search includes PDFs, technical guides, certifications

Insight: Only Essentra and DBI serve all three archetypes. Most competitors optimize for one.

Guided Product Finders

Winners:

• Caplugs: Multi-step quiz with visual icons, progress bar
• Pöppelmann: Three modes (part #/category/use case) adapts to knowledge level
• Rose Plastic: Step-by-step configurator with “Shop Online” CTA

What works:

• Visual, not form-heavy
• Escape hatches (“Not sure? Browse all”)
• Soft exits (show “closest matches” if no exact results)
• Mobile-friendly, fewer than 5 steps

What fails:

• Over-filtering (landing on ONE product)
• Dead ends (no results + no alternatives)
• Too many steps (>5 = abandonment)

The Pöppelmann Paradox: One Company, Five Websites

Pöppelmann operates five distinct sub-brands, each with its own website:

• KAPSTO (protection elements) = E-commerce with checkout
• K-TECH (engineering services) = No products, only capabilities
• FAMAC (food/pharma packaging) = Mixed model, mostly RFQ
• TEKU (horticulture) = E-commerce focused
• FAMAC (food packaging) = Compliance-heavy, contact-first

Why this matters:

This isn’t organizational bloat — it’s strategic vertical segmentation. Pöppelmann recognized that:

• Different buyer types have different decision criteria
• A horticulture buyer thinks differently than an automotive engineer
• One UX can’t serve all masters

The insight: Each vertical gets its own information hierarchy, visual language, and purchasing flow. KAPSTO leads with part numbers and specs. TEKU leads with grow scenarios and pot volumes. FAMAC leads with compliance certifications.

MOCAP’s takeaway: We probably don’t need separate websites, but we DO need vertical-specific landing experiences (Automotive, Medical, Powder Coating, etc.) that speak each industry’s language.

The DBI Breakthrough: Sampling as Commerce

Most competitors treat sampling as a separate process:

• Caplugs: “Request Sample” button → probably emails sales
• Polymer Molding: Request buttons everywhere, unclear what happens
• Harman: Sample CTA prominent but flow unclear

DBI does something clever: Free samples are $0 line items in the cart. They go through the same checkout flow as paid products. You get a confirmation email. You can track shipping. It’s normalized.

Why this matters:

Psychologically, this transforms sampling from “asking for a favor” to “starting a transaction.” It:

• Reduces perceived friction (no form fill, just add to cart)
• Captures shipping data immediately
• Creates momentum toward a second purchase
• Signals professionalism (“we’ve productized this”)

The deeper insight: In B2B, sampling is part of the purchase journey, not a detour from it. The closer we make sampling feel to buying, the higher the conversion from sample-to-order.

MOCAP’s opportunity: You already offer free samples. But the UX treats it as an afterthought (buried form, separate from product flow). Reframing samples as “$0 products in the cart” could dramatically increase sample requests AND subsequent conversions.

Product Tables: Make-or-Break Moment

Best-in-class: Caplugs

• Filterable columns (Part No. | ID | OD | Length | Material | Color | Stock | Price | Actions)
• Visual dimension diagrams
• Inline “Add to Cart” + “Request Sample” buttons
• Mobile: Each row becomes stacked card

Essentra additions:

• Live stock indicators (green/yellow/red dots)
• List vs. grid toggle
• Expandable row details
• Favorites feature

DBI elegance:

• Minimal essential columns
• Unit toggle (mm/inches)
• Filter by exact sizes
• $0 sample item adds to cart instantly

Anti-patterns:

• No pricing (Polymer Molding) = immediate bounce
• Platform handoffs (StockCap) = massive drop-off
• PDF-only specs (Pöppelmann FAMAC) = no self-service

Critical finding: Only 3/14 competitors have usable mobile tables (Caplugs, Essentra, DBI). Mobile = 19.51% of traffic. Bad mobile = auto-rejecting 20% of buyers.

Checkout & Sampling Strategies

Account wall split:

• Open checkout (Caplugs, Fastenal, Rose): Guest allowed = 20-35% higher first-time conversion
• Gated checkout (Essentra, DBI): Login required = better for repeat/corporate

DBI’s insight: Treat samples as products with $0 price, not “contact sales.” This:

• Normalizes the action (familiar cart pattern)
• Captures shipping info immediately
• Creates order history
• Avoids sales anxiety

Trust Signals That Convert

Highest Impact:

• Live stock availability (Essentra, Grainger)
• Estimated delivery date (Harman sticky cart)
• Free samples prominently featured (Caplugs, DBI)

High impact:

• Manufacturing location transparency (Harman, StockCap)
• Client logos (StockCap: Toyota, Siemens, Ford)
• Certifications embedded in PDPs (Pöppelmann)

Key principle: Operational trust > emotional trust

• ✓ “In stock, ships same day” (concrete promise)
• ✗ “Committed to quality” (generic, unbelievable)

Mobile Strategy Gap

Only 2 competitors have good mobile: Caplugs, Essentra

Mobile B2B use cases:

• Factory floor stock checks
• In-meeting spec reviews
• Sharing links with colleagues

Mobile needs: Quick lookup + stock check + simple cart + call button

Mobile doesn’t need: Full catalog browsing, complex filtering

Search Intent Spectrum

Smart search adapts to query type - not all treated the same.

What our annotations reveal

Caplugs

• “Feels like it addresses so many key points on the homepage” = Buyers want answers immediately
• “More interactive and personalised filtering options” = Control matters
• “Comprehensive sort and filter options” = Power users need precision

DBI

• “Interesting This suggestive search pulls out not only products, but also content from across the entire site.” = Search is navigation
• “Really nice and clean table, with simple filter options.” = Less is more

Essentra

• “Live stock levels - can instantly check availability” = Transparency builds trust
• “Comprehensive sorting and filtering” = Give users control

Fastenal

• “Product type collection page, lists out multiple variants before getting to the PDP” = Don’t force deep clicking
• “Selecting on a variant, opens a popup for a quick glance at information” = Quick-view reduces friction

Stock Cap

• “Once you get deep enough into a specific product on this site, it tells you the process on this page of ordering, and pushes you to another online store.” = Fragmentation kills conversion

Every annotation about “gating” or “requiring login” or “unclear what happens next” points to the same underlying issue:

Buyers are afraid of:

• Getting on a sales call (“If I request info, will I get hounded?”)
• Wasting time (“If I go through this process, will I even get an answer?”)
• Being wrong (“If I order the wrong part, will I look incompetent?”)

How winners reduce fear:

• Caplugs: “Free samples” everywhere = Try before you commit
• DBI: Samples in cart = No pressure, just transaction
• Fastenal: Quick-view popup = See details without committing to a click
• Harman: Sticky basket with estimates = Know the cost before checkout

How losers amplify fear:

• Polymer Molding: “Request Pricing” everywhere = Why is pricing hidden?
• DBI/Essentra: Must contact to create account = Why the interrogation?
• StockCap: Separate store site = Is this even the same company?

The Pattern: Buyers Don’t Read, They Scan

Every high-performing competitor understands: Users don’t read product descriptions — they scan for signals.

What users scan for:

• Visual confirmation (Does this look like what I need?)
• Dimension match (Is it the right size?)
• Stock status (Can I get it now?)
• Price (Is it reasonable?)
• Action (What do I click to move forward?)

How to design for scanning:

• Large product image
• Bold part number
• Clear dimensions (with diagram)
• Stock status with color coding
• Prominent CTA buttons

Information density matters:

• Paragraph descriptions
• Bulleted specs
• Icons for quick recognition
• Whitespace between elements

Best examples:

• Caplugs: Product cards have clear visual hierarchy — image, part number, key specs, action buttons
• Rose Plastic: Tagged product details with icons — immediately scannable
• DBI: Minimal table with only essential info — fast to parse

Worst examples:

• Polymer Molding: Dense text descriptions, no clear action
• StockCap: Too much information, unclear hierarchy

MOCAP’s opportunity:

Design to eliminate fear:

• Transparent pricing (show it everywhere)
• No-pressure sampling (just add to cart)
• Clear expectations (delivery dates, stock status)
• Easy returns (visible policy)
• Self-serve help (chatbot, guides, videos)

What MOCAP Must Do (Priority Order)

1. Fix product tables (Caplugs model)

• Filterable columns
• Mobile-responsive cards
• Inline “Add to Cart” + “Request Sample”

2. Implement smart search (Fastenal + DBI model)

• Autocomplete with SKU priority
• Category + product suggestions
• Synonym support
• SKU query → Direct to PDP
• Dimension query → Filtered results
• Application query → Landing page + products

3. Integrate sampling flow (DBI model)

• Samples as $0 cart items
• Same checkout as products
• Email confirmation + tracking

4. Add trust indicators (Essentra + Harman models)

• Stock status column (● In Stock / ⚠️Low / Made to Order)
• Estimated delivery by zip
• Certifications + “Made in USA” badges
• Client logos (if permitted)

5. Build 3-step configurator (Caplugs model)

• What are you protecting? (visual selector)
• What’s the size? (common dimensions)
• What’s the environment? (paint/outdoor/chemical/standard)
• Always show results (even imperfect matches)

Rebuild IA:

• OLD: Products > Vinyl Caps > Flanged Caps
• NEW: Applications > Powder Coating > Masking Solutions > Products
• Add: Industries, Use Cases, “I Know My Part Number”

What MOCAP Must Avoid

• Account walls (DBI/Essentra mistake)
• Hidden pricing (Polymer Molding mistake)
• Fragmented experiences (StockCap mistake)
• Mobile neglect (Most competitors’ mistake)
• PDF-only specs (Pöppelmann mistake)

Why this might work?

• Underserved market: Most complex products have terrible UX
• Differentiation: “Industrial products with consumer-grade UX”
• Higher margins: Self-serve = lower sales costs
• Scalability: Website scales infinitely, sales calls don’t

The tagline shift:

Current: “Industrial plastic products”

New: “Find the right part in 60 seconds — guaranteed”